DUCA Financial Credit Union, a 70-year-old institution founded on the principle of "profits with a purpose," has grown from a unique location in Toronto to 19 branches serving 93,000 members across Canada. Despite this growth, DUCA faced a significant challenge: capturing meaningful member feedback in a timely and efficient manner to drive continuous improvement and maintain its member-first approach.
Before adopting AskNicely, DUCA relied on small focus groups organized by frontline staff and sporadic email surveys conducted by external consultants. These methods were inconsistent, unstructured, and failed to generate actionable insights. The limited feedback they collected was often outdated, making it difficult to implement proactive solutions or address members' concerns effectively. Additionally, DUCA could not consistently recognize employees who were delivering exceptional service, missing opportunities to reward top performers and setting them as role models.
This changed when DUCA’s Director of Digital Banking Channels, Arvind Dhar, joined in October 2019. One of his top priorities was modernizing how DUCA captured member sentiment and evaluated member journeys, all in support of a member-centric strategy. After a comprehensive review of multiple NPS (Net Promoter Score) platforms, DUCA selected AskNicely. “AskNicely emerged as the best solution to meet DUCA’s goals,” Arvind said.
Once DUCA implemented AskNicely, they were able to capture structured, meaningful feedback about the member experience across all touchpoints. This data empowered both frontline staff and leadership to improve services and enhance the overall member experience.
“AskNicely’s structured approach to tracking member behavior and transactional experiences ensured feedback was captured promptly and thoroughly,” Arvind said.
With real-time data at their fingertips, DUCA could monitor and compare member experiences across different channels, significantly boosting efficiency and engagement.
Arvind highlighted the platform’s ease of use and powerful features, including custom tagging, seamless integrations, and an intuitive API. Both DUCA’s executive and frontline teams used the AskNicely dashboard to track feedback in real-time, making it simple to spot urgent issues and resolve them quickly. “AskNicely exceeded our expectations in delivering actionable insights swiftly,” Arvind said.
The adoption of AskNicely was more than just a tactical upgrade; it became a cornerstone of DUCA’s broader strategic goals. NPS now plays a vital role in DUCA’s annual objectives, reinforcing the credit union’s commitment to member success and experience. The system provides DUCA with a 360-degree view of the member journey, enabling the organization to recognize employees who deliver outstanding service and to proactively address potential issues before they escalate.
This transformation reshaped DUCA’s internal culture, too. Frontline teams gained direct access to feedback, making them accountable for member experiences while also allowing them to be recognized for their successes. Feedback management has been integrated into employee onboarding, ensuring new hires understand the importance of continuous improvement from day one.
To support this feedback-driven strategy, DUCA also created a “Center of Excellence”—a cross-functional committee dedicated to continuously improving member experience. This committee, which includes leadership from digital banking, frontline services, marketing, IT, and member feedback, plays a critical role in interpreting feedback, identifying trends, and driving strategic initiatives.
