With the ever growing demand for online options to perform essential daily tasks, locally based financial cooperative Arizona Federal Credit Union made a strategic and innovative move prior to the pandemic to launch the use of JHA OpenAnywhere software, allowing existing and new members to open up accounts online without needing to visit a branch. Arizona Federal is now averaging 700 online new account openings per month, up from 300 prior to the pandemic.
JHA OpenAnywhere addresses the high and growing demand for modern consumer and business online account opening. Many financial institutions struggle because of the tedious amount of paperwork and manual data entry required to open an account. Built with user experience in mind, the solution was designed to be responsive and adaptable on any device, enabling existing and prospective account holders to open accounts in minutes. The platform Arizona Federal’s initiative for digital reinvention, and has proven a competitive advantage to increase accounts, membership and deposits.
Before utilizing JHA OpenAnywhere, Arizona Federal Credit Union spent 30 minutes of members’ time opening new accounts, in addition to a lot of manpower behind the scenes. The credit union went live with the service in 2019, successfully averaging over 300 digital account applications a month before doubling that number this Spring. With its recent acquisition of Pinnacle Bank back in 2019, Arizona Federal was prepared for the rapid increase in accounts with their expanded resources.
“JHA OpenAnywhereÔ is so easy and user-friendly that members and new prospects took right to it, and our employees quickly transitioned their focus to building relationships over a digital environment,” said Erica Storch, digital branch manager at Arizona Federal Credit Union. “This is a very strategic service that served us well for the pandemic and will continue to be integral to our plans for helping members.”
In March when Arizona Federal began limiting branch visits to appointment only, they started directing new account inquiries to their website, ArizonaFederal.org, almost exclusively. To date, more than 6,000 accounts have been opened at the website through the use of JHA OpenAnywhereÔ at a rate of 362 per month, which compares to a rate of 165 per month with the prior, manual solution.
“We are always looking for ways to innovate and provide our members with ways to conduct their banking needs in a convenient, simple and secure manner,” says Jason Paprocki, chief operating officer at Arizona Federal Credit Union. “We’re fortunate that we had this solution in place prior to COVID-19 hitting so that we could continue opening new accounts in a safe and efficient way.”
Recently, JHA OpenAnywhere received the Best Banking Infrastructure Platform Award from FinTech Breakthrough, an independent organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies, and products in the global fintech market.
Arizona Federal is a $2 billion not-for-profit, local cooperative providing financial services and expertise to more than 130,000 member/owners. Founded in 1936, the credit union empowers members to take hold of their financial future through the delivery of leading-edge self-service tools and mobile apps, competitive rates on loans and deposits, robust home loan solutions, small business services and commercial loans, identity protection services, and annual member payouts when the cooperative does well. Arizona Federal has a history of local community involvement and is the sponsor of the LiveNation Theatre venue and exclusive credit union partner of the Phoenix Rising FC. The credit union has 16 locations across the Phoenix metropolitan area. Deposits are federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration.
