BECU Acquires GenAI Capabilities and Team Members From EarnUp

Washington-based credit union BECU has acquired generative artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and 13 team members from FinTech company EarnUp.

One of the team members, EarnUp Co-Founder Nadim Homsany, is now the credit union’s head of AI strategy and innovation, BECU President and CEO Beverly Anderson said in a Thursday (July 3) post on LinkedIn.

“They are a purpose-driven FinTech company designed to provide people with financial tools to easily manage money and improve their well-being,” Anderson said. “This will rapidly enable our AI journey at BECU as we bring more personalized tools and real-time advice to our employees and members, including the future launch of an AI Advisor to enable our members’ journeys from financial access to financial freedom.”

AI Advisor will be a tool that gives BECU’s members real-time financial guidance and analytics, Homsany said when interviewed for the credit union’s blog post.

For example, if a member asks what steps they need to take to apply for a loan, AI Advisor will suggest things like how the member can improve their credit score or how they can open a secured credit card — all based on that member’s specific financial situation, Homsany said.

“The cool thing about AI and large language models and the way we plan to use them is that you’re democratizing financial access,” Homsany said in the blog post. “People who couldn’t afford financial help now have access to it. There’s that old saying, ‘It’s expensive to be poor.’ If we can find a way to make that access hyper-personalized, which is what we’re building for BECU members, then that changes the game for people.”

BECU’s efforts to meet members’ demands for frictionless features and experiences were highlighted by PYMNTS Intelligence in the June/July 2022 edition of the “Credit Union Tracker®.”

At that time, the credit union had rolled out mobile and digital wallets in response to those demands. BECU also said in that report that it continuously evaluates new technologies, services and products to offer its members to stay competitive in the market.

Another PYMNTS Intelligence report, “AI and Banking’s New Dawn: From Conversations to Conversions,” found that AI chatbots are shaping up to be tomorrow’s financial advisers.