America First Credit Union Launches Innovation Center

America First Credit Union’s Innovation Center — a collaborative hub to showcase the company’s latest technology solutions — is slated to open by month’s end, said Executive Vice President Randy Halley. The Innovation Center is part of the credit union’s attempt to expand its mobility efforts and to become more involved with the customers, he told Auto Finance News.

The Center is set up as a learning facility for consumers and a place to complete transactions, he said. “As non-members come in asking about auto loans and other products, we will ask them how we can make it an easier process,” and educate them about AFCU’s loan options, Halley said, which can help increase financing volume. America First had a $2.6 billion portfolio at yearend 2015, according to Big Wheels Auto Finance Data.

Ogden, Utah-based America First will test multiple channel experiences — such as three-dimensional mobile video chats and an in-lobby teller kiosk — to gain real-time feedback so it can implement the services across its 116 branches.

What AFCU aims to accomplish is to learn from consumers what devices they prefer to use, especially when it comes to their loan process, Halley said. However, some of the featured products at the Innovation Center “won’t make it out,” he said, but it’s all part of the process to create a better lending environment.

“We plan on this being an evolving space,” Halley said. “The whole area will go through a transition probably every six months to a year in changing things out and trying the latest and greatest solutions and technology out there.”