NASHVILLE—Chuck Fagan recalled how a PSCU call center agent helped a credit union member facing an armed robber at an ATM avoid serious harm and get the medical attention he needed quickly.
The PSCU president/CEO opened the company’s 2016 annual meeting here by describing how a PSCU call center agent, with a distraught member on his cell phone and a robber aiming a gun at his head, helped the member remain calm and manage the situation.
Fagan explained that the robber had confronted the member at an ATM in Texas, and was upset because the member could not withdraw any more money due to daily limits, which the crook did not understand.
“Thankfully, our call center agent had been a 911 agent and was able to keep the member calm and keep him on the phone long enough to have PSCU track the location of the ATM the member was at and dispatch the authorities.”
That call center effort allowed police to find the member shortly after he was accosted by the robber, who had hit him over the head with his pistol.
Fagan explained that among the three primary goals on which PSCU is currently concentrating is having the right people in the right places to support credit unions and their members. The call center encounter is just one example, he said.
“We want to make sure we have the right amount of resources, but also the right people in the right positions,” reiterated Fagan.
Fagan told attendees that having the right people in the right places also means making sure staff have a sound understanding of the members they serve.
“During my first week on the job last year I had a chance to stand in front of all of our employees,” recalled Fagan. “I challenged them to all join a credit union. I said we have to understand the people we serve, try the new technology we are rolling out, try online banking . . . the thing we are helping our members succeed with.”
Service excellence and industry engagement are the other two key focus areas for PSCU this year, emphasized Fagan.
Fagan added that PSCU is making sure credit unions are at the leading edge of payments and that they are ready for new advancements—as PSCU did with EMV and the emerging digital wallets. PSCU is also focused on establishing one of the strongest cybersecurity platforms in the industry, he said.
Among many advancements PSCU is working on, Fagan said, is an upgraded version of its member portal, MemberConnect, a new API strategy to enable credit and debit card data to reside within the core, voice recognition for call center authentication, and a new desktop for call center staff to make sure when members call they have the best experience possible.
Fagan closed by emphasizing that a PSCU core principle is continually listening to members’ needs to help set PSCU direction.
“We had a credit union CEO from Ohio this year come down to see us, and he told me that he was happy to see how what we do at PSCU tightly aligns with what his credit union does,” said Fagan. “Those comments prove our focus around alignment with our members is right on track.”