PAMPAS, Texas-In an effort to enhance the member experience, Cabot & NOI Employees Credit Union embarked on finding a virtual, secure way to handle signatures on important documents.
"We began calling local credit unions in our area to research companies they used or were looking at for document e-signatures," said Cabot & NOI Employees CU's president and CEO, Janna Bentley.
The e-signature movement has grown since 2000 when the ESIGN (Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce) Act was approved by Congress. That law made electronic contracts legally binding and equal to handwritten signatures. As technology has advanced, industry experts find that e-signatures are more secure than "wet" signatures.
Just as important as the security feature are the savings related to e-signatures. According to e-SignLive, one of its clients, Signature Mortgage, an independent mortgage lender based in Ohio, cut shipping costs by 85% while increasing its loan volume by 35%.
E-Sign Me Up
With 3,154 members, 12 employees, one branch and $29 million in assets, Cabot & NOI Employees began the discovery process for a new solution on Oct. 23, 2012. "We serve members in all 50 states, and sending out loan documents for signatures and waiting for them to be returned became a full-time job. Member satisfaction and compliance was always a concern."
While visiting a larger credit union, Bentley learned of the Chattanooga, Tenn.-based SIGNiX, which she later discovered was listed as a "premiere business alliance" by Credit Union Resources, Inc.
The company offers a standalone cloud interface that enables users to upload documents, customize fields, create documents and most importantly send documents out for signatures. All a user needs is an Internet connection, a computer or a mobile device.
Bentley and her team made the decision to work with SIGNiX at the end of 2012 and launched the service on Jan. 7, 2013.
"Submitting loan documents and membership cards has changed our daily processing in the loan department," said Bentley. "Instead of waiting weeks or months for documents to be returned, we receive the documents within a very short period of time. Privacy and security has been enhanced. Members love the convenience."
While considered an intuitive service that is easily uploaded, Bentley did opt for testing, which was uniquely executed. "The board of directors went through the required steps to sign an e-document to give their approval to go through with a contract from SIGNiX, and they stated that the product was very user friendly. We also chose members in different age brackets to use the product."
Since the service was only recently rolled out, a return on investment is hard to calculate, noted Bentley. Early indications, however, are positive. "We will be comparing the cost of postage for sending, resending and prepaying the postage, and for loan documents to be sent between the credit union and the member," said Bentley. "Reduction in staff time has already been noticed."
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