Prakash Chandran (Host): At Heritage, our mission is to improve lives and simplify banking. That's why we offer a range of convenient self-service features, including the new virtual teller station. Here with us to discuss is Amy Pruden. She's a retail operations manager at Heritage Federal Credit Union.

Host: This is Talking Cents with Heritage. I'm your host, Prash Chandran. So Amy, thank you so much for joining us today. I really appreciate your time. You know, I mentioned virtual tellers. What exactly is a virtual teller station?

Amy Pruden: Yeah. So, thank you for having me. So, what a virtual teller station is, is it looks like an ATM, but with the comfort of having like a virtual teller when you're needing to speak with someone. So, you would go up to the ATM. You simply tap on the screen to talk to a live virtual teller. And within seconds, one of our associates would appear on the screen to help you with your transactions. They can help you conduct more transactions than the basic ATM and answer questions that you may have on your account.

Host: That's awesome. This is like a great hybrid solution that I've been waiting for. You know, usually, I always want to go into the bank to talk to someone, but now I can do that from kind of this futuristic ATM. You mentioned that it can do more than a basic ATM, what exactly can be done through the virtual teller station?

Amy Pruden: So, what can be done through the virtual teller station, it can do about 95% of what you can do at a regular teller line, so if you need to withdraw some money, if you need to cash a check down to the coin, you'd even be able to get the coins from the check, if you want to do cash deposits, check deposits, if you want to transfer, loan payments, whether that is your mortgage, your credit card, auto loan. We will even allow you to do address changes, so we know you typically go into the bank to do an address change, we're even allowing you to do that through the virtual teller station. So, it's a great future that can pretty much take every care of everything without having to either leave your vehicle or wait in line at the teller line to be able to get that taken care of.

Host: Now, what is the 5% of things that it can't do?

Amy Pruden: So, the 5% of things that it can't do is we can't print cashiers checks or money orders, unfortunately. You can't do a cash advance, but you could use the ATM side of it and you'd be able to do the cash advance on that side. Since we do offer instant-issue debit cards, the machine won't instant issue debit cards, you would still need to talk to somebody about that, and we also can't do shared branching.

Host: Okay. Got it. But it seems like for that other 90% of need that you're mentioning, including address changes, all of that can be done through the virtual teller station. Are there any other benefits that members should be aware of?

Amy Pruden: So, the benefits of it is think of it kind of going through the drive-through now. You're pulling up, you're waiting in line, you're waiting for the teller to get taken care of on the inside versus the outside. Because most of our locations, they take care of both the lobby and the drive-through traffic. Currently, we have some right now. The wait time is only about four seconds. So, by the time you tap the screen, you're only waiting four seconds to be connected to a live teller. The transactions take a lot less time. On average, it's taking less than three minutes to complete the full transaction, so it's taking a lot less time. And then, there's also the more secure way, you know, if you've lost your debit card, you don't have one, you can still use the machine and you don't even have to get out of your vehicle if you're using it via one of our drive-through locations.

Host: Yeah. That's amazing. Now, you said four seconds to a live teller. Where is this teller located? Is this an out-of-the-country teller? Is this someone that's in-branch? Can you talk to us a little bit about that?

Amy Pruden: Yeah. So, our tellers are actually at one of our Newburg locations. They're at one of our remote locations. They were tellers at some of our locations and they were just promoted to our virtual tellers. So, they are tellers that you may have seen out and about. They are here in Newburg, and you're still talking to a Heritage employee.

Host: Awesome. Really good to know. So if someone wants to visit a virtual taller station, where can they go?

Amy Pruden: So, currently we have them at Evansville South, our Washington Avenue location. We have two that are now our enhanced drive-through. You will see them with the canopies that says virtual teller on the front and the back. We also have two on the inside of Washington. Those two are our newest ones that we just put in. You can go inside to visit those. Our Owensboro location in Kentucky, we also have one at that location, and we also have three at our new Evansville East Vogel location. The new drive-through system has three that are located in there as well.

Host: Okay. Now, I know some people that are listening to this might be a little old-fashioned and they still like to come into the branch and have that relationship with the teller. Can they still do that?

Amy Pruden: You sure can. So, you can still go in. We will still have a representative on the inside that you can talk to. They would be able to help walk through with your more complicated transactions and give you the peace of mind and comfort. And we encourage you to try the machine just at least once. Try it, see how you like it. If you don't, that's okay. We will still have branch representatives that can help you.

Host: Now, one of the benefits of the traditional ATM is that they're 24 hours. What happens if I go through the drive-through after hours and will I still have access to those ATMs?

Amy Pruden: Yeah. So of course, currently during our banking business hours, they can be a virtual teller or an ATM. Having these virtual tellers, we could potentially look at extending the hours that you would be able to still talk to a live teller. But the ATMs, these machines always operate as an ATM 24 hours.

Host: Okay. Well, this has been really informative. Is there anything else, Amy, that is worth sharing with our audience about this new virtual teller station system?

Amy Pruden: Yeah. So again, I just want to mention that this is the future of banking. And if you do come up to any of our locations, whether it's Owensboro or Evansville, South Washington Avenue location or even our Evansville East Vogel Road location, I would just encourage you to try it. Try it once, see how you like it. If you don't, that's okay. I know it's not for everybody. But I would just encourage you to try it at least once. We do have staff members there at the locations inside and out that can help you walk through the location and give you that peace of mind and answer any questions you have while you're there.

Host: Yeah. And just one more thing, you said that this is the future of banking. I think so much of banking is establishing a connection with the person that you're talking to. With these virtual tellers, like are they going to be able to see the banker they're talking to, or is it just voice?

Amy Pruden: Yeah. So on these, once you tap the screen, you wait, you know, your average four seconds. A live teller will appear on the screen, so you'll actually see them face to face. You'll see them on the machine and even their name pops up on the screen, so that way you know exactly who you're talking to.

Host: Yeah, that is great to hear. Well, this is definitely the future, so cool to hear. And I can't believe the four-second wait time. Hopefully, that stays true for a long time. So, Amy, thank you so much for your help today and for telling us about this awesome virtual teller station.

Amy Pruden: Thank you so much.

Host: That was Amy Pruden, retail operations manager at Heritage Federal Credit Union. For more information, you can visit heritagefederal.org/self-service. If you found this episode to be helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out the entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. Thanks again for listening to Talking Cents With Heritage. My name's Prakash Chandran. And until next time, stay well.

disclosure: Loans may be subject to credit review and approval and property insurance may be required. Membership restrictions may apply. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Heritage Federal Credit Union.