CLARK, N.J. — Aspire FCU is turning around consumer loans in minutes instead of days, has reduced expenses, and most important, is keeping member service high after closing six of its eight offices.
Aspire gives much of the credit for these results to an e-signature program that has been integral in the $174 million credit union's move away from bricks and mortar to largely become a virtual shop.
The 23,150-member Aspire moved two years ago to phase out its branches that were located inside air traffic control facilities in New Jersey and New York. Prior to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, it was easy for members to access the offices inside the control centers, but all that changed after 9/11 when increased security measures required members to be working inside the facilities to use the branch.
Aspire's charter is multiple common bond, primarily serving federal, state and local government, including the Federal Aviation Administration.
Aspire this year implemented IMM's Document Exchange, a cloud-based eSignature solution that does not require scanning software, signature pads or digital certificates, and is browser- and device-agnostic.
"To the member, this all means the ability to sign documents from any location, at their convenience and on their preferred device," said Aspire CEO Thomas O'Shea. "Since we no longer have many branches, we needed a way to deliver and receive loan files, applications and other documents electronically."
O'Shea said members are saying they like the new option better than having to drive down to the CU.
"Not only from what we hear, but what we see in the numbers tells us this is a very good move. Soon we expect 90% of all loan documents to be completed via e-signature. Member acceptance here has been very good. We are not getting any pushback."
Not only is member satisfaction high, but more loans are getting completed, added O'Shea. "Our average time for loan completion (excluding mortgages) went from five days to 88 minutes. This does a lot for our lending business, as you can imagine. I think closing a loan quickly also reduces the number of members you lose to other financing sources after they apply, especially with car loans."
Since going live with IMM's Document Exchange in mid-June, the CU estimates it is saving $10,000 on an annual basis just in paper and staff time. O'Shea noted that without e-signature, the credit union could not effectively serve members with its new virtual approach.
That move, overall, is saving the credit union $300,000 annually, said O'Shea (payroll and benefits savings = $316,000, data/communication = $24,000, facility/equipment/operational costs = $10,000). "We are adding to our call center to handle increased call volume, so we estimate we'll add about 1.5 people, which gets us to around $300,000 net."
