MANTL software on iPhones

MANTL’s new credit union offering brings true omnichannel experience

MANTL’s new omnichannel deposit origination platform will help credit unions provide the digital experience their members expect, CEO Nathaniel Harley said. Developed with Alliant Credit Union, it focuses on speed, simplicity, and security.

During his investment banking career, Harley was struck by the unbundling of banking services that led to gaps in delivery. He believes that hurts innovation. 

Nathaniel Harley headshot
Nathaniel Harley

There was a clear opportunity to level the playing field for financial institutions entrenched in their communities. But many of those institutions have outdated infrastructure that hinders their digital innovation.

How MANTL’s solutions work

MANTL for Credit Unions includes a consumer account opening process that can scale with the institution’s size. It allows the process to be conducted online, in a branch, and through a call center. The staff has clear visibility into the status of the process. It automates up to 97% of decisions.

Consumer Deposit Origination fosters the creation of checking, savings, CD money market, and minor accounts in under three minutes.

Existing members can open a new account with one click. Business Deposit Origination customizes business workflows, allowing employees to request information from business owners and authorized signers at any point in the process.

MANTL integrates with all significant core banking systems and lets credit unions customize service with a white-labeled, codeless Digital Branch Manager. 

Omnichannel in the eye of the beholder

Omnichannel means different things to different people, Harley cautioned.

What is often described as omnichannel is more accurately multichannel. Actual omnichannel experiences let people initiate a process in one channel and continue it in another.

“Ultimately, that provides the most seamless, flexible experience and allows these institutions, banks, and credit unions to meet their customers where they want to do business,” Harley said. “It also adapts to how the banks and the credit unions want to do business.”

Improving CX by reducing friction

MANTL wanted to reduce the back-office paper-based processes that slow down the administration. Everything from KYC to AML and even ordering checks is automated. Real-time integration to the core banking system allows for immediate approvals.

Another spot where MANTL has reduced friction is during eligibility verification, Harley explained. MANTL deploys a machine learning algorithm to collect and verify only the information that is genuinely needed to determine eligibility. Its fraud mitigation tool uses more than 30 data sources during verification.

Related:

“We’ve also automated the engagement. Each interaction is really enriched and ultimately deepens the member’s engagement with that institution because we’re automating the cross-selling, the remarketing, the adverse action notices,” Harley said. “All these things work by themselves; you don’t need a human emailing them. 

“The last piece, core to what we do, is reports, data, and analytics. You need to be able to aggregate the information, whether it’s marketing, risk, fraud, conversion metrics, or data, into one place. You can see what’s working and not working and make smart decisions as an institution on where you want to keep investing your dollars.”

What is the ideal blend between humans and automation?

What is the ideal mix of automation and human touch? It depends on the demographic you’re serving, Harley said. He looks to online retail operations that went direct to consumers before adding physical locations where folks could ask questions about products.

The branch’s purpose is evolving. Humans are needed for certain products and business types. Older demographics want more human interaction.

Harley said that an overlooked aspect of mechanical system design is how it affects those who work with it most – your employees. Include smart triggers in the automation process so they know what to ask and do. The time saved can be reinvested in the customer or marketing.

Harley said that by prioritizing simplicity, security, and speed, MANTL had produced excellent results. Application conversions improve up to 60%.

“That means the marketing dollars you spend are way more efficient,” Harley said. “You get comfortable spending more because it’s not a leaky bucket. You’re going to convert these people coming to your front door. And 100% of that accounts are now funded. These are actual valuable numbers that have supported the bill. 

“And then we’ve also reduced the time to open an account by over 30%. Existing members can open it with just a few clicks. The outcomes at the end of the day set our solution apart. Ultimately those outcomes drive real economic business results for the credit unions.”

  • Tony Zerucha

    Tony is a long-time contributor in the fintech and alt-fi spaces. A two-time LendIt Journalist of the Year nominee and winner in 2018, Tony has written more than 2,000 original articles on the blockchain, peer-to-peer lending, crowdfunding, and emerging technologies over the past seven years. He has hosted panels at LendIt, the CfPA Summit, and DECENT's Unchained, a blockchain exposition in Hong Kong. Email Tony here.