Banking & Finance
3 Ways Chatbots Deliver a Positive Customer Experience
Learn how AI-driven chatbots enhance customer experience and reduce costs for community banks and credit unions.
Digital transformation is the way of the future, and credit unions must embrace automated document collection to improve member experience. Learn more.
Customer service innovation, automation, digital transformation? No problem!
As customer expectations peak, credit unions are well-positioned to meet the increasing demand for personalization and expediency. A credit union’s selling point has always been: “We are your friendly, local alternative to the big banks. Here, you’re more than a number.”
Of course, success is a double-edged sword. As your credit union grows, so does your paperwork volume. It becomes harder to deliver on those promises. How can you sit down with a client face-to-face when you’re busy chasing loose-end documents to close deals?
Digital transformation is the future of work, and automation is a valuable, time-saving tool to augment member experience.
Here are 10 reasons why it’s time to leverage automation to improve how credit unions collect credit documents, organize their workflows, and engage their members.
1. Improve document collection
38% of office workers say "email fatigue" will likely push them to quit their jobs.
Inbox investigative work is fine if you’re Sherlock Holmes. Credit union employees follow complex document collection webs, using manual checklists to see that all documents are received. Email is a vast time-drain when searching for the latest version of a corrected document. Matching incoming files with member records is a human input process, prone to error. Members have to resend documents they’ve already provided. Often, they email to ask which documents are missing and receive no response. All in all, the existing workflow leaves much to be desired - both for employees, and members.
2. Increase security
Your document collection process may not be on autopilot yet, but the dark web's efforts to steal your members' information sure is! In fact:
- 86% of credit unions have breached employee credentials available on the dark web
- 66% have not deployed configurations to prevent email spoofing
- Cyberattacks against banks between February and April 2020 have increased by 238%
Most email users obtain malware and other viruses “from opening and running unknown email attachments,” according to the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Hackers can then alter files, steal financial information, and steal contact lists.
3. Enhance transparency
Operating under the virtues of openness and honesty delivers your organization something irreplaceable: your members’ trust. To accomplish this, automation brings more transparency to the data collection process for your team and your members by letting everyone in on document completion statuses, locations, and the information contained within.
4. Redefine member experience
56% of bankers surveyed by Moody's Analytics said the manual collection of data, followed by back-and-forth client communications, represented the biggest challenge in initiating the loan process.
Your members deserve the best in security, consistency, and expediency. Why not give it to them? An automated document collection service like FileInvite will allow members to log into a secure client-side portal to upload photos of documents and check on the status of their loan packet in real-time.
These intuitive and secure client portals provide a quick, easy experience that appeals to digitally savvy members accustomed to today’s “swipe-left, swipe-right” culture.
5. Integrate workflows
Data integration is critical to operations for over 80% of enterprises, however less than 40% of financial service workers are satisfied with the current level of data integration.
Many document automation solutions offer different methods of connecting with your existing workflow (FileInvite, for example integrates to your workflow using Zapier, which seamlessly connects more than 4,000 applications).
Automation solutions can make tracking file location and status more transparent across your entire workflow, reducing logistical headaches and speeding up operations—and who wouldn’t jump at the chance to save time?
An ideal automation service should work out of the box with your existing CRM, LOS, and data management software—making connections to data providers a breeze. For example, Fileinvite uses a powerful enterprise-grade API to push completed contracts through your organization.
6. Cut costs
46% of IT leaders say that automation saves 11 to 30% on manual processing costs.
You know it, we know it: your organization's bottom line makes your world go round. But less obvious is the fact that automation helps to reduce the slow, tedious minutia necessary to run a credit union—and that’s one heck of a way to cut down on costs.
Missing documents is a problem most credit unions with outdated manual processes will face—and tracking documents down burns time, which means money.
An automated document collection platform that’s accessible through one simple dash- board rids your teammates of the need to constantly search for missing files—providing increased visibility into the location and status of all your documents.
7. Close more deals
60% of borrowers want to complete the entire mortgage process digitally.
Today’s customer craves speed like Mario Andretti. Turbocharged administrative processes ensure no dollar gets left behind. Smoother, faster document handling makes all the difference between “loan completion” and “a loan left hanging in the lurch.”
In fact, member satisfaction drops 15% if the lender takes more than 10 days to provide a decision on the loan application. Therefore the ability to pick up speed in your closing process should be a priority.
8. Retain employees
The Great Resignation. The Great Departure. The Turnover Tsunami. Whatever you want to call it—workers from every industry are re-evaluating work/life balance, compensation offers, and career choices.
Credit unions face stiff talent competition with bigger banks and investment firms willing to pay top dollar for your best and brightest workers.
Automation frees employees from mundane tasks like making confirmation calls, sending follow-up emails, maintaining spreadsheets and checklists, naming and organizing documents, and tracking incoming data—helping employees feel productive, valued, and supported.
The numbers don't lie:
- 89% of workers are more satisfied with their jobs due to automation
- 91% of workers say automation increases free time and work/life balance
- 92% of companies implementing automation saw improved employee satisfaction
- 52% of companies deploying automation saw employee satisfaction increase by 15% or more
9. Boost productivity
More than half of business leaders believe they could automate 10-30% of their daily workload, and 85% of them believe this will free them to focus on goals that truly matter.
Email document requests will soon be as antiquated as the screech-and-beep of a dial-up modem connecting. We all know the sinking anxiety of a full plate of busy work. Productivity isn’t just about clearing our plates, though: it’s about hitting that blissful stride of peak efficiency and feeling like we’re adding value where we work.
Automation erases manual tasks and human error. The time saved on these tasks allows workers to spend less time in DocumentLand and more time solving challenges and inter- acting directly with clients.
Saved minutes turn into hours with one centralized dashboard that provides everything your staff needs to securely process financial transactions without sweating the details.
10. Scale up successfully
US credit unions saw explosive growth in 2021, adding 847,000 members in the first two months of the year alone. While membership growth slowed to 290,000 new members in the first two months of this year, the demand for credit union services keeps pace with job growth. In fact, credit union membership is forecasted to grow 3.5% or more per year in 2022 and 2023.
Digital transformation for credit unions
As the "unprecedented times" we are living in look to continue for at least another few years, making predictions with any amount of certainty is challenging. That said, there are a few guarantees:
- Customers will continue to look towards digital, automated solutions
- Customers will also expect and prioritize positive experiences over locations or other criteria, when selecting a financial institution
- Digital transformation will be a necessity for financial institutions looking to maintain positive client experiences in an increasingly digital world
That's where document automation tools like FileInvite come in: By eliminating the need for you to chase down documents from your clients, you will streamline your overall data collection workflow.
The results have been proven across thousands of happy clients. With FileInvite, credit unions can expect:
- An immediate 35% gain in team productivity
- Spend 80% less time waiting for documents
- Handling a request for documents in 5x fewer steps than email
To learn more and request a demo, visit FileInvite today.
