Central 1’s Community platform serves as an innovative hub to foster collaboration among credit unions, fintechs and other financial institutions. Each month, we deploy new digital solutions while facilitating the development and implementation of custom features.

Stride Credit Union recently deployed their engagement platform with Unblu, an award-winning provider of conversational banking solutions leveraging the Community platform. With over 19,000 members across five communities located in the south-central part of Manitoba, Stride Credit Union is a champion for enhancing member experiences through cutting-edge technology like live chat, in-app text and screen share.

Unblu specializes in conversational engagement and offers various communication functionalities such as messaging, video, voice and co-browsing. By integrating these capabilities into Central 1’s Community platform, Unblu aims to provide credit unions and financial institutions with robust, efficient, and personalized ways to interact with their customers at any time and across any device.

Dawne Dobbin, SVP Transformation from Stride Credit Union, recently spoke with us about their experience joining Community and working with Unblu to enable new functionalities and features.

What are some of the key factors that guide your decisions when you choose a fintech partner?  

Selecting the right fintech partner is an important decision, and many factors are considered as we evaluate options. Member-centricity guides our assessment of product offerings as we consider how they will enhance the member experience. The fintech’s commitment to ongoing innovation is also significant as we look to continually enhance our offerings. Finally, in our commitment to compliance and security, we seek alignment with our partners.

How will this engagement platform solution help improve your member experience?

As our interactions with members evolve, the chat feature provides an additional communication channel for our members. Coupled with the ability to co-browse, this innovative feature enhances the overall digital experience for our members, empowering Stride in our continuous efforts to improve member satisfaction.

Can you tell us a bit about your experience joining Central 1’s Community platform and working with Unblu?

Unblu has been an excellent partner throughout this process, demonstrating efficiency while collaborating with all partners to successfully integrate to Community. To date, we have implemented the chat and co-browse function with future enhancements being considered. The Unblu team has been a pleasure to work with and we appreciate their contribution to Stride’s strategy.

Looking ahead, what are your plans with Central 1’s Community?

Community enables mutual innovation, with the ability to further enrich the digital experience for our members.  Success relies on an improved member journey, while efficiency remains essential in delivering technology and innovation. We will continue to leverage Community whenever possible to drive further innovation and look forward to working with other fintechs through the platform.

What would you say to a credit union peer who would like to explore collaboration with fintechs?

Technological advancement surrounds us. Our collaborations with fintechs are really ramping up the innovation game, bringing in new solutions to step up our member service. These integrations allow us to stay relevant in an ever-changing world, evolving with members’ needs and preferences, ultimately contributing to the ongoing success of our credit unions.

Norm Tessier, RVP Sales, North America from Unblu, also comments: “Partnering with Central 1’s Community platform, we’re thrilled to bring solutions that enable credit unions to elevate client engagement across all digital channels. Looking ahead, we anticipate further collaboration with more credit unions, driving innovations to better serve Canadian customers.”

Are you interested in becoming a Central 1 Community contributor or participant?

• Becoming a Community contributor brings many benefits and is open to both fintechs and Central 1 clients:   Learn more.
• As a Community participant, you’ll be connected with innovative fintechs, empowering you to continuously enhance your digital offering with the capabilities your customers desire:  Learn more.