The Flaw in Omni-Channel Banking, Why Bi-Direction Channel Banking is Next

Just when you thought you had the evolution of banking channels figured out I am here to explain the flaw in the latest evolution of banking channels; omni-channel banking.

The progression of banking channels has evolved from credit union and bank focused to being about the member or customer experience. From a single banking channel (inside out), which involved an in-person visit to the credit union or bank to omni-channel (outside in) which is designed to allow the member or customer to access banking services and products using multiple channels, in a seamless and consistent manner.

Here is the problem. Successful implementation of omni-channel offers a member or customer access to banking products and services across and between multiple interactive channels in a customer focused seamless manner; but what happens when they encounter a problem? As much as self-service, automated processes, intelligent workflow and automated decisioning are designed to simplify and expedite a transaction, invariably problems occur that require communication or assistance from bank or credit union personnel.

You know the drill. You have a service problem and you know what happens next. You call your credit union or bank and get that annoying automated call tree. Once you finally get someone live you explain the problem and they say, “Just one minute, I will transfer you to Jane in the XYZ department”. Your call is transferred and you get a message saying, “All personnel are on the phone please hold”. After waiting on hold for 5 minutes listening to promotions you have no interest in hearing, someone answers the call and you again carefully explain the problem. After hearing your problem explanation the person says, “Sorry, but that is another department”, and promptly transfers your call. This time your call is immediately answered. For the third time you try to patiently explain the problem. The employee says, “So what are you trying to do on our website”? You respond, “I am trying to apply for a loan and a credit card”. “OK, I can help you, but I have to access two systems. Our loan system and our credit card system”. The conversation goes on-and-on and it is like the “customer is from Mars and the employee is from Venus”. There is a total disconnect.

Why? Because you and the employee are accessing different systems, seeing different information and even worse, the customer is accessing the customer facing interface while the employee is accessing the administration module.  It happens every day in retailing, banking, cable, phone, and most service industries, but it is changing, led by companies like Amazon and FedEx.

For a true low friction member or customer experience the customer/member support team must be able to access and view in real-time the path the customer has taken and have access to support data, regardless of the problem trying to be solved.  To accomplish that goal silos must be broken down, training provided, the user experience (UX) of banking systems must be consolidated, and what application architects and business analysts call the “non-happy path” must be incorporated into the system. When something goes wrong the best opportunity to solve the problem is if both parties are accessing the same system with the same data and error messages, not front-end and back-end systems.

Omni-channel banking is an important initiative, but it must move to what I call “bi-direction channel banking”. Omni-channel focuses on the member or customer experience, which is 50% of the solution. Bi-direction channel banking brings customers and the employees together on single user experience (UX) platform and completes the circle.

We know banking is complex and is driven by multiple banking applications. There is the core data processing system, payment systems, general ledgers, cash management, credit origination systems, credit servicing systems, online and mobile banking systems, account opening and the list goes on. How can a bank or credit deliver a single system view to both its customers and employees with all these different banking systems and applications?

Through a user experience platform (UX presentation layer) that uses an enterprise services bus middleware as an integration layer, connecting to the bank’s or credit union’s multiple banking systems.

Simple…… no but achievable, and replacing all those legacy banking systems is not an option for most banks or credit unions.  Instead of replacing core data processing systems and other critical banking systems, embrace them for what they do, process and manage transactions.

Using a UX presentation layer provides credit unions and banks a customizable solution displaying what and to whom information is displayed.  Within the presentation layer customized automated processes, intelligent workflow, business rules and automated decisioning can be incorporated, which allows each credit union or bank, regardless of their existing legacy systems to be able to develop their own solutions that fit their banking model.

In one of my blogs, “Do We Need Better System Integration or Fewer Systems to Integrate?” I argue Gonzo Banker’s position that rewriting all the bank’s systems into a single system is the right way to go. For all but the largest national and super regional banks, rewriting multiple systems into a single application is not viable.  

Multiple banking systems are a fact of life for credit unions and banks. The complexity, processes, external transaction networks and regulation involved in banking makes having a single banking system impractical. Instead of focusing on a single system, embrace what each of these individual banking systems do, …. process and manage transactions. The vast majority of banking systems were developed for internal back-end use by bank or credit union staff. As the transition from brick and mortar banking to digital banking has evolved, those legacy banking system have not evolved with the change. As a result, credit unions and banks are trying to deploy customer/member facing banking systems that were designed to be back-end employee facing systems.

By focusing on the presentation layer and integration middleware layer, banks and credit unions have an opportunity to maximize their investment in existing banking systems, while being able to deploy bi-direction channel banking using customizable user experience (UX) presentation/middleware platform.  In order to deliver a seamless customer experience credit unions and banks need to deploy technology, re-organization, processes and training that are externally focused while closing the loop so employees and customers are working from the same playbook. The future of banking is bi-direction channel banking, the next step beyond omni-channel banking.   

Why the Status Quo Must Change - What Banks Can Learn from Credit Unions

Credit union membership declined from June 30th 2013 to June 30th 2014 at 54% of all credit unions, according to NCUA data.  Median credit union membership was also down

0.4%. for the same period. Overall credit union membership grew 3.7%. Also, during the same period the NCUA approved 234 credit union mergers and 20 were closed by NCUA supervisory action. The number of credit unions is reducing by about three to three and a half percent a year.

The primary reason cited for credit union mergers according to the NCUA is to offer expanded member services.  U.S. financial institutions under a half billion dollars in assets have a difficult expense and income challenge, due in most part by non-existent economies of scale. As margins shrink, the mega banks get more efficient and technology demands and expenses increase, this challenge is going to become even more difficult to manage.

A look inside these numbers reveal what most industry analysis have been saying, the large get larger and the small are getting smaller.

Membership in credit unions with assets:

• Over one billion dollars grew 6.2% 
• Between half billion and one billion grew 4.3%
• Between 250 million and 500 million grew 1.5%
• Between 100 million and 250 million grew 1.4%
• Less than 100 million shrank by half percent.  

Only 7% of all credit unions, 456 out of 6,558 exceed a half billion dollars in assets. Long-term, even the best credit union executive management teams will be extremely challenged to operate viable credit unions under half billion dollars in assets unless they identify and serve a special niche and recognize that their ability to compete in the digital banking space will become more and more difficult. Credit unions must find a way to achieve greater economies of scale to reduce operational and technology costs. 

The chart below shows the inefficiency of credit unions as their size decreases.

What is an acceptable efficiency ratio target? There are several high‐performing credit unions nationwide that have set long‐term targets to move toward a 50% efficiency ratio. Cornerstone Advisors, Inc. recommends that all credit unions target at least a ratio below 70% and more optimally somewhere between 60 – 65%.

For comparative purposes, the operating efficiency ratio for all banks average 65%. Community Banks’s average efficiency ratio is 73%

Banks under a half billion dollars in assets face the same challenge as their similarly sized

credit union peers, the inability to achieve economies of scale to move their operational

efficiency to the level believed necessary to be able to compete long-term in the retail financial services space. Where banks have an advantage over credit unions is that 19% of banks (1,090) are over a half billion dollars in assets compared to only 7% of credit unions (456).  As of June 30th, 2014, there are 12,315 credit unions and commercial banks. Both are shrinking at 3% to 4% a year. Of the 12,315 financial institutions, only 12.5% exceed a half billion dollars in assets. 10,769 banks and credit unions have an asset based of less than half billion dollars. How do they continue to compete? Through cooperation and collaboration!

The most effective way to for banks and credit unions under a half billion dollars in assets to achieve economies is through a cooperative effort that provides technology solutions and combines back-office operations for multiple banks or credit unions. Credit unions have used with mixed results “credit union service organizations” (CUSOs) designed to provide either operational or technological economies of scale. CUSOs are generally non-profit entities that are owned in-part or wholly by the credit unions that use the CUSO’s services.

As a former executive of a core data processing CUSO I have seen the strengths and weaknesses of the CUSO models. Generally the most successful CUSO’s focus their services around transaction processing and transactional services, where economies of scale can be achieved. The less successful CUSO’s tend to focus on the development and deployment of their own proprietary technology solutions. 

Why are technology/software development CUSOs less successful? Software development, technology hosting, support, installation, data conversion and distribution is expensive and capital intensive, and generally cannot be spread over a large and diverse base of customers. A CUSO by its nature serves a limited number of credit unions. The limited number of credit unions is a catch 22. The capital required to fund a technology CUSO is too high for the limited number of credit unions and the CUSO needs capital to grow.

I believe the successfully CUSO model must adjust from being transaction orientated to being both transaction/back-end oriented and a technology aggregator. By combining transaction processing with non-proprietary technology solutions, CUSOs have an opportunity to deliver:

1. Lower back-office/back-end operational costs
2. Favorable technology pricing through aggregation and distribution

There is a CUSO network that has successfully moved towards a hybrid of this model, 

Michigan based CU Answers, Xtend and eDOC, who are all part of the cuasterisk.com brand, a network of credit union owned CUSOs. These three entities are headed in the right direction, although they rely on the development of their own technology solutions. Their primary market is smaller credit unions, however, the true value of this solution must be recognized by credit unions of all sizes. 

For this CUSO model to work, the CUSO must have strong and focused management with a clear mandate and vision. Too often CUSO boards consisting in-part or in-whole of credit union CEOs that own the CUSO, but have little knowledge about the business the CUSO undertakes. The result is they fail to establish a clear vision, set a clear mandate and metrics and fail to see the big picture, instead focusing CUSO management on their individual credit union requirements/expectations. My best recommendation to CUSO owners, hire qualified management team, hold them accountable and then get out of the way. 

Bankers and larger credit unions executives ask, “Why would I want to partner with a competitor”? Good question, and the answer are simple, “Survival”. The end isn’t coming today or tomorrow, but what about five or ten years from now? The consolidation numbers are real and are not going to slow down. In fact, I expect consolidation, mergers and acquisition to start growing at a faster pace. 

The time is quickly approaching when bankers and credit union executives must begin to consider alternative business models in order to remain sustainable. Back-office/back-end processing is a transaction commodity process that does not offer a sustainable competitive advantage. The right technology vision and solution mandate will allow common back-office processing, achieving transactional and back-office economies of scale while offering a customizable user and staff interface, workflow, business rules and data analytics  that can be customized by each credit union or bank without adversely affecting the technology platform and follow-on upgrades. Think of Salesforce and similar SaaS platforms that are customizable and unique to each company, but still run on a common platform in a cloud environment.

Survival of banks and credit union under a half billion dollars in assets may be dependent upon them competing on the front-end and cooperating on the back-end.  

What is the triggering event that will cause banks and credit unions to examine and take action on this idea, or is the inertia so great that it is like a frog placed in cold water that is slowly heated a boil? 

What is the water temperature at your credit union or bank?   

The Discombobulated Sides of OmniChannel Banking

The definition of "omni" is "all". Omnichannel means all channels. The definition of discombobulate is "confusion or disorder". There is plenty of confusion about omnichannel banking. 

The current fervor in banking over omnichannel is focused on the member/customer experience. The goal is to create a seamless experience across all banking channels. 

Be warned, focusing only on the member or customer experience is like giving your 16 year old son an airplane on his birthday without any flying experience, and telling him to go take it for a quick test flight. It is going to be quick alright, ..... as it crashes and burns. There are two sides to omnichannel banking. The side your members or customers uses to interact with your credit union or bank, and the forgotten side. The side your member/customer facing employees use to interact and support your clients. 

What is driving omnichannel banking? Too many technology solutions that don't communicate with each other or share a common interface or user experience. In short, the user experience ...... how do I say this politely...... SUCKS! As a former executive of a banking core data processing company, I can attest that banking is a complex business that involves many products and technology solutions. One of the primary goals of omnichannel banking is to have all the member/customer facing solutions communicate with each other and provide a user experience that doesn't look and feel as though there are a bunch of systems pasted together.     

If member/customer look, feeling and experience are not important to you then you may

think you can solve the problem by creating a single sign-on that allows members/customers to access multiple technology solutions through a your website or mobile application. Yes you can do that, and that is what most financial institutions are doing today. 

If your credit union or bank has the ability to deliver multiple products and service solutions through your website or mobile application have you ever tried it? Even with a single sign-on it is a very frustrating experience which often leads to a phone call to your call center or a visit to a branch. That is not even effective multichannel banking. If they wanted to talk or make a trip to the branch they would have done that in the first place.

Assume for a second that you have solved the member/customer user experience. You get a check-mark, but you are a long way from being finished and accepting pats on the back and your next promotion. As I already pointed out, banking is complex business. As much as you improve, refine, and advance your member or customer user experience or add automated decisioning, workflow routing or intelligent analytics, there are still going to be times that members and customers will need to talk with a live person. That's when the breakdown occurs and the member or customer enters "banking hell". You know, that place reserved for your members or customers that love to seek out the CEO or Board Member to complain.

  
You have created and implemented all these great external member/customer facing systems. They all work great together,...... until they don't. Now the member/customer must emerge from the protective cocoon of your carefully crafted omnichannel banking user interface into the harsh reality of employees that do not have a clue what the hell the member is doing or talking about. Without tying the same systems together that members or customers access for your member/customer facing employees with an internal user interface that is actually helpful, you have condemned your valuable clients and staff to "banking hell", from which they return after much frustration, angst and wasting of time. Yet another satisfied customer.  

For an omnichannel banking strategy to succeed it will require focusing on both the member/customer users experience and the member/customer facing employees user experience and related tools, systems and processes. An omnichannel banking strategy should not be undertaken lightly, but for those credit unions and banks that do, ..... the reward can be great. Don't let your omnichannel strategy crash and burn.        

Who's on First? The Contradiction of Millennial Research

"Who's on First?" comedy routine made famous by Abbott and Costello speaks to the

confusion of communication. How can same thing have two polar opposite positions? Research about the Millennial generation seems to be research in contradiction. 

For example,  according to the millennial disruption index study, Chase, Citi, BofA and Wells Fargo are among the ten least loved brands by Millennials. According to FICO's Forging Lasting Banking Relationships with Millennials, 68% of Millennials use Chase, Citi, BofA or Wells Fargo as their primary bank. Only 15% use a

credit union and only 9% have a regional bank as a primary bank. More Millennials bank at national banks than any other generational group (55% for Gen X and 43% for Boomers). Millennials also have more products with their primary bank. They have 3.49 products compared with 3.3 products for Boomers. How can these two studies be reconciled?  

FICO's report also goes on to say, "Millennials now comprise the largest population segment ever in U.S. history, and that segment is growing as a percentage of the overall population. Opportunities are abound for banks and credit unions that understand this generation and can address their unique requirements." 

It is clear that credit unions and banks have to understand and resolve this conflict of information or their futures may be bleak. Philosophically, a credit union's mission is more inline with Millennials beliefs than major banks, yet the four major banks dominate their banking experience? Why?

Millennials, while bringing values that may be different than their parents, are also extremely pragmatic, learning from the challenges their parents face. In an interview by The Financial Brand, “Millennials are very pragmatic and have high expectations around technology,” said Laurie Paleczny, co-founder of Digital Fieldwork, noting that the research examined thousands of online data points, including publicly available profiles on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. “If convenience and functionality aren't there, they’ll do business with banks even if they do not always respect their values.”   

Digital Fieldwork's research suggests that "credit unions have a golden opportunity to acquire a new generation of members, but first they must adopt smarter ways of engaging them online. Their research into U.S. credit unions’ digital landscape reveals a distinct gap between the current digital strategies of credit unions and the interests of Millennials." Credit unions’ struggles to attract Millennials, a demographic of approximately 74 million people, is well documented. Many credit union observers are concerned that the average age of credit union members is 47, and that a large majority of younger generations are not familiar with credit unions.

Javelin Strategy & Research writes, "Millennials are made up of two distinct

segments, both with widely differing circumstances, behaviors, and needs. The first group, Gen Y.1, numbers 31 million consumers ages 18 to 24. Gen Y.1 is financially young and uncommitted to any one service provider - a great target for prepaid cards or basic checking accounts. Their counterparts, the 42 million consumers of Gen Y.2, are 25 to 34 years old. These consumers are highly engaged in financial services, and are tech-savvy consumers with an appetite for financial products. To earn the business of next-generation financial customers, providers must understand and meet the needs of these two groups."

There is good new for credit unions and community/regional banks. Despite the

high Millennial market share the four major US banks have they are very vulnerable. According to FICO's Forging Lasting Banking Relationships with Millennials study, Millennials are less loyal to their primary banks than other consumers. The survey showed that Millennials are five times more likely than those over age 50 to close all accounts with their primary bank. They are three times more likely to open a new account with another bank.

So what does all this information mean 
about how to attract and retain Millennials to credit unions and community/regional banks? Millennials are using the services of the major US banks primarily because of pragmatism and their perception that only the major banks have the digital channel they seek to conduct their financial business. They have little knowledge about credit unions. They are not loyal to the big banks and will quickly switch when they find a better option. Millennials consist of two distinct groups that have very different needs. Credit unions and banks must appeal to both segments.

Javelin Strategy & Research recommends:

1. Don’t wait until Millennials are profitable. Start a relationship with Gen Y.1 now through products such as student loans, checking accounts, and prepaid cards. Gen Y.1 consumers are underbanked at high rates, which demonstrates a clear need for bank products.
2. Provide Gen Y.2 consumers products suited to their career-driven life stage. Unlike Gen Y.1 consumers, Gen Y.2 has a developing need for products such as brokerage and retirement accounts and home loans. Credit unions and banks that act as a trusted provider and teacher throughout Gen Y.2’s financial maturation can earn their loyalty in the long term.
3. Design digital banking for speed and simplicity to serve Gen Y.1. Position high-frequency activities like account balance and recent transactions front and center and allow users to monitor their accounts without logging in. To satisfy Gen Y.2, build out support for multiple financial products and services within digital banking: retirement accounts, loans, stocks, and multiple account types.
4. Look for opportunities to create financial co-management tools. Because 40% of Gen Y.1 members have others managing their finances, look for opportunities to create financial co-management tools to support their needs. These could include tools to facilitate easier money movement or for oversight to help caregivers ensure their funds are being used responsibly. Additionally, design actionable alerts enhance these tools.
5. Opportunities lie around budgeting, savings, and education. For Gen Y.2 members are transitioning from co-dependence to financial autonomy, so lightweight tools to create and manage budgets are critical. For education, a guided experience can help them become better buyers of financial services products and maintain financial well-being.

Millennials use a broad set of channels and devices to interact with their credit union or bank. Credit unions and banks need to keep communications and customer experiences consistent between channels and well-orchestrated. A well planned and executed digital and omnichannel banking strategy is a key to gaining and retaining Millennials banking business.

What's Your View of the Banking World?

You know it is coming. What are you going to do about it? Is there any doubt that non-

traditional financial service providers and partnerships are aggressively trying to move into the financial services space? Where is your head on this issue? Is it a real threat or not? Will they succeed? As I write this blog, there are over 1,000 venture backed or seeking venture capital companies that are breaking into the payments and financial services space. Why? 

According to Jim Marous, Publisher of Retail Banking Strategies for The Financial Brand, the confluence of the financial crisis of 2008 and the rapid adoption of technology that puts increasing power in the hands of every consumer has resulted in higher demands being placed on financial providers. Today’s consumer expects their bank and credit union to know who they are and how they transact. They also want services built around their spending and wealth-building desires and want to be rewarded for their business.

Banks and credit unions generally are not delivering on these higher expectations of their

members/customers. In this competitive world, when an void is created it is usually quickly filled. Silicon Valley, Boston, London, New York, Atlanta and other financial and tech hubs are breeding  new banking innovations to meet the heightened expectations of of both new and long-term financial service consumers. 

Prominent venture capitalists, and even banks are supporting and funding these new Fintech ventures. Why? Because they perceive a need and an opportunity, filling a void. Fred Wilson one of New York's mostly highly respected venture capitalists and blogger recently said, "financial services disruption is the next huge market to be taken." 

Wal-Mart over many years pushed aggressively into financial services despite failed attempts to obtain a U.S. bank charter that would allow the company to lend money and

offer deposits backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The Walmart and American Express joint venture called Blue Bird solved their problem, and is another example of non-traditional and a traditional financial services provider partnering to leverage new opportunities and customers in the financial services market. It started out as simple prepaid cards aimed at tens of millions of middle-class and lower-income Americans eager to avoid fees charged by banks cashing their checks. Less than six months into the partnership Wal-Mart took another leap into the banking world, announcing a prepaid card and debit account with American Express that will give low-income consumers access to features like smartphone deposits. Is this the end or just the beginning of this partnership and others like it into the traditional financial services market space?  

According to a recent study by CGI, the study found that consumers want their bank and credit union to be an integrated part of their daily lives. The five top consumer desires were the following:

1. Reward Me for my business (81%)
2. Simplify My Life by providing “anytime, anyplace” access to my balance (61%)
3. Know Me as a person (58%)
4. Look Out For Me by providing me with wealth-building advice (55%)
5. Anticipate My Needs by telling me what I am spending money on and how I can save (52%)

What are your members and customer searching for from your credit union or bank? I can promise you it is not the status quo.  

You have three options: 

1. Put your head in the sand and hope
2. You are close to retirement, so it is someone else's problem
3. Address it head-on by developing and executing a strategy

What's your choice?  

Pray For the Baby Boomers

Let's face it, baby boomer leaders have it rough. Many companies are led by baby boomers in their 50s and 60s with a growing employee base consisting of those damn generation Xers and Yers. You know .......... the Millennials. "We just don't understand those people!" 

Did you ever read the book, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus? When is John Gray going to write an update, "Baby Boomers are from Earth, Millennials are from Another Galaxy?" All kidding aside, the world has changed immensely over the past 25 years and many community and regional bank's and credit union's executives have struggled to keep-up and catch Millennials attention. 

The 18 to 35 age bracket, collectively known as Millennials, now make-up the largest age segment of our population, passing the baby boomers. If you don’t have a plan to meet their banking needs then your credit union’s or bank's future looks bleak, because there are plenty of traditional and emerging non-traditional financial service providers that will. 

What are Millennials looking for from their financial services provider? Millennials want their banks and credit unions to provide the same kind of customer experience that they receive through more agile consumer technology companies they rely on in other parts of their life. They are looking to manage their personal financial lives in the same way they manage their digital and social lives. Right now, with some exceptions, non-traditional financial service providers are building superior offers.

Just in case you have been sleeping here are some more facts about Millennials according to the Millennial Disruption Index study:

1. 71% would rather go to the dentist than listen to what banks are saying
2. 1 in 3 are open to switching banks in the next 90 days  
3. All 4 of the leading Banks are among the ten least loved brands by Millennials
4. 68% say that in 5 years, the way we access our money will be totally different
5. 70% say that in 5 years, the way we pay for things will be totally different
6. 33% believe they won’t need a bank at all
7. Nearly half are counting on tech start-ups to overhaul the way banks work
8. Millennials believe innovation will come from outside the industry
9. 73% would be more excited about a new offering in financial services from GOOGLE, AMAZON, APPLE, PAYPAL or SQUARE than from their own nationwide bank

Credit unions and banks should focus on service as an engagement route with their younger members. An omnichannel strategy designed to deliver a low-effort seamless member/customer experience across all interaction channels. Best-in-class mobile and web solutions, as well as simplified, transparent products all support this direction. 

Another buzz word in omnichannel banking is "seamless experience". What the heck is a seamless experience? Despite the required breaking down of banking silos, hand-offs between channels or people within the credit union or bank will continue to occur. When they do, members and customers don’t want things falling through the cracks or to have repeating their problem multiple times.

As +Ron Shevlin from the Aite Group  says, "consumers want things to work. Period. But if you must elaborate, they want things to work the way they expect those things to work, when they use them, and where they use them. And consumers don’t want to have to think about any of it. They just want it to happen. If you really think about it, what they really want is for banks to be invisible." Combine simplicity and low effort with Mr. Shevlin's comments and you have the definition of a seamless experience. 

I hear credit union and banking executives ask "what is the ROI of your digital technology

solution?". Digital technology solution providers say, "shift your routine transaction volume to the lower cost digital channels." Credit union and banking executives ask, "does that mean I have to maintain both branches and digital channels? My costs go up." Both parties miss the point. Branches and digital solutions are the ante just to have the opportunity to play-in or stay-in the game. Consumers expect and demand more. They want 24/7

365 day access to all the services, products and counselling their financial institution

provides. They want choice according to their timeline and mode of communication. It is not about shifting consumers to lower cost channels, it is about service and meeting the expectations of the information age consumer.

Omnichannel represents a long-term journey and commitment. I describe Omnichannel as an “end goal”, not a product, service, or marketing campaign. Omnichannel is the breaking down of silos that exist with most traditional financial services providers. Omnichannel as goal, and its successfully implementation will only occur if it receives the same commitment, resources and seat at the executive table as the CFO, COO, marketing and other key areas of the credit union.  Omnichannel is not just “e” services or digital services. It is the entire member experience. It is how credit unions and banks interact and reach out to their members/customers, both digitally and within the brick and mortar of their buildings.