The financial services sector faces mounting pressure to digitise operations while maintaining customer relationships: a challenge that is particularly relevant for co-operative financial institutions, which must balance technological advancement with member-focused principles that have defined their operations for generations.
Desjardins Group, North America’s largest financial co-operative with 7.7 million members and clients, is an example of how institutions can navigate this transition.
Through a five-year technology modernisation programme, the Quebec-based organisation has achieved a position 14 percentage points ahead of other Canadian banks in online product sales, while moving from eighth to second place in Net Promoter Score (NPS) online experience rankings among Canadian financial institutions.
In Canadian banking, digital channels now process most routine transactions, as customers demand digital access to services beyond banking – including mortgage renewals, investment products and financial advisory services.
Desjardins’ response to these market changes highlights some of the complexities of digital transformation in financial co-operatives.
The institution developed an employee-first testing programme involving 17,000 staff members and integrated AI for personalised financial guidance, all while maintaining its co-operative principles throughout the process.
“Our entire transformation has been orchestrated around our members' and clients' financial needs, reinforcing their confidence in making informed financial decisions based on their unique circumstances,” says Nathalie Larue, Executive Vice President of Personal Services at Desjardins Group.
“For the past two and a half years we've consistently been in the top three, semester after semester,” Nathalie says.
“That’s our biggest success – we’ve been able to complete this transformation while making it easier for our members to do business with us, and they appreciate how we’ve delivered these new experiences – both online and through our in-branch advisors.”
How co-operative structure has shaped Desjardin’s digital transformation
Quebec’s distinct banking market presents unique characteristics. Co-operative banks, operating under different regulatory requirements from traditional banks, must balance member service obligations with technological advancement offering all services in French.
This co-operative structure has shaped every aspect of Desjardin’s digital transformation.
“Being a co-operative means we always want to act in our members’ and clients’ best interests, whether in how we give advice or how we provide our digital services,” says Mathieu Staniulis, Vice President of Product Solutions and Digital Platforms and Chief Transformation Officer.
“We’ve redefined our service delivery model for both advisors and front-line employees alongside the digital experience.”
“There are a few things we consider central to our mission,” Nathalie explains. “First is always doing what’s best for our members and clients, focusing our efforts on meeting their needs and expectations.
“We focus on financial empowerment – the capacity of a member to manage their day-to-day finances with an approach to reach their unique goals.
“Today, the vast majority of day-to-day banking is done online because this is what members want – they want to do it easily and instantly. But they can also schedule meetings, call an advisor, or get support directly through their mobile device while doing transactions.”
Redesigning the customer journey
Canadian banking customers have fundamentally changed their interaction patterns with financial institutions over the past five years. Where branch visits once dominated service delivery, digital channels now process the vast majority of routine transactions.
Customer expectations, meanwhile, extend beyond just banking capabilities to demand seamless integration between digital services and personal advice.
Mobile applications must now support complex financial decisions while maintaining access to expert guidance when needed.
These changing expectations have pushed Desjardins to reimagine service delivery across all channels. Research conducted by the co-operative in 2021 revealed member demand for 50% of product acquisition to occur through digital channels.
At that time, digital sales represented 25% of transactions, including account opening, credit cards, savings products and mortgage renewals. The institution has since increased this figure by 15 percentage points, driven by systematic improvements in online service delivery.
“We quickly realised that redesigning a journey isn’t only about the digital experience – we also need modern systems,” says Mathieu.
“We’re currently working to modernise many systems, including our core banking systems. It's a front-to-back transformation.”
The transformation of core banking infrastructure represents a significant technical challenge in financial services. Legacy systems – often decades old – require careful management during upgrades to maintain service continuity while implementing new capabilities.
Desjardins’ approach has therefore been to integrate these technical changes with service delivery improvements.
“We’re continuing on our path toward simplicity, driven by two important factors,” Nathalie highlights. “First is the modernisation of our technological systems, particularly our core banking systems. This will require considerable time and resources, but it will help automate processes to reduce lead times and expand our range of products and services with more business agility.
“Second is leveraging data to reinforce service quality, empowering our advisors with better information to give the best advice at the right time, and continuing to provide enriched advice through our digital channels. That’s where our members are, so we need to be there with the best possible services.”
Employee previews initiative aims to improve member experience
Financial institutions face persistent challenges in implementing new technology. Traditional approaches to banking software deployment typically involve limited beta testing phases, often restricted to small customer segments.
This method can lead to service disruptions when features launch at scale, while customer-facing staff may struggle to support new capabilities they haven’t experienced themselves.
Most banks maintain separate tracks for technology testing and staff training, with employees learning new systems through formal training programmes after development completion.
Desjardins has developed a different model. The institution created a voluntary preview feature where employees test new functions before public release, combining quality assurance with practical experience for customer-facing staff. This approach represents a departure from standard banking technology implementation methods.
“We give our employees the opportunity to test new improvements and functions 4-8 weeks before our members,” says Mathieu. “This helps us improve functionality and ensures our client-facing employees understand new features before they launch.”
The initiative now involves 17,000 staff members, representing 30% of Desjardins’ workforce. These employees serve as both testers and advocates for new digital services, providing feedback to development teams while gaining practical experience to support member adoption.
“We implement over a hundred new solutions and improvements every year,” says Nathalie. “While it's a highly technological transformation, it's also very human-centric, as we need our employees' support to help our customers transition to digital.”
The evolution of mobile banking
As is the case for most institutions globally, mobile banking applications now serve as the primary channel for customer interactions at Desjardins.
The co-operative has redesigned its mobile services to handle transactions previously requiring branch visits or telephone banking while maintaining access to personal support when needed.
“Today, the vast majority of our members’ day-to-day financial product needs and services are met online, from product acquisition to ongoing services, through intuitive and automated digital solutions,” says Mathieu.
“Our members can manage their own banking operations independently, but when they need help, they can easily connect with a teller or advisor, either through their device or over the phone.”
The mobile platform integrates with advisor services, enabling members to schedule appointments, conduct video conferences, or connect directly with support staff through the application.
This integration maintains the personal connection valued by co-operative members while providing digital convenience.
How AI virtual assistant Alvie enhances financial empowerment
Banks and financial institutions are increasingly using AI to spot fraud, process transactions and provide customer service.
Many have deployed chatbots or automated alerts, while some process transaction data to generate product recommendations, but few integrate AI directly into financial guidance.
Desjardins has taken a different path with Alvie, a virtual assistant that analyses spending patterns to provide financial advice.
The system spots potential issues before they arise and suggests ways for members to improve their financial position.
“Alvie helps guide members in their day-to-day finances,” says Nathalie. “It monitors cash flows, alerts members to unusual transactions and supports them in creating and maintaining monthly budgets.”
Alvie combines two core functions: financial insights and money tracking. The insights engine monitors spending patterns, flags unusual transactions and provides budget-related notifications.
The money tracking system includes monthly activity monitoring and a budget tool that categorises spending across seven distinct areas.
Alvie’s monitoring capabilities include subscription cost changes, budget adherence alerts and spending pattern analysis.
The system integrates with Desjardins’ mobile banking platform – automatically displaying insights while allowing users to customise budgeting tools to their preferences.
The AI system forms part of a broader strategy to enhance financial empowerment among members. “We define financial empowerment as the capacity of a member to manage their day-to-day finances with the approach to reach their unique goals,” says Nathalie.
Banking’s next digital frontier
Digital banking has solved the basics. Customers can make payments, transfer money and deposit checks through mobile apps, while branch transactions have largely moved online.
The challenge for financial institutions now lies in recreating the personal relationships of traditional banking in the digital space.
This shift requires banks to rethink how they deliver financial advice and maintain customer connections through digital channels.
Simple automation is no longer enough - institutions must find ways to provide personalised service at scale.
“Looking back, the banking industry has been successful at bringing everyday banking operations online – transfers, payments, deposits,” says Mathieu. “The next stage is bringing customer intimacy to digital platforms and reinventing how we interact with customers in a digital era.”
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