One of the state’s largest nonprofit credit organizations will use workers in Michigan to answer the increasing number of calls it is receiving from members.
The Vermont State Employees Credit Union, a 501(c)(3) based in Montpelier, announced in October it had bought a partial stake in PSCU, a credit union servicing organization in St. Petersburg, Florida. As part of a three-year deal, PSCU will help the Vermont organization answer simple calls from a call center in Michigan.
VSECU announced the change in an Oct. 14 email to its members, and PSCU made an announcement Oct. 23. The call center will begin the transition this month, according to the email, and Vermont-based call center workers will continue to field the vast majority of calls.
Fifteen people work at the Vermont call center, according to Yvonne Garand, the marketing and business development officer for VSECU. She said no one will lose their jobs as part of the deal, and open call center positions will remain posted.
The company views the deal as an “enhancement” of call center services that will, in part, allow current call center employees to enjoy more breaks and professional development, Garand said. The organization is always actively recruiting and “anxious” to hire qualified people, she said.
“This really isn’t about jobs,” Garand said. “The decision behind doing this was first and foremost with our members in mind. We believe in hiring Vermonters. If there had been a professional call center like this located in Vermont, we absolutely would’ve entertained it.”
Garand called the move a “partnership” between two credit unions with similar missions. She said it would help reduce call waiting times for members with simple questions and free up Vermont workers to spend more time with callers who have complex needs.
Call center workers must have “exceptional customer service skills” Garand said, and many require specialized skills in financial counseling or other banking services.
The organization has three openings in its Vermont call center and nine more in information technology, mortgage operations, product operations and customer service.
VSECU receives 15,000 calls per month and up to 1,200 per day, according to Garand, and the organization has not “defined a specific number” of calls that PSCU will take.
“What’s more important is that every member is receiving the attention that he or she deserves whether it’s a basic inquiry or more complex,” she said.
VSECU has about 60,000 members, according to Garand, and is growing.
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