LINDEN, N.J. - As convenience becomes more important to members – especially as credit unions reach out to generations X and Y–digital signature will play a larger role in CU business, predicts one document presentment expert.
Credit unions can’t ignore extending the branch to the home, advised John Levy, EVP of IMM here, which works with 600 CUs nationally. “Because with Gen X and especially Gen Y, they often don’t care if the branch is next door. They want to do everything online. If you want to appeal to this segment, you have to reach them in the way they like to be reached.”
Whatever the vehicle–home or mobile banking–Levy reminds that CUs have to provide a method to remotely sign lending documents, enrollment forms “whatever the need. Digital signature, where you have a true digital certificate, gives you that means.”
IMM’s digital signature product is “seamless with the core host system,” Levy explained. “You take it from account origination to the member and it comes all the way back and goes into your imaging platform. And the circle is completed in 25 to 30 minutes.”
IMM performs three levels of verification to ensure security.
Levy suggested that digital signature helps CUs compete online for new business–especially lending. “How many times do you book an airline ticket and have 24 hours to lock it in, and you go and look for a better deal? A product like this allows you to complete the transaction in 25 to 30 minutes and secure the business.
“This is another way to reduce expenses and operating costs while extending your reach,” Levy said. “Keeping up with the bricks and mortar competition from banks isn’t easy. I know that from 2003 to 2006, credit unions were adding branches at about 5.6% and banks adding them at about 10.7%. But when you look more closely at those numbers, since banks have almost 80,000 branches, they are adding branches seven times faster than credit unions.” (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com
