rewrite this title Cobalt Credit Union Teams Up with Eltropy to Deploy AI Voice – Finovate

Eltropy, an AI-powered conversations platform for community financial institutions (CFIs), announced this week that Nebraska-based Cobalt Credit Union has deployed its Eltropy AI Voice solution. This has enabled the credit union to secure an 83% session containment rate while maintaining high member satisfaction.

Session containment rates refer to the percentage of customer interactions that are successfully resolved by the AI without the participation of a human agent. Typically, these rates range between 60% and 80%, and are lower than those for text-based systems due to the greater complexity of voice-based AI systems and the nuances of natural language processing (NLP) in spoken conversations. For Cobalt to achieve session containment rates exceeding 80% with its voice-based system is a significant achievement.

“From day one, our AI-powered contact center assistant, Coby, has delivered measurable results and positive feedback from both members and staff,” Cobalt Credit Union VP of Digital Banking Chasmine McIntosh said. “What Coby does is handle routine inquiries 24/7, which frees up our team to focus on the complex situations where members really need that human touch. We consider him a vital member of our contact center team, handling high volume with empathy and accuracy.”

Formerly SAC Federal Credit Union, Cobalt CU is no stranger to AI-enabled technology. The institution implemented its first AI agent in August 2024: an intent-based system that ran alongside the credit union’s new digital banking platform. Before the end of the year, Cobalt CU had added generative AI capabilities to enable its contact center assistant, Coby, to respond to an even broader range of queries. The implementation of AI Voice represents the completion of Cobalt CU’s multi-channel AI strategy, enabling members to engage with the institution via the channel of their choice.

“The key to effective AI Voice is that it goes beyond just understanding member requests—it takes action,” Eltropy VP of Product, AI, Saahil Kamath said. “Members calling to check balances or transfer funds don’t want to work through phone menus and hold times. Our AI handles authentication conversationally, processes transactions in real-time, and provides confirmation—maintaining a natural, human-like interaction throughout. Cobalt members are experiencing this firsthand.”

Founded in 1946 as SAC Federal Credit Union, the institution rebranded as Cobalt Credit Union in 2018. Cobalt CU is headquartered in Papillion, Nebraska—part of the Omaha metropolitan area—and has more than 20 branches serving approximately 120,000 members throughout Nebraska and Iowa. The credit union has $1.3 billion in assets under management. Robin Larsen is President and CEO.

A Finovate alum since 2017, Eltropy most recently demoed its technology at FinovateFall 2022 in New York. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Eltropy offers a unified conversations platform that enables more than 700 credit unions and community banks to transform the member and customer experience. With more than 40 use cases ranging from straightforward 1:1 texting and video banking to appointment and lobby management, Eltropy integrates AI at every step to automate processes and streamline complexity. Financial institutions using Eltropy’s technology have seen reductions in delinquency and fraud rates, as well as up to a 20% acceleration in lending processes.

Photo by John Matychuk on Unsplash

Views: 137