Case Study: Virginia Credit Union achieves faster, more secure member authentication and reduced call handling times with Nuance Communications

Virginia Credit Union delights members with secure account access

Virginia Credit Union (VACU), a $3.4 billion credit union serving 260,000+ members, faced slow, cumbersome, knowledge‑based authentication that frustrated members, consumed agent time, and left accounts vulnerable to fraud. Seeking a frictionless, secure option that leveraged existing telephony investments, VACU partnered with Nuance Communications to explore voice biometric solutions such as FreeSpeech and FraudMiner as part of a Voice ID program.

Nuance Communications implemented Voice ID—blending FreeSpeech background voice verification and FraudMiner fraud screening—integrated into VACU’s telephony and backend systems with a custom speaker verification controller and rapid Fast‑Start+ deployment. The solution trained ~20,000 voiceprints and produced 79,000+ verified matches in the first year, reduced average handle time by 37 seconds (saving the equivalent of two FTEs per month), launched in under six months, and improved member and agent satisfaction while preventing fraud attempts.

Virginia Credit Union

Kate Hopson

AVP/Manager, Contact Center