Allied First Bank

As far as banks go, Allied First Bank is very unique. They have a nationwide customer base from their beginnings as a credit union, as well as their local community in Oswego, IL. With all of the recent changes in the banking landscape they now serve as the only true community bank in town. The Northern Illinois-based community bank also has a unique tagline: Your High Tech Bank with the Hometown Touch. They rightly live up to this slogan starting as an online-only institution back in 1994. In order to deliver around the clock live customer service to their far flung clients – they have clients in all 50 states and 7 countries – as well as compete with larger banks in the area, Allied First Bank has partnered with the premier collaborative contact center outsourcer in the nation: AnyHour Solutions.

Over a decade ago Kenneth L. Bertrand, Founder and President of Allied First Bank, chose AnyHour’s Loan-by-Phone solution to help drive loans for cars, boats, RVs, as well as credit lines and personal loans. He recalls that “this system worked really well for us and their agents did a great job of handling our customers.” One reason that AnyHour’s agents are so successful in driving loan volumes for their financial institution clients is that their 100% U.S.-based phone representatives have the most experience in the industry – on average, each has taken more than 25,000 loan applications! Bertrand agrees and adds that “AnyHour’s technology infrastructure is very sophisticated and state-of-the-art. Their core data processing system integration is fantastic.”

When AnyHour Solutions expanded their operations, beyond just lending, to providing comprehensive, 24/7, outsourced contact center customer services, Allied was 100% onboard. “There is no way that we could afford 24 hour agents in-house,” said Bertrand, “but we absolutely wanted to deliver that level of service to our customers so this affordable service was perfect for us.” Even if the bank could afford to staff a call center, Bertrand notes that “it is much more cost effective to let AnyHour handle our calls and let our employees focus on more productive work.” Today, AnyHour handles about 90% of all customer calls, while the other 10% are live transferred to the bank during working hours, or scheduled for a call back after hours. According to Bertrand, “this system works really well for us and fits perfectly with our philosophy of being community and service-focused.” These are not just words – Allied gives back to the community in the form of scholarships and even has built a gym in their corporate headquarters that is used by Oswego citizens for everything from basketball practice to choir rehearsals.

While the goal of being “always conveniently available” for their customers was established, Allied makes sure that the convenience levels are always matched by high levels of professionalism. Bertrand confirms that “AnyHour Solutions’ agents are extremely professional and knowledgeable: Our customers think that they are talking directly to us in our headquarters in Oswego.” He is also quick to point out that “we never laid off any of our staff when we outsourced, we simply boosted our service levels via outsourcing, and then reassigned our branch staff to other more productive and profitable activities rather than answering the phone.” He concludes that “AnyHour Solutions has always provided us, and our customers, with exceptional service levels and we highly recommend them to any financial institution."