Fintech advances for credit unions. (Image: Shutterstock).
Credit unions are in a precarious position. Gone are the days when it was acceptable to conduct business as usual and still succeed. Innovative advances in fintech and a sharp focus on member experience has changed all that.
To best serve members today, credit unions must undertake transformative change to optimize business processes and procedures. The risk of doing nothing – of maintaining the status quo – goes far beyond simply losing a segment of the market. It may affect business for generations to come.
And, yes, this is when we talk about digital transformation.
|Start Small and Build From There
If you don’t have a digital transformation or optimization plan, you’re not alone. Many credit unions still have no plan. Others started, got overwhelmed and reverted back to the status quo. But a strategic plan is vital.
There are ways to break digital transformation down so it isn’t as daunting, like starting with one process or department at a time. Take the loan origination process for example. For many financial institutions, this process still relies heavily on paper. And while some parts may be digital, the lack of transparency hinders compliance efforts and doesn’t meet member service expectations credit unions hold themselves to providing.
One way credit unions are solving this problem is by deploying a content services platform that acts as an information hub, connecting information and providing a 360-degree view of each member and process. Many opt for a platform built on agile technology, which allows organizations to deploy flexible solutions that simplify and improve how they interact with content at every stage. One of these solutions, loan document tracking, helps propel transformation efforts within loan origination by accelerating the loan lifecycle, providing a complete view of the process and elevating the member experience.
|Managing the Complete Loan Lifecycle With a Comprehensive View
Loan document tracking solutions help provide a complete view of the prospect pipeline by tracking information as soon as the financial institution receives a lead. By capturing information electronically at the beginning of the process, employees know information is readily available, digitally, anytime and from any device. Employees can also run reports on that information, providing real-time insight into the prospect pipeline, including what types of loans are currently in the pipeline and all the data on those loans, to gain greater knowledge of the entire health of the lending portfolio. Additionally, loan document tracking can track all documents and data from prospects that may not be members yet.
|Assisting With Compliance Efforts
One major benefit of loan document tracking is that it can proactively notify lenders of required or missing documents – helping not only ease the mind of employees knowing they have all the information they need, but also helping to ensure compliance throughout the loan lifecycle. It also identifies expiring documents, informing loan officers of what new information needs to be collected and initiates loan document retention following payoff. This helps credit unions avoid fines and penalties to help credit unions meet high reputation standards.
Additionally, the right loan document tracking solution gives auditors a unique view of loan files – with quick assess to see whether a loan is compliant, what documents are collected, any missing information and why its missing, and what checklist items were completed.
|Elevating the Member Experience
Credit unions leveraging loan document tracking have the ability to track loan data, documents and exceptions for multiple borrowers and multiple loans. It does this by gathering and sorting all loan collateral, correspondence and borrower information for any loan product a credit union offers – agnostic of lending process type. Additionally, the solution can report on any data captured such as collateral type, entity name, expirations, exceptions, document types, items updated thought the loan process, collateral on closed loans, pipeline visibility and correspondence to further strengthen prospect and member experience.
Its clear credit unions are ready to take their transformation and optimization strategies to the next level. Remember, digital optimization doesn’t mean you have to change every department and process at once. The best approach in this era of fintech explosion is to divide and conquer. Beginning with a comprehensive loan document tracking solution is an accessible place to start that influences a large part of the business for the better. If digital optimization strategies are already in place, it can also be a great place to expand transformation plans to achieve their digital-first efforts.
Stephen Comer
Steve Comer is director of financial services and insurance sales at Hyland. He can be reached at [email protected].
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