While we were hopeful that members would comply, the shift to online banking was dramatic, with 50,000 more online transactions in April than in March – a 38% increase. April was another record month due to the stimulus payments, and the online trend is sure to increase as members adopt the newer technology, including a new mobile application we introduced in July to further facilitate online transactions. While we have a six-branch network and serve the entire state of Michigan, we consider this new mobile app another branch, with a mobile video teller platform allowing members to connect anywhere and anytime for safe, secure banking. Its initial use – 46 video sessions with members in the first four days of the platform launch – far exceeded our expectations.

“In March 2020, we experienced a 461% growth in video calls on our platform,” said POPi/o Mobile Video Cloud’s President and COO Jed Taylor. “Throughout March and April, each progressive week generated a new record for weekly video call volume.”

Banking since COVID-19 has taken on a different form. From wearing a mask to not being able to talk with a teller, several changes have been implemented in recent months.

Tim Pranger is a co-founder and director of solution consulting for POPi/o, a provider of collaborative video banking software that began as a mobile app and now serves members on laptops and other PCs and inside branches.

Before coronavirus, Pioneer was averaging approximately 30 calls a day through the app. Now, it’s handling closer to 130 with a high of 162, according to Tracey Miller, Pioneer’s vice president of operations. Meanwhile, Pioneer’s fleet of 21 ITMs, including 17 in drive-thrus, are averaging 11,500 visits a month, a number that jumped by 5,620 in March.

The video banking platform POPi/o is working on its own RON product, which it hopes to release in the fourth quarter of 2020. The platform already supports a number of requirements that go into RON, including recording and retaining a video session with the signer and any witnesses, and the ability for a consumer to upload documents to be signed or notarized.

The video banking provider POPi/o, whose platform allows banks to connect with their customers on a screen set up in a branch or via their computers or smartphones, says its business has surged. Calls between an institution and a customer that result in a transaction or service have more than tripled since the coronavirus pandemic started, to about 25,000 per month. The company expects to hit 100,000 calls in June.

Sandy, Utah-based POP/io Founder/CEO Gene Pranger said, “Banks and credit unions across the country are tasked with providing branch services without jeopardizing the safety of their staff or customers. POP/io is uniquely positioned to address this challenge and eager to help with our proprietary mobile and web video platform.”