CASE STUDY

EML Achieves 80% Call Containment Rate on Card Balance Inquiries

INDUSTRY
Payment Services

PRODUCT
Plum DEV

APPLICATION
Account Inquiry

Automate Account Balance Inquiries with Plum DEV

Summary

EML provides clients with a range of payment technology options, including prepaid card solutions. They needed a way to streamline card balance inquiries, so they turned to Plum Voice to build an interactive voice response (IVR) system. This voice channel solution has enabled EML to offer IVR applications in multiple languages using a secure, PCI-compliant cloud platform. EML has achieved an IVR containment rate of 85% that reduced client support representative call volumes while delivering fast, efficient customer service to end users.

Company Story

EML Payments is a leading payments provider that offers customizable, secure and feature-rich payment solutions for businesses and their customers. They power payments 24/7 globally anytime, anywhere, wherever money is in motion, with over $80 billion transacted on our platform annually. Their combined portfolio offers innovative payment technology solutions for payouts, gifts, incentives and rewards and supplier payments.

EML began utilizing the Plum Voice platform and tools in 2004 when the company was operating under the Store Financial Services brand. Now operating as EML, with an expanded global footprint across North America, Europe and Australia, the company offers a broad portfolio of payment services and payment card programs to process payouts, gifts, incentives, rewards and supplier payments.

Challenge

As a leader in the prepaid card industry, EML receives most of the phone calls from cardholders wanting to check the account balance on their prepaid cards. EML needed a way to streamline this process so cardholders quickly received the information, and Client Support Representatives wouldn’t be over-burdened responding to these routine requests.

Solution

EML chose to build an IVR system with Plum DEV to automate card balance inquiries for their prepaid card programs. One of their main decision-making factors was choosing a secure platform, and Plum Voice’s platform met their needs. Plum Voice has gone through rigorous audits to achieve PCI-DSS, SOC2 and HIPAA compliance, as well as, being a Visa Verified vendor. This means that financial data remained safe and secure throughout the transaction.

EML collaborated with Plum Voice’s Professional Services team to develop an IVR application that fits their custom specifications. Since then, EML has added more features for a better user experience. For example, the company’s IVR system now supports more than seven languages.

They also implemented two-factor authentication (2FA) as an additional security measure. When a cardholder enters the application, the person inputs their card number and security information to verify their account. The IVR application then pings EML’s databases to retrieve the card account balance. During this process, none of the cardholder’s information is stored on the Plum Voice platform which offers additional security.

Cardholders can access this automated system in two different ways:

They can call the IVR application directly, or
They can access it through the EML’s primary customer service number.

EML uses another IVR application to route calls to its customer service representatives. When a caller selects the card balance inquiry option, they are transferred out of that system to the automated account inquiry application on the Plum Voice platform.

“I can’t think of a time in the last two years where we had customer complaints because they were unable to retrieve the information they wanted. The system is always up and running, we’ve had no issues and customer satisfaction is high because of that.”

Jason Nadler, Vice President of IT for EML

Results

EML’s Vice President of IT, Jason Nadler, oversees the Plum Voice IVR system and related integrations. He stated “I’m very pleased [with Plum Voice] from the IT side. Work gets done promptly and on budget.” He also mentioned the system’s reliability, “I can’t think of a time in the last two years where we had customer complaints because they were unable to retrieve the information they wanted. The system is always up and running. We’ve had no issues, and customer satisfaction is high because of that.”

While EML uses an IVR system to deliver a better cardholder experience, it also makes life easier for the company’s customer support representatives. Amanda Jordan, the Director of Client Support at EML, oversees a team of twenty CSRs. On average, her team fields around 12,000 calls per day. Compare that number to 2,700 calls per day that are now handled by the IVR system, and the IVR containment rate is about 80%. In comparison, most companies are fortunate to have an IVR containment rate of 50%.

There is no doubt that EML’s ability to optimize their customer service has contributed to the company’s positive customer satisfaction. “The self-service IVR option from Plum Voice ensures that the Client Support Representatives are handling more complex issues beyond a balance inquiry,” says Jordan. This allows them to provide high-touch service to the cardholders who need it most.

Contact us today to learn more about Plum Voice products and voice automation solutions for your business.