Bankline launches midrange software to help small banks document loans.

Bankline MidAmerica. Inc., a banking systems developer based in Lenexa, Kan., has introduced a loan documentation product for community banks. The new software is designed to run in coordination with Bankline's Solv family of community banking systems based on NCR Corp. midrange computers.

Bankline's president, John French, reported that six community banks that use Solv have recently installed the new loan documentation product.

The software provides pre-qualification, origination, document preparation, as well as the tracking and closing for all types of loans. The program also computes annual percentage rates, fees, insurance premiums, and payments, as well as producing amortization schedules.

Bankline uses forms provided by Bankers Systems Inc., a St. Cloud, Minn.-based provider of bank documents and forms. "Bankers Systems insures that the forms are in continual compliance with all laws and regulations. They give us the updates and we pass the information and the changes to the customers," said Mr. French.

Unlike personal-computer-based documentation products that reside in a single user's terminal, the Bankline system runs on a host computer, enabling multiple users to access it. With a host-based system, banks can reduce the number of steps involved in approving and then booking a loan, Mr. French said.

"With the system on the host the information gets keypunched once and then it's right there on the system," John Bourgeois, executive vice president of First American Bank and Trust, a community bank with $250 million in assets located in Vasherie. La.

Prior to installing Bankline's product, First American had been using a PC-based system to serve 13 branches.

Burning Up the Fax Machine

"There was a lot of faxing between the one person who did the key punching and the loan officers," said Mr. Bourgeois. Also, with the old system, after a loan was funded, the documents were routed to the loan operations office to be rekeyed into the system and then booked. He said that with the Bankline system, booking takes place automatically, as do updates to the bank's general ledger.

In addition to increased efficiency, Mr. Bourgeois reported that First American has reduced paper and mailing costs. "We don't have to reorder forms, because the forms are on the system," he said. "The whole process is a lot simpler now."

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