Rogue’s Texting Revolution Drives Fast, Efficient Collections

May 21, 2025

Rogue Credit Union revolutionized its collections process by embracing texting — offering a faster, more convenient, and private way to communicate. With Eltropy, Rogue empowered its team to reach more members in less time, ensuring a more dignified and efficient collections experience.

Background

Founded in 1956 by local teachers, Rogue Credit Union has always operated on the philosophy of “people helping people.” With 184,000 members and a strong community presence in Medford, Ore., Rogue remains committed to providing personalized financial solutions that enhance the well-being of its members.

Challenge

Reaching Members Early to Prevent Delinquency

One of the biggest collection challenges Rogue faced was being able to collect payments on loans that had fallen into delinquency effectively. While important, this task often proved to be a difficult one as members are unlikely to want to engage in an uncomfortable phone conversation. However, reaching members at an earlier stage of delinquency benefits them by helping avoid negative impacts on their credit scores. For a credit union that strives to provide superior member services, Rogue needed a faster, more comfortable way to connect with members who needed assistance.

Solution

To overcome communication barriers, Rogue Credit Union decided to shift from phone calls to text messaging — a channel members were more comfortable with.

The decision to partner with Eltropy to provide this service to members was an easy one. “It just made sense,” says Mayra Cano, Assistant Manager Collections. “Members were asking to receive text messages as opposed to a phone call.”

Eltropy’s quick and seamless implementation allowed Rogue to go live in just 4 weeks, making it easier than ever to connect with members.

“It’s our first time texting in 22 years of collections. It feels exciting and like a big benefit to the department, and it’s so user-friendly we really see it being helpful in other areas,” shares Cano.

Results

Higher Response Rates. Faster Resolutions. Improved Efficiency.

The impact of Text Messaging was immediate. Rogue noticed that members responded faster and more comfortably to Texts than phone calls. As Cano puts it, “There’s a lot of fraud out there, so members were skeptical at first, but once it was established that it was a secure live conversation members were very receptive.”

It is not only easier to reach members through text messaging, but members are more responsive because sending a text response is easier than a phone call. “Text messaging provides better privacy for members – they can have sensitive conversations in a grocery store regarding their loan without talking on the phone,” Cano says.

An extra benefit to using Eltropy Text Messaging has been the ability to stretch resources at Rogue Credit Union. Like many financial institutions across the country, Rogue has looked for ways to address staffing issues at their branches. With Eltropy, they could now send up to 3000 Texts at once ,freeing up staff from making collection calls and allowing them to focus on higher-priority tasks. This added capabilities without increasing headcount —a huge win amid staffing challenges.

“The communication is still personalized, but able to reach a larger group at one time. It allows us to provide more immediate service for members that need help right away,” Cano says.

To discover how Eltropy’s AI-powered texting is transforming HR communications for credit unions, connect with the GoWest Solutions Team today.

Posted in GoWest Solutions, Top Headlines.