SunTrust Streamlining Loan Origination Through Automation, Standard

SunTrust Banks Inc., Atlanta, hopes to streamline loan origination by automating the process and moving to a common set of systems.

The $42.8 billion-asset banking company is installing a suite of loan origination and compliance software from Formation Technologies Inc., a unit of John H. Harland Co.

SunTrust officials expect the software, which automates the capture of customer information and prepares documentation for closing approved loans, to speed loan processing and ease compliance throughout the bank's multistate service area.

The bank began testing the software in May, and expects to have a pilot institution in Georgia up and running by the third quarter of 1995.

SunTrust's move to standardized loan origination software is part of a bankwide effort to support common back office systems in a number of operational areas.

Like other large banking companies, SunTrust has been working toward creating a standard system environment to improve efficiency and customer service, said Charlotte Eckard, senior vice president of SunTrust Service Corp.

Most recently, the bank has completed the implementation of a common demand deposit system, and consolidated its trust systems.

Its next project will be to replace existing customer information systems with a central data warehouse that will facilitate the establishing of companywide customer relationships, Ms. Eckard said.

The switch to standardized loan origination systems will help SunTrust compete more effectively with other banking and finance companies, she said.

The new software makes it easier for the bank to comply with federal and state regulations because Formation takes on that responsibility, said Ms. Eckard. The bank has versions of software that automatically adjust the forms to comply with the regulations of the particular states in which it operates. This facilitates the bank's movements into new markets, she said.

The system will run in the branches on networks using Novell's Netware operating system and with personal computers running International Business Machine Corp.'s OS/2 operating system.

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