Many commercial lenders are having to adapt digital transformation and automation strategies to keep up with the ever-changing landscape. Here's how.
Digital transformation can be defined as the process of digitizing business operations through various technologies to maximize efficiency and manage information securely. Combined with automation technologies, digital transformation reduces time spent in rote processes and enables professionals across a number of industries to spend more time applying their skills and engaging with customers.
During the shift to remote work during Covid-19 restrictions, businesses around the world scrambled to accelerate their digital transformation plans. By the end of 2021, more than 70% of businesses had adopted digital transformation strategies and total global spending on these strategies had reached a trajectory of quadrupling by Q4 of 2023.
Commercial lending has been no exception to this trend, as financial institutions also feel the pressure to digitize and automate to adapt to the current emerging digital commerce landscape.
For commercial lenders looking to leverage the power of digital transformation and automation to stay ahead of the curve, there are several tools that could drive this process. Here are three essentials for commercial lending providers.
For the document collection phase of loan applications, automated document collection platforms with secure client portals provide a significant boost in efficiency when it comes to gathering the necessary documents, forms, and other data from clients. Operating on the same technology as major cloud-based file sharing services such as Google Drive and Dropbox, automated document collection platforms provide financial institutions with a single repository and upload pipeline for all incoming client documentation.
Unintegrated ad hoc practices of document collection involving hard copies, email attachments, and digital files uploaded to partitioned systems are a significant source of downtime in the loan application process. According to a recent study conducted by Moody’s Analytics, waiting for client documentation accounts for as much as 40% of loan officer sales cycle time. Automated document collection eases the process both for clients and lending staff, allowing all these commonly required documents to be stored digitally in a single system:
With configurable notifications for uploads and impending deadlines, automated document portals reduce errors while eliminating many manual rote tasks, enabling loan officers to spend more time in direct client engagement and provide overall enhanced customer service.
Compared to other industries, financial services consistently ranks low in overall customer service satisfaction and customer trust. In a digitally transformed marketplace, customers will leverage their increase in options to reward businesses that meet their expectations for personalized, high-quality service. For financial institutions, one of the most powerful tools for rising to these challenges is customer relationship management (CRM) software.
CRMs integrate data and channels of engagement across the entirety of an organization’s operations, enabling users to access all relevant client information in real-time through unified customer profiles. For commercial lenders, CRMs track with several critical performance improvements.
Loan origination systems (LOSs) are software platforms that automate end-to-end steps in commercial lending processes. These platforms can track progress through multiple phases such as application, underwriting, documentation, approval, and funding, automating workflow decisions at each juncture.
According to a recent study by the research firm Aite Group, LOS adoption in banking institutions helps meet four industry-specific needs associated with digital transformation:
To avoid redundancies and reinventing the wheel, organizations should seek digital transformation tools that address multiple needs in a single platform. FileInvite automates rote loan processing tasks with an unrivaled suite of smart features for document collection, engagement monitoring, and workflow direction.
FileInvite combines the technical capabilities of document collection platforms and LOSs with the customer service enhancements of a CRM. Through FileInvite, clients can submit all documentation and signatures digitally from any device via a single client portal with bank-grade — SOC 2 — security. This information is made available to authorized bank staff in real-time through a single administrative dashboard where requests, reviews, and approvals can be issued.
To learn more and request a demo, visit FileInvite today.
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