Meet ‘Ruth’: TruStone Financial’s rethinks its CX strategy with chatbot

Even as chatbots have become a common tool in financial service interactions, their ability to genuinely improve the customer experience remains hit or miss. Many fall short, frustrating users with generic, unhelpful replies that feel like a digital dead end. 

TruStone Financial, a Minnesota credit union (CU) dating back to 1939, has figured out a way forward within the scope of chatbot solutions.

In July 2023, TruStone launched its chatbot, Ruth, on its website, expanding its capabilities to digital banking by November 2023. During the first week of integration, the CU experienced a twofold increase in conversation volume, according to Gary Jeter, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at TruStone Financial Credit Union.

So, what exactly makes Ruth click and how does it offer the kind of assistance TruStone’s members find useful?

Ruth’s journey: What changed from then to now

Ruth has quickly become the primary point of interaction for TruStone members to connect with the CU, thanks to its smooth integration with the CU’s existing systems and feature set.

Beyond handling simple customer inquiries, Ruth also manages complex tasks, including answering FAQs, processing transactions, scheduling appointments, and providing detailed product descriptions to customers.

Ruth’s story: Identified as ‘she,’ the chatbot’s name is a nod to TruStone’s history, chosen in an employee-led contest to honor the credit union’s first bookkeeper. 

Giving the bot a human name tied to TruStone’s historical roots and a relatable personality, while keeping it aligned with the firm’s AI-driven goals, appears to be working well for the financial institution.

Pre-Ruth: TruStone is Minnesota’s second-largest credit union, with 23 branches across Minnesota and Wisconsin. The CU has over $5 billion in assets and a mortgage servicing portfolio of over $2 billion as of December 31, 2023.

Prior to Ruth’s launch, TruStone managed approximately 5,500 member conversations each week. However, efficiency was hindered by significant backlogs, with up to 1,000 messages piling up on Monday mornings. These delays stemmed from the inability to pause the service, creating operational bottlenecks.

To resolve these challenges and enhance customer satisfaction, TruStone looked into chatbot solutions. 

Post-Ruth: To execute this idea, TruStone worked with Eltropy to develop Ruth. This collaboration aimed to enhance TruStone’s customer service and overall member experience by integrating AI-powered chatbot technology.

Eltropy is a cloud-based software that enables FIs and fintechs to interact with customers via different communication channels through a single portal.

While TruStone provided insights and requirements based on its customer service needs, Eltropy implemented the chatbot, leveraging its AI and communication platform to integrate Ruth into TruStone’s existing systems.

“With Ruth now integrated into the digital banking platform, the credit union offers streamlined chat functionality directly through its mobile app,” adds Jeter.

When Ruth launched, she was equipped with 300 initial intents to manage member inquiries via TruStone’s website and digital banking platforms. Intent is the goal the customer has in mind when typing in a question. She now handles 46% of all member conversations across these channels, shares Jeter.

“The need for overflow contact center support has virtually disappeared — it’s now only used for after-hours fraud reporting,” Jeter notes. “Ruth has been so effective, we’re considering how she can be used in other unique ways for the credit union in the future.”

Ongoing training: Ruth’s training involved a strategic effort to ensure her responses reflected TruStone’s culture and met member expectations. 

“We curated and fine-tuned prompts to ensure they reflected our tone, values, and the information members commonly seek,” says Jeter. 

This involved close collaboration between TruStone’s internal teams and Eltropy, taking several months to fully establish Ruth’s foundation. 

“Instead of just dropping in an AI chatbot, they took the time to give Ruth a real connection to their credit union’s history,” says Ashish Garg, co-founder, and CEO of Eltropy.

But the development didn’t end there. 

“Continuous updates are made to improve Ruth’s accuracy and relevance as TruStone evolves, ensuring she meets members’ needs through regular reviews of missed intents and updates to her capabilities,” explains Jeter. 

A blueprint in evolution

Ruth has been well-received by the CU members, but the evolution and fine-tuning of chatbots is an ongoing effort. 

Companies like Bank of America, Klarna, and Lili have gained recognition for their chatbot solutions, reflecting their proactive approach to continuously fine-tuning their chatbot functionalities to enhance customer engagement.

In the same vein, adding specific features to Ruth could drive further enhancements for TruStone going forward, including:

1. Broader integration with third-party services: Ruth integrates smoothly with TruStone’s existing systems. However, expanding its capabilities to integrate with the firm’s internal Loan Origination System and third-party services like data platforms and payment processors could improve its versatility and customer relationship management.

2. Improved multilingual support: TruStone operates full-service branches in Minnesota and Wisconsin, both of which are home to sizable communities that speak languages other than English. Minnesota has a large Spanish-speaking population and one of the country’s largest Somali communities. In Wisconsin, Spanish ranks as the second most spoken language, especially in urban cities like Milwaukee. 

Expanding Ruth’s support for multiple languages could greatly improve accessibility and inclusivity for non-English speaking members, enhancing the overall customer experience.

3. Voice interaction capabilities: Voice functionality could provide a more convenient way for members to interact with Ruth, especially for those who are on the go or prefer voice input over typing. This can also make the chatbot more accessible.

Jeter notes that TruStone is looking to continuously improve Ruth. The FI has been exploring the idea of adding voice interaction capabilities to Ruth for some time, and it’s a feature on the bot’s roadmap. 

“TruStone is working to give Ruth a literal voice,” he shares. “Expanding Ruth’s knowledge base and accessibility is the CU’s top priority.” 

To transition Ruth into an interactive virtual assistant within its phone menu this year, TruStone is leveraging Eltropy’s new AI Voice product, Voice+.

Voice+ is one of three new products Eltropy launched last year, along with Skill-Based Routing (SBR 2.0), which matches agents to tasks, and updated Lobby Management tools that merge digital banking and branch services with check-ins, queues, and analytics.

Speaking about Ruth’s future, Jeter shares the next steps for Ruth, including expanding her responsibilities. “We’re now exploring the integration of Generative AI to strengthen Ruth’s capabilities further and push the boundaries of what’s possible in member service.”

Integrating Generative AI with Ruth on TruStone’s website will enable her to access, read, and deliver real-time information from TruStone’s website to CU members.