Lakeland Credit Union transforming member experiences using Celero’s multi-phase strategy

After embarking on a digital transformation journey starting in November 2019, Lakeland Credit Union is starting to see meaningful results in their organization, including a deeper understanding and the capacity to serve members digitally during COVID-19.

After a formal RFP process, the Alberta-based credit union with 10,857 members selected Celero to design and deliver a digital transformation strategy to achieve their goals of creating sustainable growth, developing deeper connections with members and transforming their internal culture.

“It was imperative we shift as an organization to both meet our current members’ evolving expectations and attract and retain new members. Through consultation with Celero, we recognized the need to have a deeper understanding of our members, and then take critical steps to transform our culture, operations and member experience to deliver an exceptional service and trusted advisor experience across all member touchpoints,” says Ronda Morin, Vice President, Member Experience at Lakeland Credit Union.

Aligning the organization to the member
One of the key outcomes of Lakeland’s digital transformation was orienting their business operations with their members’ journeys, and defining the innovations and architecture required to enable those journeys.

Using its differentiated continuous transformation methodology, Celero guided Lakeland’s leadership team through a multi-phase strategy that assessed readiness, member needs and operational improvements to design a member experience strategy and technology roadmap that delivers on Lakeland’s vision.

“As a digital transformation partner, our priority is to support Lakeland’s organizational shift by providing guidance and a proven methodology to help them understand and optimize their members’ experiences, enable a culture shift and recognize the technology, processes and mindset that will support those transformations,” said Deborah Moore, Director, Digital Transformation.

Deep understanding delivers effective COVID-19 support
Lakeland’s digital transformation strategy development continues as the local community encounters the growing COVID-19 pandemic and members sought critical financial services.

“Going through such an in-depth process to understand and map our member journeys was critical in effectively responding to COVID-19.  We have a solid comprehension of the underlying motivations of our members and the culture and digital capabilities in place and where we need to focus. We have begun exploring new ways of working helping us to pivot and adapt our services to meet those needs,” Morin said.

Right now, Lakeland is focusing its digital transformation efforts on supporting its members, employees and the community through the COVID-19 pandemic; strategy development will conclude in May 2020.

As pandemic measures ease and recovery begins, the credit union plans to continue the deployment of its strategy through the implementation of new processes, digital solutions and member-centric services to continue to realize their vision.

About Lakeland Credit Union

Lakeland Credit Union provides financial opportunity, choice and lifelong value to over 10,000 members delivered through its exceptional service and trusted advice member experience.

Operating in northern Alberta for 80 years, Lakeland has grown to over $600 million in assets with branches in both the City of Cold Lake and the Town of Bonnyville. For more information, visit lakelandcreditunion.com.

About Celero

Celero is a leading provider of digital technology and integration solutions to credit unions and financial institutions across Canada. Clients trust Celero’s proven track record delivering innovative banking technologies, digital and payment solutions, cloud computing, outsourcing, IT, and advisory services.

Celero offers reliability and security through its world-class hosted banking system and data centre operations. With key partnerships across the globe, Celero also brings the scale and extensive capabilities of multinational technology companies and the focused expertise of fintech startups. For more information, visit celero.ca.