What is Branded Calling for Banks, Credit Unions, and the Financial Service Industry?

Updated on Oct. 24, 2023

The unanswered call dilemma doesn’t just affect one industry – it affects ALL industries.

But one category of businesses that can really feel the effects of a missed call or fraudulent communication is the financial services industry.

Banks and credit unions need a branded calling solution to offer top-notch customer service and protect their valued members from fraudulent and spoofed phone calls that are highly prevalent in the industry.

Branded Communication is a proven solution that can boost your communication goals and spoof-proof your outbound calls from bad actors. Let’s dive into what your members expect from you and how you can best deliver on your promise to protect their valuable assets.

Members Want Clear Communication

In 2022, First Orion surveyed banking members to gauge their communication preferences and expectations when communicating with their bank, credit union, or other financial service providers.

You may think you have communication covered with text messages, emails, and chatbots. However, according to our survey, members preferred a phone call 2X more than a text or any other notification, especially for urgent matters.

Why? Because although phone calls are viewed as an older method of communication, it is still the quickest and most reliable way to resolve a customer service issue.

Not only are phone calls preferred for suspected fraud – which happens to be the number one reason people want a phone call from their bank – members also look to phone calls for other matters. Financial planning, existing money transfers, information about a new loan offer, and information about an existing loan offer are the top reasons members want to receive a phone call from their bank or credit union.

Branded Communication Protects Your Brand Reputation

Branded Communication is First Orion’s branded calling solution for banks, credit unions, and other financial services providers.

INFORM® is our branded call solution that can customize every outbound call you make with the name of your bank and the reason for your call.

INFORM’s 32-character customizable text display is more than twice as many characters as traditional CNAM or Caller ID solutions – which, by the way, have a reputation for being outdated or just flat-out wrong.

Businesses that have integrated INFORM into their calling platforms have seen a boost, not only to their customer loyalty and brand reputation but also to their ROI. Some enterprises have seen their return on investment jump by record numbers, sometimes as much as 498% using INFORM Branded Communication.

INFORM future-proofs your calls and puts the power of branding back into the hands of businesses.

But what happens when your members pick up the phone thinking it’s you, only to mistakenly give their personal information to a bad actor?

Spoofed Calls Cost Your Business

It’s true: spoofed calls are costing your business, not only in the court of public opinion but also in the court of your bottom line.

Just look at some of the data from LexisNexis’s 6^th Annual True Cost of Fraud Study. According to the report, for every $1 lost by consumers to a fraudulent caller, banks in the U.S. lose $4.36 due to legal fees, recovery costs, and other contributing factors.

But your business isn’t just at risk of losing money; spoofed calls can also cost your bank or credit union valuable brand reputation.

Our 2022 Financial Services Report found that over half of banking members surveyed had received a spoofed or fraud call from a caller posing as their bank. And nearly 6 in 10 members said they would choose a competing financial institution with a branded calling solution.

Spoofed phone calls are hurting your business and your members. But here’s the not-so-secret secret – Branded Communication is the solution you’ve been looking for.

SENTRY Stops Spoofers in Their Tracks

Although Branded Communication can help identify your phone calls, scammers and bad actors are tricky and can sometimes utilize a tactic called number spoofing to fool your members into thinking it’s you.

SENTRY is our latest product that safeguards your phone numbers from bad actors looking to spoof your branding.

Before a spoofed call ever reaches your members, SENTRY blocks the call, leaving your members protected and their information safe and secure.

SENTRY is a standalone product perfect for banks, credit unions, and other large enterprises. It’s the ideal complement to INFORM’s already top-notch number branding technology.

Let’s Get Started!

Although both products can be purchased on their own, Branded Communication and SENTRY together can protect your vulnerable members from call spoofing attempts and properly identify your business when you make an outbound call.

Ready to see what Branded Communication and SENTRY spoof protection can do for you? Speak with our sales team today to get started with the right solution for your business.