Automation – an ever evolving phenomenon that some industries have welcomed (financial) and some (medical) are slow to accept. Who wants to be the one to tell doctors that computers can diagnose illnesses better than they can? Remember the famous victory of Deep Blue over the world chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997? The human-computer chess matches continue to this day, almost always favoring the computer. Whether in business, science or gaming, advances in information technology have made it possible for systems to solve more and more complex problems with ever increasing speed.
If you need further convincing that creative lending with loan automation is for your credit union, consider the advantages of automating these four credit union lending procedures:
1. Auto Decisioning
It was long thought that manual loan decisioning is more accurate. What isn’t always accurate is a human being, Garry Kasparov mistook a meaningless chess move by Deep Blue for something more. He believed the computer knew something he didn't which led to his demise. Although it should be noted, Kasparov fared well with one win, three ties, and two losses. However, it was only a matter of time before a computer overtook the Grandmaster. Automated decisions made via a system are consistently consistent, and allow members to apply for loans on their terms while still providing a decision.
2. Credit Reports
Credit Reports should be easy to retrieve and not require navigation away from the application. Importing obligations and credit report data to the application should be a click away and not require manual entry. Configure credit reports to automatically archive to your document management system indexed to the member account and only print if necessary.
3. Go Paperless
Paperless forms and electronic signatures are a vital part of loan processing. Your credit union loan origination system should have integrated signature capture for all loan documents. Take the time to configure form groups that are relevant to each type of loan. This will save time by queuing forms for loan officers instead of forcing them to search for each applicable form.
4. Cross-selling
Don't waste time switching screens or platforms to navigate to cross-selling. Cross-selling should be integrated directly into your LOS as part of the loan processing workflow. With the member in front of the loan officer, there is no better time to let them know about your products and services. Take advantage of this opportunity and view it as the best time for direct marketing.
Computer automation is only as good as the people behind it. Deep Blue wasn't smarter than Garry Kasparov, it was just less error prone and more efficient because it was programmed to be. Loan automation will not replace your lending team, but it will enhance their productivity and streamline the process for your members.
