Company: PREMIER Bankcard, Sioux Falls, SD
Company Description: Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, PREMIER Bankcard is privileged to be locally grown and nationally known with over 3.4 million active cardholders. We are proud of the reputation we have built as a top issuer of subprime credit cards in the US, but even more proud of the values embodied by our team of over 1,700 associates across four locations within South Dakota.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Team Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Contact Center of the Year (Over 100 Seats) - Financial Services Industries
 Nomination Title: PREMIER Bankcard Customer Service Team
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the achievements since July 1, 2020 of the nominated team, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions for this category, provide them in the spaces below.
- Briefly describe the nominated team: its history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 200 words used.
PREMIER Bankcard was founded to provide financial opportunities to people with less-than-perfect credit, offering a second chance to credit to those who need it most.
Community involvement is a priority. We invest in our communities with our time and resources. We support nearly 700 local organizations and are the largest United Way donor to the communities we serve.
Customer Service is the heartbeat of PREMIER Bankcard. We empower our Customer Service professionals to represent our brand and services. Our wholly-owned, 100% U.S.-based Customer Service team of nearly 250 dedicated employees is 100% committed to putting our customers first. This award-winning team fields inbound calls, helping customers seeking support, troubleshooting inquiries, and solving wide ranging customer issues.
Our team thrives on a culture of inclusion, and we have created an environment where growth opportunities are constant. Customer Service has proven to be a launching pad for many long-term careers. About 25% of our associates have been with us for 10+ years, with 10% of those at 20+ years. About 50% of our management team has been with us for 15+ years with many having started as associates. Due to workforce demand, 50% of our Customer Service workforce is remote.
- Outline the team's achievements since July 1 2020 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 246 words used.
The team continues to pivot and respond to customer needs. Handling an average of 515,000 calls a month since July 2020, with an average speed of answer of just over a minute at 62 seconds. Customer Service earned an 89% satisfaction rating through customer surveys.
Our customer service team is able to quickly react to the needs of our customers. As a response to our customers’ needs in 2020, and in collaboration with our Customer Service team, PREMIER Bankcard established a COVID-19 Relief Program. Customers called us to enroll and then were able to skip two monthly minimum payments. Customers could re-enroll in the program if they continued to need financial help. Our Customer Service staff provided this much-needed critical assistance to over 255,419 customers.
The Customer Service team is also focused on retaining our customers. The team is empowered to help customers, answer their questions and concerns and is able to work with customers who call asking to close their accounts and successfully retains nearly 40% of those accounts.
As a response to our customers’ needs during natural disasters, such as hurricanes and fires, the Customer Service team assisted in enrolling customers in a relief program waiving the minimum due for one payment cycle to ease the financial hardship following the event.
The credit journey is different for each of our customers and this award winning team fields many call types with the end goal of assisting customers in navigating their credit journey.
- Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the team's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 249 words used.
Our Customer Service team frequently works with customers experiencing emotionally difficult situations like catastrophic illness, job loss, divorce, and the aftermath of natural disasters. Many of our customers have been previously declined by other credit issuers and are left feeling hopeless.
This has never been more apparent than during and following the COVID-19 pandemic. Our customers, faced with severe financial instability, needed to talk to someone for guidance and reassurance. While countless other companies reduced hours, increased wait times, and directed traffic to other channels, we stayed true to our core belief that customers come first. We re-aligned resources and expanded remote working opportunities to ensure our staff was safe while remaining available to take all calls and maintaining high service levels.
We send approximately 225,000 surveys a month with an average 11% response rate. Our agents receive a star rating on the customer interaction with 5 stars being the highest. Our team averages a 4.56 star rating along with many positive comments. Examples include: “positive people skills of communication/ very understanding”, “I always have had excellent service!” and “Great customer service fast to the point”.
While we enjoy assisting customers, we understand their time is valuable. Our digital team launched a new mobile application in May that required our customers to complete the login process again to transition to the new application. We were able to not only assist the customer with the transition but educate them of the new self-serve options available to them.
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 140 words used.
PREMIER Bankcard hold high standards for customer service. Key Performance Indicators are monitored and reported to the entire business monthly. The two KPIs are number of calls handled and the average speed to answer (ASA) time. The industry benchmark is 98 seconds to receive assistance. Average speed to answer for PREMIER Bankcard is currently 62 second.
The overall customer experience is very important to the customer service team. Customers are offered an opportunity to complete a survey at the end of their phone call with a customer service associate. PREMIER has achieved a 4.56 star rating out of five stars. The other benchmark is the customer experience. This score is measured through this same survey. Our Customer Experience score is 89. The industry standard for customer service is 60%. PREMIER Bankcard exceeds industry benchmarks for ASA and customer experience.
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