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Writer's pictureKelsie Papenhausen

Notre Dame Federal Credit Union Makes Voice Authentication Available for Members

Members banking with NDFCU will have frictionless, secure access to their accounts using voice biometrics


St. Joseph County, Indiana: Notre Dame Federal Credit Union (NDFCU) is partnering with an award-winning CUSO, Illuma, to rapidly deploy modern voice authentication technology that will improve their member experience.


Creating a More Accessible AND Secure Experience Is Key to Serving Members

Using outdated authentication methods like security questions creates risk for account takeovers in the credit union call center. Fraudsters are becoming increasingly adept at stealing, buying, or socially engineering their way to answering out-of-wallet questions. At the same time, members often forget the answers to these security questions, which can cause frustration and friction.


Eric Wathen, Director of Compliance at NDFCU, spoke about the primary driver in the decision to try voice authentication. “Notre Dame FCU partnered with Illuma to improve member authentication and to address the rising risks associated with account takeover attempts. This technology reduces the need to ask account and security questions (since those answers can be easily obtained via social engineering). Voice biometrics enhances the member experience by creating a frictionless authentication solution.


Voice Biometrics Works Regardless of the Language Spoken

With an international member base representing diverse nationalities, accents, and languages, NDFCU sought to work with software that leverages biometric voice matching robust to these variations.


According to Illuma’s CEO and Founder, Milind Borkar, “Illuma’s software works by creating an AudioPrint™ based on the unique characteristics of the speaker’s voice rather than the words they say or the language they speak. That means it can verify a member passively in the background of a call during normal conversation. Our system removes friction from the mandatory authentication process and simply lets the member and the agent communicate naturally.”


The new authentication process aligns with NDFCU’s modern and user-friendly approach to providing members a seamless experience. More credit unions are expected to follow suit since this step in digital transformation is affordable with Illuma’s right-sized solution.


About Notre Dame FCU

Notre Dame Federal Credit Union (Notre Dame FCU) is a not-for-profit financial cooperative. With assets exceeding $1 billion and more than 60,000 members worldwide, Notre Dame FCU’s dedicated partners (employees), coupled with a wide array of financial services, provide members a personalized experience through its traditional retail branch network in Northern Indiana and Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, its virtual branch (Shamrock Center) and its robust online banking platform and mobile application. To learn more, visit https://notredamefcu.com/.


About Illuma Labs

Illuma Labs is a credit union service organization headquartered in Plano, Texas. The company’s flagship product, Illuma Shield™, replaces traditional knowledge-based authentication practices with an effortless and secure real-time voice authentication solution to enhance member experience, improve operational efficiency, and prevent fraud. Illuma Labs is the exclusive provider for CUNA Strategic Services and has industry endorsements in 34 U.S. states. For more information, visit https://illuma.cx.

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