Your feedback shaped change: Member Enrichment Program year in review

When you’re part of a community, your financial wellness benefits everyone. The more we all achieve, the stronger our community becomes. That’s why taking care of our members is a top priority at OCCU.

To open an ongoing channel of communication and help us stay connected with our members, we launched our Member Enrichment Program last year. With the help of our trusted partner, Medallia, we’ve been sending out brief surveys that have improved our understanding of where you’re at and what you need most from us. Your responses have taught us a lot about your experiences with our team and how we can help you achieve your financial goals and put you first.

We want you to know we’ve been listening.

Our dedicated Member Loyalty team has been busy reviewing every survey, reading each response, following up with our members and sharing your comments with the rest of our organization so we can course-correct as needed and make changes from your feedback. Additionally, our retail teams, branch and call center and many of our departments review this feedback daily and are connecting with our members to make sure we’re getting it right.

As a result, your responses have helped inform our decisions about everything from what services and products we offer to how and where we need to grow. Here are some of the key areas you’ve helped us improve in the past year.

Relationship experience

Relationships are important to us, and we recognize they’re just as important to you. We’re not interested in simply being the place where you deposit your money. We’re your financial partner, and we’re dedicated to ensuring your well-being. When we ask how likely you are to refer OCCU to your friends, family and colleagues, what we’re really asking is: How do you feel about us?

We also want you to know we’re here for you. We’ve got your back. To demonstrate our support, we have:

Shown up in times of uncertainty. Credit unions are all about people helping people. Throughout the wildfires and the pandemic, we’ve partnered with other local organizations and raised funds to provide relief for our members. The OCCU Foundation Fire Relief Fund raised $250,000 to help those affected by wildfires. Learn more in our annual report.

Kept your financial wellness front and center. From our ongoing emphasis on reducing and eliminating fees to our high-yield Ignite Savings^® account to our improved mortgage processing experience, we’re continuing to seek new ways to give your financial well-being a boost.

Made communicating with you our priority. To keep you informed about the newest benefits, services and organizational news, we created the You and OCCU member hub as your go-to place for updates.

Branch experience

A lot of money management tasks are performed online these days, but nothing beats seeing our members in person. Our in-branch interactions with you remain a core part of the services we offer. As our membership continues to grow, we’re continuing to add new branches to better serve our communities.

To help improve your face-to-face member experiences with us, we have:

Expanded locations and services. Our decision to move the Barger branch to our new Royal branch location came from you. The bigger location has allowed us to offer drive-up lanes and more services.

Upgraded our ATMs. When our members suggested that our ATMs could use some updates, we discovered the opportunity to replace all our old machines with newer, more reliable, human-centric technology. Keep on the lookout for more updates – we continue to roll out new enhancements and features to better serve you.

Kept renovation disruptions to a minimum. Even as we work to improve future member experiences, we strive to continue delivering the same exceptional service you expect. We were grateful to hear that our members experienced minimal disruptions during their branch visits.

Digital experience

During the pandemic, digital member service became more important than ever. With so many people relying more heavily on online transactions, we were able to pinpoint several key areas for improvement.

To provide you with more self-service options, we have:

Made loan payments easier. We created an online loan payment chart to help members compare the different options available and manage their OCCU loans with confidence.

Enhanced your login experience. Providing you with a friction-free online experience is important to us—and it starts when you log in.

Added new digital banking settings. When it comes to user experience, small things make a big difference. Like adding a “Remember Me” setting so you can log in faster next time.

Other ways we’re working to enhance your experience

We’ve come a long way this past year, but we’re not done yet. We’ve still got several projects in the works based on your feedback and are looking to your feedback for more. Use our surveys to help us fine-tune our services and offerings, such as:

• Getting in touch with our team, seeking answers to your questions and connecting with us outside of our branch locations. For example, we’ve added more options to our call-in menu to help improve your experience.
   
• How we build relationships with new members right from the beginning by introducing them to our financial cooperative community and helping them understand the credit union difference. We want them to know we’re here to enrich lives together.
   
• Creating and evaluating new financial products and services, such as Ignite Savings, that help you build financial wellness and meet you wherever you’re at on your financial journey.

All in all, your feedback has been a valuable source of information and reflection as we continue to invest in creating a better experience for our members. We’re grateful for opportunities to learn from you. Thank you for helping to shape our growth by providing your feedback to better serve you and our communities. Looking to learn more? Discover more about our Member Enrichment Program here.