How Banks like Yours are Transforming Operations with Automation
Document automation is a great way for banking organizations to increase their productivity and profitability. Taking the work out of slow, manual processes can often mitigate the potential risks that could arise when working with customer and corporate financial data. Automation looks different for every bank, but there are a few things that all banking businesses can benefit from document software like HotDocs, including maximized efficiency, minimized risks, enhanced compliance, and improved quality.
Automating the loan process for improved efficiency
Lending is an integral part of banking that requires efficient processes that improve quality while avoiding risks. As banks continue to assess their digital capabilities, leveraging document automation can keep them competitive. Using HotDocs’ template tools can minimize tedious and lengthy loan processes. Western AgCredit, a borrower-owned, financial co-op, relied on a loan origination process that required loan officers to complete a multi-page checklist that specified loan provisions and other necessary information. Each completed loan document was unique to the lending officer, leading to department confusion, human error, and longer loan processes.
HotDocs developed a “master interview” tool that generated a summary document, known as the Loan Officer Input Sheet (LOIS). The LOIS replaced the lengthy checklist, allowing officers to enter all customer-level and loan-level information with ease. Using one single document, once signed and approved, the LOIS also served as documentation for the loan. Not only was this process faster but it boosted efficiency for both the loan officers and the loan documentation department.
Avoiding risks with loan approval analytics
When processing commercial loans, there are millions of dollars on the line. Banks often apply stringent approval standards to mitigate errors and risks. These standards include comparing and analyzing data for consistency. Built on the HotDocs platform is the Expert Loan tool – an analytical, data-gathering sequence that provides analysis of data sets. Expert Loan is specifically designed to flag potential problem areas with applicants that a loan officer might miss.
By integrating requisite business logic into the Expert Loan interview, a global bank based in Western Europe is able to color-code answers as a means of flagging potential inconsistencies. For example, an answer that is consistent with guidelines will be coded green, while an answer that is inconsistent will be coded in red. Should a loan be recommended to an approval officer with red answers, the customer representative can provide an explanation of why the loan should be approved, despite inconsistencies. Leveraging HotDocs’ analytics tool, the bank is able to actively remit mistakes that could yield financial consequences.
Preventing fraud with automated workflows
A bank’s workflow leans on internal and external credit systems to build a loan applicant profile. A key function of the workflow is fraud prevention, especially collusion between a borrower and a customer representative. Rights management is one way that the workflow can prevent fraud.
The same bank allowed HotDocs to integrate document compliance capabilities into their workflows to allow for structured rights and access. Now, a customer representative can access a particular loan interview in Expert Loan throughout the data-entry process but will be locked out of the interview once the interview has been submitted for approval. Once a loan has been approved, the representative can re-enter the interview, however, all approved data sets are locked. Enacting rights-based access restricts which documents can be retrieved, modified, and stored.
Digitally transform your lending operations
Utilizing document automation like HotDocs can have a positive impact on credit and lending processes for both banks and their customers. As banks make the transition into automated document control, it’s important to ensure the software offers improved workflows, efficient data gathering, sophisticated data analysis, and document generation.
To learn more about the benefits of document automation and how it improves lending processes, contact us today to see a demo of HotDocs.