HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. - Members are forgoing a walk down the hall to sign loan documents in favor of staying at their desks and using Red Rocks Credit Union’s new digital signature service via the Internet.
“At our Lockheed-Martin branch, where members literally work down the hall, some are closing the loan at their desks over the Internet instead of walking to the branch,” according to Don Arkell, VP-sales at Red Rocks CU. “I love it.”
The $150-million RRCU is currently closing 40% to 50% of eligible loans through the electronic signature and secure document delivery service, after rolling it out and starting to “push” it in March, said Arkell. Red Rocks is using TotaleAtlasWeb, part of the TotaleWorks suite of electronic document products provided by Linden, N.J.-based Integrated Media Management (IMM),
When the documents are ready to sign, IMM loads them to its secure website and sends an e-mail notification to the member. Members complete a consent and authentication process and “sign” by providing a PIN. The CU is then notified of the completed signing and can retrieve the encrypted documents for archival.
TotaleAtlasWeb is efficient, Arkell said. “We recently had one loan with an applicant and a co-applicant in different places. Both signed electronically and the loan closed in less than 15 minutes after the docs were ready.”
Rippling out from the Lockheed-Martin branch is a “strong concentration” of members, both younger and older, who live within the immediate surrounding neighborhoods and prefer to sign loan documents via the Internet, said Arkell.
Red Rocks is “pushing” its high-tech membership to sign electronically as part of a larger effort to move members to remote services, Arkell explained. “Whereas other institutions may pay lip service to remote services, we’ve hitched our wagon to this type of delivery system,” he said. “Our strategic direction is to get away from the branch.”
Indeed, people can’t apply for Red Rocks membership unless they provide an e-mail address, he said. “They get a taste of remote right from the very beginning.” Existing members have to provide an e-mail to apply for loans, as well.
“We’re the only credit union in Colorado that is marketing the perspective that digital signatures speed up the process, get the money into the member’s hands faster and are more convenient,” Arkell said.
And even though first-time users can’t see how the e-sign process works, they readily try it, he said. “Our loan processors talk members through the process over the phone, but we can’t actually demonstrate it,” he said. “So it’s amazing how many members are using it anyway.”
Although 50% of the membership closes the loan electronically, 100% apply for the loan and open new memberships via a different remote channel: the telephone, Arkell said. Existing members can also apply for loans online; an online application for new membership is in the works, he said.
E-signatures and e-loan documents are keeping down operations costs, Arkell said. “We’ve probably gained in efficiency one full-time employee.”
“Other credit unions using TotaleAtlasWeb are also offering the digital signature method before inviting the member to come into the branch,” added John Levy, EVP at IMM. “You don’t have to print paper, stuff, seal and mail, it has that cutting-edge appeal and it’s greener.”
At an average $2-million a pop for new brick-and-mortar, credit unions may find it impractical to build new branches, he added. Instead, they can use digital signatures and documents as a way to compete against the ever-expanding bank branch infrastructure, he added.
MORE
Read more about electronic signatures at cujournal.com and search the following bolded terms in the archive:
How CUs Are Making It Even Easier, More Convenient For Members To Close Loans
Electronic Signatures Make The Phrase ‘Sign & Drive’ A Reality For One CU
For info on this story:
* www.redrocks.org
* www.immonline.com (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com
