LIVERMORE, Calif.-Operating Engineers FCU here is making short work of some compliance tasks with the help of an electronic workflow engine.
The $777-million CU now audits new accounts in one day, down from five, said Leslie Ramirez, VP-organizational development for Operating Engineers Federal Credit Union (OEFCU).
Moreover, it takes two days to review marketing materials for compliance, down from five, said Ramirez. Both gains are facilitated by FormSpeed, the forms and workflow solution offered by Linden, N.J.-based Integrated Media Management (IMM) and deployed last year at OEFCU.
When an account is opened, FormSpeed pulls the account data from the OEFCU core system and populates the field in a request form for OEFCU representatives. Representatives log-in to FormSpeed through Microsoft Exchange server permissions to access the data.
"We audit the new accounts to make sure all information and documents were input in compliance with Bank Secrecy Act regulations," Ramirez explained. "Prior to FormSpeed, signature cards had to be mailed to the member and imaged before they were audited." Now, OEFCU captures an e-signature, then audits and archives the paperwork immediately.
"Sometimes, an employee might forget to submit a debit card request, so the debit card is never ordered," she continued. "We can spot those types of errors and make corrections right away so there's no impact to the member."
Marketing materials-accompanied by colored pens-were walked around headquarters for comment and approval as part of the previous marketing compliance process, said Ramirez.
"We'd print a sign-off sheet that indicated who had to see the marketing collateral," she said. "The collateral, sign-off sheet and pens would go in a colored envelope that was physically walked around the building. Each person with signature authority would pick a different color pen and make their comments, such as a change in verbiage or an adjustment to the size of the NCUA logo."
Now, marketing attaches electronic versions of all material to a FormSpeed workflow. FormSpeed automatically routes the documents through the designated review chain to collect electronic comments, alerting the next reviewer when the first is done.
Time saved is accompanied by the benefit of an audit trail, Ramirez added. FormSpeed electronically archives and retrieves the comments and approvals, "so, if we're audited, we have the history to show we put the marketing collateral though the proper channels. One of our biggest regulatory burdens is not only retaining documentation but proving that we've verified it." Previously, all marketing compliance documentation had to be stored as physical copies.
Just One Week Needed
FormSpeed workflows are relatively easy to implement for OEFCU. The CU created the marketing compliance workflow in one week, including assessing the business processes and developing the electronic approval forms, said Ramirez.
OEFCU is building a form that will capture the information required by the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) for selling monetary instruments, such as purchaser name and instrument serial number.
Not only will the monetary instruments form address BSA compliance, but the information will be stored in the FormSpeed database, said Ramirez. OEFCU can pull the data from FormSpeed into reporting software to identify risk thresholds and suspicious behavior.
OEFCU plans to develop an IT change-management workflow, as well, she said. The workflow will help control access to systems when employees come and go. "Change management is an important part of our IT security audit."
