Founded in 1935, Affinity formed the W. E. Headquarters Federal Credit Union to serve financial needs and provide cooperative credit to employees of the Western Electric Company. Today, Affinity extends its services nationwide, with branches and ATMs throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. 

‍As the largest credit union based in New Jersey, Affinity is consistently ranked within the top 2% of credit unions nationwide by asset size. Affinity is a member-owned, not-for-profit, full-service financial institution — federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).

Enhancing the Member Experience: Managing High Interaction Volumes

Affinity Federal Credit Union historically experienced high volumes of member calls, chats, and emails. The team managed these interactions through various channels, including in person, by phone, online or mobile app secured messaging, email, and chats. 

High contact volumes came with a cost. Affinity Credit Union agents worked to manually maintain positive, prompt member service experiences, and such efforts translated into significant time and resource expenditure. 

To efficiently manage member interactions without sacrificing service quality, Affinity sought a solution that would reduce the volume of manually handled interactions while maintaining accessibility and responsiveness to member needs.

They turned to Posh as their AI provider of choice. 

Introducing Affinity Credit Union’s Digital Assistant, Wes

Affinity Credit Union adopted Posh’s digital assistant, naming it Wes.

Wes offers customizable generative and conversational AI functionality, capable of handling a wide range of inquiries specific to the financial sector — 24/7. 

To meet members where they are, Affinity Credit Union began by implementing Wes on their website, followed by integrating it within online and mobile banking. That way, whether members were reaching out via call, live chat, or email, they were coming into contact with Wes’ AI capabilities. 

Wes functions to answer routine queries, freeing up agents to focus on tasks that require more specialized skills and insights. Specifically, Wes acts as a reliable team member by addressing the following:

• On Affinity's website, Wes is able to contain 94% of the monthly interactions. Some of the most asked inquiries include questions about locations, disputes, products, rates, and membership

• On mobile, Wes is capable of handling 90% of monthly interactions. Mobile member inquiries commonly relate to updating information, replacing and activating cards, and learning about product and payment options. 

Across the board, Wes resolved Affinity Credit Union’s high contact volume challenge by decreasing chat volumes by 44%, and they have seen almost half of their direct channel chats within online banking moved to Wes. Additionally, Affinity Credit Union notes Wes’ assistance with optimizing call interactions: 

“Having Wes available to our members and prospects has been an invaluable tool with helping to deflect calls and providing a way to get fast answers to the most common questions.”

Gaining a Better Understanding of the Member Base

Beyond decreasing contact volumes, Wes also provided Affinity Credit Union the opportunity to understand the needs of their members.

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“Reviewing the chat logs has allowed for a greater understanding of how members are searching for information and has given us an opportunity to look at ways to improve processes and enhance our self-service options.”

Posh’s digital assistant delivers valuable insights into user intentions, escalations, and actions. In the case of Affinity Credit Union, Wes’ comprehensive data records — including chat transcripts — assist in pinpointing new opportunities for member engagement and support their goal of providing superior member experiences.

Looking forward, Affinity Credit Union is “excited about Posh’s Knowledge Assist and will be testing Tailored Responses.” Tailored Responses utilizes Generative AI to enhance personalized experiences, ensuring that interactions with online chatbots are as informative as those with frontline staff. This approach will enable Affinity Credit Union to collect valuable member insights while delivering around-the-clock, highly personable member service.

Next-Generation Digital AI Assistant Capabilities, Paired with Best-of-Class Support

Posh’s digital assistant is purpose-built for the financial sector — including ease of deployment and access to our team of experts. Our team works to ensure our clients have the support they need to get the most out of their new AI assistants. 

Posh’s work with Affinity Credit Union is characterized by collaboration, in the pursuit of resolving challenging problems with sophisticated AI solutions. On our work together, Affinity Credit Union said: 

“Working with Posh overall has been a wonderful experience. Their team is knowledgeable, professional, and advises only on solutions that make sense for our business. We genuinely appreciate their responsiveness, kindness, and overarching industry knowledge. They are one of the best out there to work with.”

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