Allowing members to manage their financial products remotely isn't a luxury for credit unions these days. It's a necessity. Especially for university-oriented credit unions, whose members are likely to move away from their primary service areas, online and mobile access is a must.
One concept that college town credit unions are leveraging is the ability to sign loan documents remotely using the document presentment application TotaleAtlas from New Jersey-based technology vendor Integrated Media Management, which works with around 500 credit unions.
Through TotaleAtlas, borrowers receive an email stating that loan documents are ready to view and sign; they can then sign electronically using an e-sign consent form or physically sign using a tablet device at a branch. Credit unions receive the loan documents instantaneously and can fund the loans quickly.
"For university credit unions, members typically come in while they're in school, it's great for four years, and then–poof–they're gone," said John Levy, executive vice president for IMM. "Offering home banking allows credit unions to maintain a greater percentage of their members. [With TotaleAtlas] credit unions can service members more quickly. The signing process takes minutes, instead of days or weeks."
The $699.6 million Purdue Federal Credit Union of West Lafayette, Ind. offers remote signing through TotaleAtlas, a worthwhile investment as approximately 40% of Perdue FCU members live outside of the Lafayette area, said Purdue FCU's Jackie Hofman.
Hofman said the remote signing technology is one piece of the credit union's effort to cater to members located outside of its primary service area.
"It's a selling point," Hofman said of the technology. "It's certainly not an acquisition point, but it's something members want and value. And Purdue University students expect us to be on the cutting edge of technology."
Levy said another benefit of the technology is its ability to eliminate printed document processes, which saves credit unions time and money.
"For individual employees not to have to take papers and collate them, they're going to be more productive," he said. "From a back-end perspective, when paper documents come in, you have to scan and index them, and that's a serious cost."
Hofman agreed that the paperless aspect, as well as the security the technology provides, are big pluses. "Our documents are electronic, so we know where all of our forms are," she said. "It's done a great job with streamlining. Going paperless is something that's part of our members' mindsets, and we promote the security aspect as well."
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Natasha Chilingerian
Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.
