Fort Worth City Credit Union has only one branch, which poses an efficiency and energy problem with loan document execution: the credit union has to either build new branches or require customers to drive long distances to sign paper documents in person.
But the lender says it believes it has solved the problem by combining online banking and signature automation. The system sheds paper, reduces pressure to build more branches and provides a level of security to ensure consumer comfort with remote loan transactions, the credit union says.
The credit union is enabling its 14,000 members to access a document automation solution called TotaleAtlasWeb through its home banking portal, which is provided by PM Systems Corp.
The lender's document management vendor, IMM, says Fort Worth City Credit Union is the first client to access TotaleAtlasWeb in this manner.
By accessing the document management software through the banking web portal, the credit union's members can use their online banking username and password, eliminating the need for independent authentication.
Additional security for document viewing is provided through online signature capture.
The credit union is looking for energy and workflow savings from the deployment, which is still in its early stages.
By enabling remote loan closings, the credit union would not have to have members sign documents in branches. That would reduce the need not only for more physical space and the carbon footprint of building and maintaining new branches, but also for keeping those branches open extra hours for fulfillment work.
Consumers will travel less, and since the credit union's staff are freed from document processing duties, they don't have to put in extra hours.
"People can execute a loan anywhere in the world, and we don't have to put up a separate site that people have to go to," says Zane Archer, network administrator for the credit union.
There are also other "green" benefits of using the system, such as reduced paper use.
Fort Worth City Credit Union members can access an electronic signature on file at the credit union, enabling them to access and execute loan closings without having to print PDF copies of the loan, a step that is also unnecessary at the credit union's offices. The storing of signatures is designed to plug a remaining hole in loan processing automation.
While loan documentations are frequently delivered electronically, printing and scanned signatures are still necessary to complete remote transactions on both ends.
"We can get loans out faster by not having people go to a printer," Archer says.
