The connected credit union: How content services transform the entire operation

In this piece:

• Empowering human resources
• Transforming the accounting department
• Battling inefficiencies
• Lending automation

Content services platforms help credit unions become entirely connected — and more efficient.

Doing so requires effective data and document management that transforms processes and integrates with core systems. And it starts with the backbone of your organization.

Empowering human resources

Credit unions everywhere rely on evolving technology to attract and maintain members. But what are they doing to empower human resources (HR)?

The goal of every HR department is to hire and retain the best candidates. Candidates who will be invested in the credit union and go above and beyond to get the job done. Candidates who will ensure member satisfaction and, ultimately, increase profitability.

Here are three areas in HR where your content services solution can help the most.

3 ways HR can leverage content services

1. Recruiting

Content services solutions capture and store applications and resumes as you receive them. With that applicant information centrally located, everyone on the HR team has access to all the information they need, when they need it.

Once the solution captures applications, it automatically forwards them for quick decision-making. And when you’ve chosen a candidate, document templates generate the offer letter, route it through approvals and track changes by managers so your credit union can quickly send the offer letter.

This allows recruiters to spend more time identifying the best candidates for jobs and less time organizing paperwork and supporting documentation to begin the search in the first place.

2. Onboarding

Content services solutions give HR personnel the tools they need to better manage the onboarding process and provide smooth transitions to new employees. By providing HR with a holistic view of all related information in a single location, staff can easily track the entire onboarding process and monitor tasks across departments.

Through automation, increased visibility and centralized information management, new employees are ready for work on Day 1.

3. Policies and procedures

When you store HR policies and procedures on paper, ensuring employees review and acknowledge documents is time-consuming and prone to error.

With content services, your HR department can efficiently create, distribute and track employee acknowledgement of policies and procedures. It also reduces associated administrative tasks such as filing, copying and mailing documents.

With this documented proof of policy distribution and employee sign-off, organizations strengthen compliance and minimize liability.

From recruiting and onboarding to payroll and records management, content services help credit unions manage documents and processes so HR can focus on employees, not paper.

Transforming the accounting department

Here are three examples of how content services solutions transform accounting departments from paper parades to digital paradises.

3 ways to modernize your accounting department

1. Accounts receivable

As order forms and purchase orders arrive at credit unions, content services platforms ingest the documents, then automatically capture and validate critical information. Tedious and error-prone manual data entry is no longer needed.

Later, as payments come in, the solution captures, identifies and extracts critical data from remittances, checks and related documents. The solution then validates the information by balancing remittance totals against check amounts, reconciling payments with open invoices and automatically updating accounting systems.

This increased speed and accuracy transforms accounts receivable from an area overflowing with paper to a dazzling digital department.

2. Accounts payable

Invoices roll in from various locations and come in all sorts of different formats, making the AP process a real challenge. Content services solutions capture, organize and deliver those documents, along with supporting content, to the appropriate individuals for review, coding and approval.

By leveraging the same solution that can improve new employee onboarding, credit unions also benefit from fast and accurate invoice processing. And with content services tying your systems together so they can communicate, you create a “spillover” effect of optimization across departmental lines.

> Read more | 5 benefits of automating your AP processes

3. Vendor management

Content services centralize and streamline vendor-specific compliance documents, contract details and critical issues. Credit unions can store all vendor-related content within the solution, making it instantly available to all who need access to it.

However, you need to choose your solution wisely. The right system will provide flexibility, like allowing your staff to access existing information or capture new information directly from Microsoft Outlook — allowing them to conduct business from an application they already know and use every day. The solution should also include notifications that automatically alert employees about deadlines and upcoming expiration dates, so staff stays focused on important tasks instead of tracking documentation.

By leveraging content services across the enterprise, credit unions can automate business processes from invoice approvals to payment processing. Electronically managing the documents and information that drive accounting processes helps organizations maximize the benefits of fast and accurate invoice processing.

Battling inefficiencies

Providing fast, accurate answers for your members is vital. This is not only a great time to make a lasting impact on them, but also to capture sales information, generate leads, make tailored offers or create new sales.

Since effective content services solutions seamlessly integrate with core line-of-business applications, representatives never have to leave their familiar environments to get what they need. In addition to winning favor with members because you’ve answered their questions quickly and completely, you can save money and resources on training costs.

Content services solutions also provide the ability to track every interaction with members. Representatives can instantly see all documents associated with a member to answer their questions faster. And managers can instantly see real-time process statistics and bottlenecks to proactively prevent problems.

Here are four ways credit unions can leverage content services to become more efficient.

4 ways credit unions can benefit from content services

1. Reporting automation

Content services solutions take data from your core and turn the information into fully indexed and widely accessible reports and documents that are viewable in an instant by any authorized user. No more printing and consolidating reports.

2. Account management

By converting paper-based documents into electronic forms that members and employees can access, content services solutions provide a consistent process that is quicker and more accurate.

3. Wire transfer automation

Content services allow your credit union to create a consistent and repeatable process for every wire transfer request. This reduces risks, decreases paper and transaction costs, reduces the amount of time needed to execute the process and improves member service.

Think of it as your front line, giving you protection while enabling strategy and speed.

4. Shipping costs

Credit unions can decrease shipping costs associated with transporting paper loan documents from multiple branch locations to a central underwriting location. Content services solutions capture all paper loan documents, automatically recognize the type of documents and the keyword values. The solution then routes the information to the appropriate underwriters or loan officers for review.

Lending automation

Capturing and storing loan documentation isn’t enough. By integrating with your loan origination software (LOS), content services solutions shorten the lending cycle and make it more cost-effective. They do so by utilizing digital workflow capabilities.

Workflow management tools help lenders use rules-based processing for reviews and approvals. Timers and notifications alert users when loans need follow-up. By automatically forwarding accurate and complete documentation, credit unions drastically increase the speed of their loan processes.

Meanwhile, employees have more time to concentrate on member service.

Workflow capabilities don’t end with the loan process, though. Credit unions can use workflows across the entire organization.

Electronic signatures

Electronic signatures give members the ability to sign documents from any location, which dramatically accelerates the lending process. Transactions also become practically error-proof, as a member application can’t move forward without the completion of each required signature.

This is a huge time-saver, as a simple missed signature can cause significant delays and even impact a credit union’s ability to collect on a loan.

Integrating electronic signatures with content services allows credit unions to obtain signatures from people outside of the organization by providing complete management of processes that require secure, electronic signatures in the cloud.

This is a terrific opportunity to earn an A+ on member service.

Credit unions are also able to manage the signature cycle within the content services solution by automatically packaging documents and relevant signer information, sending the information securely to the e-signature vendor and collecting the completed documents.

With the digitization of the customer experience and the influx of nontraditional lenders, credit unions must continue to learn and evolve lending practices to outpace the competition.

Learn more about how Hyland helps credit unions transform processes and improve member experience.

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