Category: Financial Services

Ten percent of credit unions looked to upgrade their core banking system last year, according to a recent report by Celent. Historically, the average hovers between four or five percent. I don’t have to tell you that changing a core isn’t exactly a small undertaking. Converting from an existing core banking platform, or even just upgrading, is a major project that impacts the entire enterprise. So why upgrade outdated legacy systems or consolidate platforms now? The market’s merger and acquisition activity has been really lively, resulting in a reevaluation of the core systems the credit unions have in place. This report focuses just on the core, but what does this technology shifting mean for credit unions’ other systems?

I often wonder how we at Anheuser-Busch Employees Credit Union survived in a world of paper and microfilm. Employees struggled to find information that was vital to do their jobs. And there was no central storage location to keep content in line. But here’s what we did have: massive vaults, dusty file rooms and rusty filing cabinets. Our employees had to battle boxes and folders full of current and previous members’ documents to find what they needed. As a result, departmental processes – including lending, member service and HR – slowed down. Finding a single document could take up to five days! Our members deserved better. Our credit union’s leaders knew we needed a solution to tie departments together, improve member service and ease reports processing at the same time. That’s when we turned to an electronic document management solution.

The idea of being paperless has and always will be a goal in banking. This sentiment was clear at last week’s Indiana Bankers Association Mega Conference. The audience at the show was impressive – most had acknowledged a business pain and had at least began building a business case and strategy for enterprise content management (ECM). And to help move their ECM project along, many attended the presentation from Cornerstone Advisors, “How to Become a Paperless Bank in Only 24 Months.” In case you don’t get a chance to dig through all 33 slides, my main take away from the presentation was this: The biggest drivers for a successful ECM project aren’t about the technology at all. Rather, the drivers are about if the organization understands its goals, technology gaps and implements against them.

One of the cool things about ECM software is that there are many components, and some benefit certain organizations more than others. Looking at this by industry, Michael Croal, Senior Director at Cornerstone Advisors, has done an amazing job of explaining what capabilities produce the best results for financial services. In his recent GonzoBanker article, The Other ERM – Electronic Records Management, he focuses on two ECM technologies - records management and workflow.

Mortgage lenders of all sizes are expected to increase their technology spending by 15 percent this year to $4.11 billion, according to the new MORTECH study. Why? They’ve weathered the subprime collapse. And now, they've recognized that technology is a vital component in addressing the changes and challenges facing the mortgage finance industry today. This rang loud and clear at MBA's National Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference & Expo where I spoke to many CIOs and senior business executives who are looking for ways to use technology to their advantage. Questions about document management and workflow were at the top of their list.

Centered in our nation’s capitol, the buzz from the recent CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference was all about addressing the needs of members – as usual – but this time, it was in the context of meeting compliance demands and alleviating the associated costs. Being part of the larger technology industry, it always amazes how much of these kind of conversations all boil down to how technology can be applied. Whether it’s regulatory developments such as the Dodd-Frank Act or seeking new ways to reach new members or customers, technology plays a key role in keeping a financial institution compliant. Some regulations have yet to be written, but financial institutions need to stay ahead of the impending rules. To accomplish this daunting task, technology must do very specific things. From what banks and credit unions are saying, here are the three most important qualities: Auditable processes and content Security Flexibility to adapt to these and other new regulations