Customer Success Story: Marine Credit Union
- pinedariah21
- Dec 31, 2025
- 3 min read
How a $1B Credit Union Reduced Call Center Escalations by 60% With AI-Powered Knowledge
Overview
Marine Credit Union (Marine CU) is a member-owned credit union headquartered in La Crosse, Wisconsin, serving more than 80,000 members across Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois. With over $1 billion in assets, Marine CU is rooted in a mission of accessibility, compassion, and personalized service for members at every stage of their financial journey.
As member demand increased, Marine CU needed to improve speed and consistency in its call center without sacrificing the human connection that defines the credit union experience.
The Challenge: Faster Answers Without Losing the Human Touch
Like many growing credit unions, Marine CU faced rising expectations for real-time answers while navigating increasingly complex policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements.
Frontline staff often needed to place members on hold or escalate questions to supervisors to locate accurate information. This slowed service, increased call handle time, and placed unnecessary strain on support leadership.
Marine CU needed a scalable way to:
Reduce call center hold times
Empower frontline staff to resolve questions independently
Maintain accuracy and compliance
Preserve a high-touch, member-first experience
The Solution: CXplainAI by CurrentWave AI
Marine CU partnered with CurrentWave AI to deploy CXplainAI, an AI-powered knowledge assistant designed to deliver fast, trusted answers to employee questions about policies, procedures, and internal processes.
Initially deployed in the call center with approximately 35 users, CXplainAI allowed staff to ask questions in plain English and receive verified responses in seconds. Unlike traditional knowledge bases, the system was customized to reflect Marine CU’s internal terminology, workflows, and documentation, ensuring answers felt natural and aligned with daily operations.
The implementation required minimal effort from Marine CU’s IT team. CurrentWave AI handled configuration, including Single Sign-On (SSO), with permissions automatically updating as employee roles changed.
Measurable Results in Just Four Months
The impact was immediate and significant:
Average answer time dropped to 4.24 seconds, compared to the previous 2-3 minutes spent searching manually
60% reduction in supervisor escalations, as frontline staff resolved questions independently
71% of users rated finding resources as “Very Easy,” with the remaining 29% rating it “Easy”
Employees also reported strong improvements in confidence and support:
“Easier to find resources”: 9.3/10
“Feel more supported”: 9.3/10
These gains translated directly into faster service, more confident employees, and improved member satisfaction.
Scaling Across the Organization
In the first year alone, Marine CU staff used CXplainAI to answer more than 30,000 questions. Based on employee feedback, the CurrentWave AI team completed over 2,100 targeted AI trainings and refinements, ensuring the system stayed aligned with evolving documentation and service standards.
Following the success in the call center, Marine CU expanded CXplainAI across internal operations and all 16 branches, delivering the same speed, consistency, and confidence throughout the organization.
The Outcome
Marine Credit Union’s experience demonstrates how AI can support, not replace, human service. By transforming institutional knowledge into an on-demand, conversational experience, Marine CU empowered employees, reduced operational friction, and improved consistency across channels.
“CurrentWave AI has been a game changer for Marine CU. Our employees now find accurate answers in seconds, boosting both efficiency and member satisfaction.”— Darrick Weeks, CEO, Marine Credit Union (2021–2024)
Faster answers. Confident employees. Happier members. Marine CU’s success shows how governed, explainable AI can strengthen service delivery while preserving the values that matter most to credit unions.
See What CXplainAI Could Do for Your Team
If your institution is facing similar challenges, see how CXplainAI helps teams find trusted answers faster while preserving a human-first service experience.
