3 areas where workflow improves your lending process

Chances are, your credit union has been using document imagining for years. But has it taken the next step by using workflow?

If not, here are three instances where workflow can increase the efficiency of your lending processes.

1. Loan operations department and “Paid Off” reports

If you’ve ever worked in a loan operations department, you know that Paid Off reports are a daily occurrence. Once received, the team must determine if overpayment refunds are required, or if collateral needs to be released or returned. Then they must also initiate record retention periods for the loan files.

This is where the power of workflow really shines. Using a workflow to identify these triggers and then automatically pushing the related document(s) or information through a lifecycle of pre-configured work queues drastically increases the speed of the process.

2. The mortgage origination process

The mortgage loan origination system (LOS) has an internal “workflow” that collects data in the application phase of the process. Ultimately, it places loan requests into a status or queue where they wait for underwriters to make their decisions. When underwriters retrieve loans from the queue, they have access to all of the information that the originators entered. In most cases, they also receive paper loan files with the supporting documents.

This is where enterprise content management (ECM) and its workflow capabilities can make a huge difference. By letting the LOS do what it does best – handling data and transactional workflows – and integrating the documents and data in the ECM system to the LOS, users stay in their familiar business applications with no need to look for information elsewhere. In the end, you gain efficiencies like increased productivity. And your staff is more satisfied, since they have everything they need to complete their tasks.

3. Maintaining mortgage loans

The LOS is designed to be transactional, so the images are tied to specific mortgage transactions. But that often causes the documents to be held hostage in that system. By moving the images into the ECM archive and enabling workflow, documents can be shared with other applications and, more importantly, other departments that may not have access to the LOS. In addition, the LOS does not have record retention capabilities, so when the loan is paid off there is no way to begin a retention period and delete the document image when the retention period expires.

This is just the beginning in the lending arena. With workflow capabilities in ECM, lenders can use rules-based processing for reviews and approvals. Timers and notifications alert users when loans need follow-up. But these capabilities don’t end with the loan process. Workflows can be used across your entire credit union. Think about the other processing in your credit union that could benefit from workflow: Accounts payable, check card disputes, employee payroll change requests and wire transfers.

In what areas do you need your work to flow more freely?

Michelle Harbinak Shapiro

Michelle Harbinak Shapiro

Michelle Shapiro has more than a 15 years of experience in the banking industry to her role as Financial Services Industry Expert at Hyland Software. Her mission is to share ... Web: www.onbase.com Details