BIG News

Best Innovation Group (BIG), a technology and financial services innovator, is excited to announce that three more of its credit union partners have received certifications for conversational banking applications hosted on BIG’s FIVE Conversational Banking Platform.

The Amazon Alexa Skills and Google Assistant Actions created and hosted by BIG enable touchless, voice-controlled banking services for nearly 300,000 credit union members across a wide spectrum of voice-enabled apps and devices. The FIVE (Financial Interaction Voice Experience) Platform now enables these credit unions’ members to complete dozens of financial interactions and transactions with their voice.

Covantage Credit Union ($2.3 billion in assets; 127,000 members), Deere Employees Credit Union ($1 billion in assets; 60,000 members) and Enrichment Federal Credit Union ($652 million in assets, 46,000 members) are the most recent BIG clients to successfully gain approval from Amazon and/or Google to provide financial transactions using voice assistants.

Pete Sedgewick, CIO at Deere Employees CU recognizes the benefits that this technology can bring to the member experience. “We are excited about where conversational computing is going and how it can remove friction for our members” he says.

“A frictionless experience for members is key to adoption of any new technology,” adds BIG’s Director of Product and Customer Success, Elizabeth Robins. “BIG works very closely with each of our clients to assure we hit the mark on an excellent user experience for their voice applications. Helping our credit union partners provide exceptional experiences to their members is the heart and soul of our mission here at BIG and we look forward to continuing to partner in their growth.”

The FIVE solution is totally configurable using BIG’s voice-as-a-service platform, which provides a unique look and feel tailored to each credit union’s brand. The voice applications are built with ease of use in mind, including PIN-protected security and an intuitive user experience, allowing members to simply launch the skill and go. The conversational banking capability works on the Amazon Alexa or Google Home smart speakers as well as the Alexa or Google Assistant mobile applications.

FIVE currently integrates with several cores and online banking platforms, including Symitar’s Episys core used by all three credit unions. These credit unions join a rapidly growing list of BIG clients receiving certification of their fully integrated, transactional voice applications for banking. There are now more than 50 live voice applications across the Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant marketplaces being hosted by BIG on behalf of dozens of credit unions. These voice applications now offer more than a million credit union members the power of voice.