Gesa Credit Union


Raj Bandaru, CIO/COO Gesa Credit Union

It’s no secret that rapid advances in technology have changed the way we live and work, that agile apps, powerful mobile phones, and tablets with the memory and speed of a computer have raised service expectations by offering more choices, better service, and competitive pricing.

As a result, the ongoing investment and innovation in digital transformation are critical to the future evolution and success of every business, and credit unions are no exception. Credit unions are known for their passionate commitments to the members they serve, so making technology improvements must evolve in lock step with improved service capabilities—an expectation Gesa Credit Union knew only too well.

In 1953, Gesa Credit Union was formed to serve 2,600 members in southeastern Washington; its first account receipts were stored in a shoebox. These unpretentious beginnings allowed Gesa to offer the high-touch, personalized service that’s made it so successful over the last sixty-five years. In 2017, Gesa mapped out a digital transformation strategy that would enable it to maintain that high-touch experience while delivering on the promise of a fast, frictionless customer engagement.

Gesa knew it had to expand customer service beyond the teller window to extend to members’ laptops, smart phones, tablets, and other devices; but it also recognized that technological improvements could become the driving force behind the bank’s own operations to ensure that even branch visits would be fast and friction-free.

Gesa approached digital transformation from several different angles to preserve excellent service through automated technologies and streamlined processes that would allow the digital banking experience to be as successful and pleasurable as coming into a branch while automating as much of the in-person visit as possible to accommodate tech-savvy members accustomed to a digital lifestyle.

As with other financial institutions, the Gesa member experience differed greatly depending on which channels customers used: The branch experience was different from online and call center interactions, and no one channel was optimized or integrated with any other. At the branch, Gesa personnel were required to access multiple applications to open new member accounts, start new loan applications, and evaluate value-added products and services. The result? Employees spent lots of time toggling among different systems to serve a single customer—a process that was neither fast nor frictionless, to say the least.

All of that systems training offered little opportunity for employees to dive deeply into Gesa’s products, an understanding of which would enable them to provide exemplary member engagement through customized, personalized product and service offerings.

Changing the Game

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