Each year, CU 2.0 recognizes the fintechs that have improved credit union technology and the member experience. For our first annual awards in 2021, we honor those that transformed conversational banking for credit unions.
(Yes, that means chatbots.)
In 2021, CU 2.0 has selected the following companies for their work in AI-powered conversational banking:
- Winner: Finn AI
- Runners up: Posh Technologies, Abe, Clinc
Read on to see why we chose each fintech—and the value they bring to credit unions.
See all Fintech 2.0 Award winners here.
Why Conversational Banking?
Automated banking has been around since the 60s, when ATMs first broke into popular usage. Since then, banking by phone, mobile banking, and now even Amazon’s Alexa are part of the automated banking ecosystem.
And although adoption isn’t always fast, it does always come. One could hardly imagine banking without ATMs in the early 2000s… or without mobile banking today.
Conversational banking technology driven by artificial intelligence (AI) helps credit unions:
- Provide 24/7 member service;
- Answer simple queries;
- Assist with basic banking requests; and
- Reduce burden on call centers and member service representatives.
Really, that’s just the start. But consumer use of chatbots has been rising steadily over the last 5 years. They’re fast becoming go-to member touchpoints—not something you’ll want to forego in the future.
About Our Winners
There are so many AI-powered chatbots out there now that picking a winner would have been difficult… except that there are only a few conversational banking platforms that serve financial institutions specifically.
We believe that CU-specific platforms are better than generic ones. Even if a generic product works well for banking, their responsiveness to feedback and willingness to develop new features specific to our industry will almost always be slower than that of a platform made for financial institutions.
Finn AI wins the first Fintech 2.0 Award in Conversational Banking. CU 2.0 has kept a close eye on Finn AI since we featured their case study in Kirk Drake’s latest book, Financial: Helping Financial Services Executives Prepare for an Artificial World. Not only is their platform fantastic, but their roadmap, vision, support, and focus make them a serious contender.
Their platform comes with everything needed to make sure credit unions are successful immediately after onboarding. Finn AI starts with over 800 prebuilt workflows specifically in the banking and credit union spaces. We also give a nod to their three service tiers to accommodate credit unions of different sizes, with different needs, and juggling different timelines.
What really clinches Finn AI is their willingness to partner with others. Teamwork makes the dream work, as they say… and in a field as wide open as AI, working well with others presents opportunities and tends to increase performance in the long run.
Our runners up include:
- Posh Technologies. Posh Technologies works with credit unions to automate member service across just about any channel you can think of. From web to SMS, IVR to social, and even digital assistants like Amazon Echo and Google Home. Couple that with their credit union focus and solid track record, and Posh Technologies is clearly a perennial player.
- Abe.ai. Abe.ai is feature rich, but one thing that sets it apart is its “Virtual Financial Assistant,” which sends reminders, takes care of basic banking tasks, and proactively helps members navigate and manage their finances (and options).
- Clinc. Clinc has been solidly powering up one of the best conversational banking solutions in the industry. Their contextual chat is fantastic and virtually eliminates the old issues with early chatbots where it felt like you weren’t speaking to a person.
Other Fintech 2.0 Award Winners
CU 2.0 also recognizes fintech leaders in the mobile banking experience and member-facing technology. See the other winners and runners up here!
