CASE STUDY

EML Achieves 85% Call Containment Rate on Prepaid Card Balance Inquiries with Plum Voice

COMPANY
EML Payments Limited, EML Payments Europe, EML Payments Canada, and EML Payments USA have come together under one exciting new brand: EML. With payment solutions from EML, you will be empowered with more control, transparency and flexibility over your payment processes. Our combined portfolio offers innovative payment technology solutions for payouts, gifts, incentives and rewards, and supplier payments. Together, we issue mobile, virtual and physical card solutions to some of the largest corporate brands around the world, process billions of dollars in payments each year, and manage more than 850 programs across North America, Europe and Australia.

INDUSTRY
Payment Services

PRODUCT
Plum DEV

APPLICATION
Account Inquiry

Executive Summary

EML provides clients with a range of payment technology options, such as those revolving around prepaid card solutions. When the company needed to streamline card balance inquiries, it turned to Plum Voice IVR to automate the process over their voice channel. Using Plum has allowed EML to offer IVR applications in multiple languages, using a secure, PCI-compliant cloud IVR platform. With the IVR in place, EML achieved an IVR containment rate of 85% that reduced Client Support Representative call volumes, while delivering, fast, efficient customer service to end users.

The Problem

EML began using Plum Voice technology back 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.

As a leader in the prepaid card industry, most of the phone calls that EML receives are from cardholders who want to check the account balance of their prepaid cards. EML needed a way to streamline card balance inquiries so that cardholders got the information they needed quickly and Client Support Representatives wouldn’t be over-burdened responding to routine requests.

The Solution

EML chose Plum Voice IVR to automate card balance inquiries for their prepaid card programs. One of the deciding factors in choosing Plum was the fact that Plum’s cloud IVR platform is PCI-compliant. This meant that any financial data remained safe and secure.

EML also tapped Plum’s Professional Services to develop their IVR application. Plum created an application to EML’s custom specifications. Over the years, EML has added more features. For example, the company’s IVR now supports at least seven different languages. When cardholders enter the application, they input their card number and additional security information to verify their account. The IVR application then pings EML’s databases to retrieve the card account balance.

Cardholders have two different ways to access this automated process. 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 for its customer service representatives, and this application gives callers the option to check a card account balance. When selected, callers are transferred to the automated card account balance application.

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“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

The Results

EML’s Vice President of IT, Jason Nadler, whose job includes overseeing the Plum IVR and related integrations, stated that he was “very pleased [with Plum] from the IT side. Work gets done promptly and on budget.” He also mentioned the system’s reliability, stating “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 IVR to deliver better cardholder experiences, it has also made life easier for the company’s customer support representatives. Amanda Jordan, the Director of Client Support at EML, oversees a team of about twenty CSRs. On average, her team fields around 12,000 calls per month. Compare that to the IVR, which takes about 2,700 calls per day, and that works out to an IVR containment rate of about 85%. By way of comparison, most companies are fortunate to have an IVR containment rate of 50%.

No doubt that EML’s ability to optimize their customer service for cardholders and employees alike has contributed to the company’s positive customer satisfaction. “The self-service option that Plum provides 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.