Posts Tagged ‘US Bank’
It’s Time to Make Enterprise IT Simple
Friday, March 23rd, 2012
In today’s world, we’re able to configure networks, deploy storage, install applications and synchronize them to multiple systems either from a PC or simply with a $300 smartphone. However, an organization’s $5 million data center cannot execute similar tasks as easily. How is that possible?
Having been a part of the technology industry for more than 20 years, Silanis knows simplicity can be hard to achieve. Some of our enterprise customers are processing hundreds of millions of electronic transactions annually. This creates a lot of data that needs to be stored for extensive periods of time, in some cases up to 35 years for a life insurance policy or a mortgage. Over the lifetime of an e-transaction, there are continued interactions with this data. If we look at any company’s data center where digital documents and e-signatures are stored, we’d find amazing technology that can achieve incredible things, but it’s incredibly complex to manage. What is surprising is that organizations are still relying on manual intervention, often the company’s best IT personnel, to fix a problem within the data center.
We believe it is time the enterprise technology industry identifies each complexity and sees what can be done to make it simpler. In saying this, I am reminded of one large bank that needed to simplify back office operations. While the back office had invested heavily in both people and technology to streamline parts of their processes, they were never completely paperless because the loan documents required a signature. Facing pressure to decrease costs and inefficiencies, the back office became a driver for straight through, paperless processing. By using enterprise e-signatures to create a 100% electronic loan transaction, they were able to keep electronic forms and documents online. They could then hand-off the completed electronic documents to a downstream system for processing, without any manual intervention (sorting, scanning, archiving, etc.) from the back office. This alone cut nine steps from their workflow. Overnight, branch operations no longer needed to check loan documents for errors, put loan packages into a nightly green bag, have the bags picked up at the branch and shipped to a central location for processing. The back office operations eliminated all manual sorting, imaging and archiving of loan packages. This became a completely automated process with specific rules and workflows. And the 20+ people who were responsible for manual checking the loan documents for errors and omissions were reassigned to more valuable tasks. Not surprisingly, with this new found simplicity came massive cost savings.
With more than 70% of IT budgets being spent on trying to get technology to work the right way, it leaves many IT departments very little time, money and resources to figure out worthwhile ways to utilize their rapidly growing electronic data and the computing power of the data center.
Simply put, it’s time to pursue the Age of Simple Computing and make enterprise IT simple.
Categories: Customer News, In the News, Industry Insights
Tags: Banking, Customers, e-Sign Enterprise, e-signatures, electronic banking, electronic loan processing, electronic signatures, Silanis, US Bank
Silanis Attends U.S. Bank’s Consumer Lending Conference
Friday, March 16th, 2012
Every year, U.S. Bank hosts a leadership conference that brings together top performing U.S. Bank employees, the bank’s leadership team and business partners. Two weeks ago in California, Silanis was proud to take on a sponsorship role at this year’s event, recognizing this great institution as they celebrated employee performance, motivation and innovation. According to U.S. Bank’s Anthony C. McGill, EVP, Consumer Lending, “U.S. Bank is positioning itself not only to become one of the nation’s top employers, but also to become an even greater leader in the banking industry.”
As the industry evolves to more of an e-banking model, U.S. Bank continues to differentiate itself by enabling electronic signature technology in its branches. In fact, this institution made exception (error) processing nearly redundant by incorporating e-signatures into their consumer and business loan processing, which was deployed across more than 3,000 retail branches in 2011. As a result of using an e-signature enterprise solution, the bank nearly eliminated all loan exceptions; cut the majority of document handling costs; exceeded compliance requirements; redeployed bankers’ time to sell more loans; and perhaps most importantly, improved customer experience in the branch.
Investing in transformational initiatives at the branch level is a top 5 trend explored during a recent Silanis webcast entitled, “The Top 5 E-Signature Trends in Banking” that shared the latest e-signature drivers, applications and best practices within banking.
Foremost today is the focus on improving customer-facing processes within the branch. This includes account openings or onboarding for deposits and other daily retail banking activities. Some banks are starting with new client account openings as the baseline business process, while others are focused on using e-signatures when opening a credit card account with existing customers.
While I’ve read a lot of pundits, blogs and articles that question the future of branches, it’s my opinion that they will not be taken over by mobile and the web. Banks clearly see their value as a trusted advisor when customers are trying to make important financial decisions, and they are investing in upgrading their facilities to better service customers. Banks are building “test branches” for the future, trying out new technologies that will appeal to customers, and then migrating them across enterprise.
When banks make improvements, they are noticed by customers. Signing off on a financial transaction such as a mortgage or long-term investment is already stressful enough — imagine having to return to the branch after all the paperwork has been finalized, because the bank calls you back over a missing signature. E-signatures are a means to eliminate much of the painful effort and poor customer experience involved in contract rework, that is, calling a borrower back into the branch to re-sign paperwork that was not completed correctly in the first meeting.
Banks are investing in their branches because the majority of products being purchased are still being bought in the branch or through an offline process that eventually ties into the branch. Financial products are increasingly complex and for many customers a face-to-face meeting is the preferred channel where they can ask questions throughout the process. Banks are therefore re-designing the branch for a better financial services shopping experience. As banks try to find ways to reach out and get in touch with customers, they will be applying much of what they learn in the branches to these new channel experiences in order to provide consistency throughout the buying experience.
Categories: In the News, Industry Insights, Silanis Events
Tags: Banking, Consumer Lending, Customers, e-Sign Enterprise, e-signatures, electronic banking, electronic loan processing, electronic signatures, Enterprise, Events, operations, Silanis, Top 5 E-Signature Trends in Banking, US Bank, Webcast
Silanis’ e-Signature Banking Summit confirms e-signature adoption has reached critical mass
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
All the presentations, conversations and questions at the e-Signature Banking Summit that took place on April 8 in New York city led to one solid conclusion—e-signatures have reached a new stage in their adoption by the banking industry.
“It’s definitely not about whether e-signatures are legal anymore,” says Michael Laurie, VP of Strategic Development at Silanis. “Now banking executives want to know how best to incorporate e-signatures into their large customer facing business transformation initiatives so they can achieve the benefits of straight-through processing.”
Hosted by Silanis, the e-Signature Banking Summit was the first of its kind and received overwhelming interest from the banking sector, ultimately triggering a move to a bigger venue at the New York Stock Exchange due to the high number of registrants.
Over 80 senior banking executives from the largest, most progressive banks and financial institutions in North America attended the day-long summit, which featured presentations from senior executives from U.S. Bank, a senior Gartner analyst, Wells Fargo’s legal counsel and a partner at Buckley Sandler LLP.
The topics, which ranged from the digital banking customer experience, to legal and regulatory news, to adoption considerations, provoked many questions about compliance, workflow and implementation considerations as well as e-signature IT requirements.
Participants were also keenly interested in a case study presented by US Bank’s David S. Miller and John Fraser on how their financial institution made exception processing nearly redundant by incorporating e-signatures into its consumer and business loan processing which is being deployed across 30013 retail branches.
One statistic delivered by esteemed Gartner fellow, David Furlonger, in his keynote, highlighted how important it is for the banking industry to continue the migration from paper to electronic processing. It’s not news that today’s youth love the web and their mobile devices, however the startling news is that by 2025, the number of Internet users worldwide is predicted to reach five billion.
This exponentially increasing number of ‘connected’ customers means that financial institutions have no choice but to focus on digital service delivery across all channels–whether it’s through mobile devices, computers, or in their branches—if they want to meet customer expectations successfully.
Another important takeaway from the Summit emerged in the presentations delivered by Margo Tank from the law firm, Buckley Sandler and David Whitaker from Wells Fargo.
Both their presentations reinforced how important it is to establish signing intent, stressing the importance of a solidly designed e-signing process as well as the need to demonstrate the signer’s ability to do so electronically.
Click here for more information on the role the e-signing process evidence plays in mitigating legal risks.
In response to widespread feedback from attendees who were hoping the summit would provide more insight into solution options, Silanis will host a webcast on Tuesday May 3rd. e-Signatures in Banking Use Case Demonstrations will feature Silanis’ Director of Business Architects, Yazan Alwaid, and show remote click-to-sign, electronic evidence playback, online delivery of disclosures and much more.
Categories: In the News, Industry Insights, Silanis Events
Tags: Banking, banking summit, Buckley Sandler, Customers, e-signatures, electronic banking, electronic loan processing, electronic signatures, Events, Gartner, Insurance, Legal Counsel, Michael Laurie, Silanis, US Bank, Wells Fargo
Silanis’ E-Signature Banking Summit Reaches Peak Capacity
Thursday, April 7th, 2011
With just a day to go before the start of the Silanis’ E-Signature Banking Summit taking place on April 8, 2011 in New York City, we are extremely pleased to note that the registration for this one-day event is nearly triple what had originally been anticipated.
In fact, in order to accommodate the higher number of registrants, Silanis had to move the Summit locale to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to accommodate all our guests more comfortably.
The E-Signature Banking Summit, hosted by Silanis, will feature presentations by senior executives from U.S. Bank, a senior Gartner analyst, Wells Fargo’s legal counsel and a partner at Buckley Sandler LLP who will address the topics most critical to the optimal integration of enterprise e-signature solutions within financial institutions.
According to Silanis CEO and co-founder, Tommy Petrogiannis, the high level of interest in the Silanis’ E-Signature Banking Summit makes sense: “In just the last twelve months, we’ve seen double the number of requests for proposal (RFP) from large organizations who are looking at implementing e-signature solutions. Of those RFPs, ninety per cent were for enterprise solutions.”
As with many large institutions, the banking industry is very aware that providing their customers with efficient, easy-to-use services that are in sync with our electronic age is essential to their success. But given the substantial risks and the complexity of their industry—such as the need to comply with increasingly stringent regulations and the necessity of demonstrating compliance to their customers—banks have various considerations and questions surrounding the implementation of enterprise e-signatures. The Silanis’ E-Signature Summit was designed specifically to address this need.
“Ten years of experience helping organizations migrate their paper based process to the web has given us insight into what companies need to successfully implement the right solution,” adds Mr. Petrogiannis. “Using a well-designed, e-signature process management solution not only mitigates risks for the banking industry, it has proven abilities to turn a good customer experience into a transformational one.”
Silanis Technology is the electronic signature provider for leading financial institutions, including U.S. Bank, Stewart Title, Country Financial, BMW Financial Services and 21st Century.
Categories: Customer News, In the News, Industry Insights, Silanis Events
Tags: Banking, Buckley Sandler, Customers, e-Sign Enterprise, e-signatures, electronic banking, electronic loan processing, electronic signatures, Events, Gartner, loan, loan operations, Michael Laurie, Silanis, US Bank, Wells Fargo
E-Sign Legal and Regulatory Update: Top Financial Services Law Firm to Present at Silanis’ E-Signature Banking Summit
Thursday, March 10th, 2011
Bank executives and legal counsel responsible for mitigating legal and compliance risks for their institutions are invited to attend the E-Signature Banking Summit in New York City on April 8, 2011, hosted by Silanis Technology. Margo Tank, Partner at Buckley Sandler LLP – a top law firm to the financial services industry, will provide an update on recent court decisions involving electronic transactions, including the impact that implementation issues has on a bank’s e-commerce strategy.
As banks face pressure to comply with increasingly more stringent regulations, the ability to demonstrate compliance with consumer protection laws and other regulations is vital to reducing risk and ensuring electronic processes are defenseable in the event of a legal dispute.
During her presentation, Ms. Tank will share her in-depth knowledge of what banks can do to minimize their risk and even strengthen their legal and compliance position using electronic signatures.
Having played a leading role in advocating the enactment of the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN), Ms. Tank regularly advises financial service organizations on electronic signature and record matters, data security and related e-commerce issues.
She was also the co-reporter to the Standards and Procedures for Electronic Records and Signatures initiative (SPeRS), a private sector initiative of more than 30 companies that created industry-recognized “rules of the road” for conducting business transactions online, including the guidelines for the use and acceptance of electronic signatures and records.
“Since the passing of the E-Sign Act, the question on most organizations’ minds is not whether electronic signatures are legal, but rather, how reliable are they in helping organizations to defend their position should a legal dispute arise,” said Tommy Petrogiannis, CEO and co-founder of Silanis Technology, the electronic signature provider for leading financial institutions, including U.S. Bank, Stewart Title, Country Financial and 21st Century, and host for the event.
“The key to ensuring an enforceable e-signed record and staying out court in the first place, is to capture and reproduce as much electronic evidence as possible about what took place during the transaction.”
The one-day event will also feature presentations by senior executives from U.S. Bank, a senior Gartner analyst, and Wells Fargo’s legal counsel.
Categories: Silanis Events
Tags: banking summit, Buckley Sandler, e-signatures, electronic banking, electronic loan processing, electronic signatures, Gartner, Legal Counsel, loan, operations, Silanis, Straight-through Processing, US Bank, Wells Fargo
The Ideal Banking Experience: Gartner Analyst to Present at Silanis’ E-Signature Banking Summit
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
Bank executives looking to take their customer service to the next level are invited to attend the E-Signature Banking Summit in New York City on April 8, 2011. During the keynote session, David Furlonger, Vice-President and Distinguished Analyst of Gartner’s Banking and Investments group, will present how to define, design and deliver the ideal customer experience based on the latest consumer trends, innovations and lessons learned.
While most financial institutions agree that delivering exceptional customer service is critical for maintaining and gaining a competitive edge, all too often they impose a bank-centric view of the world on customers, and fail to understand what customers want and how they wish to interact.
Transparency, speed, mobility and choice are all top of mind for customers. Yet 20th century bank processes and operating paradigms, characterized by inefficient and time-consuming, paper-based processes, prevent banks from delivering on customer expectations.
“People’s work and home schedules are only getting more hectic, and so increasingly they want to be serviced over web. Consumers don’t want to have to go into a branch just to sign a document,” said Tommy Petrogiannis, CEO and co-founder of Silanis Technology, the electronic signature provider for leading financial institutions, including U.S. Bank, Stewart Title, Country Financial and 21st Century, and the host of the event.
“Moving to paperless loan processing has enabled our financial service customers dramatically improve service to their end-customers, resulting in 90% adoption of the technology and higher loan volumes.”
During his keynote presentation, Mr. Furlonger will dig below the surface to provide insights on what banks can do to deliver better, all-around customer experience by answering three key questions:
- What are the top consumer trends?
- What impact does digitization have on customer experience and bank capabilities?
- What lessons can be learned in customer interaction and experience from outside of the financial services market?
This one-day event will also feature presentations by senior executives from US Bank, Wells Fargo’s legal counsel, and a leading e-commerce law firm.
Categories: Silanis Events
Tags: banking summit, Buckley Sandler, e-signatures, electronic banking, electronic loan processing, electronic signatures, Gartner, Legal Counsel, loan, operations, Silanis, Straight-through Processing, US Bank, Wells Fargo
E-Signature Practical Considerations: Wells Fargo’s Legal Counsel to Present at Silanis’ E-Signature Banking Summit
Monday, March 7th, 2011
Bank and IT executives tasked with automating highly regulated transactions requiring customer signatures in documents are invited to attend the E-Signature Banking Summit in New York City on April 8, 2011, hosted by Silanis Technology. David Whitaker, Wells Fargo’s Senior Company Counsel in the Strategy and Operational Risk Group, will present practical considerations for fully executing financial transactions electronically.
Named “2009’s Mortgage Banking Technology All-Star” by Mortgage Banking Magazine for his role in transforming electronic mortgage loans from an idea into a product, Mr. Whitaker will address key issues tied to the use of electronic signatures including:
- Record storage and management
- Standards for presenting customer information
- And, electronic records evidence
“Moving regulated and high-value transactions to the web without introducing new risks is no simple task. Business processes, documents and data vary according to the product or service, jurisdiction, channel and people involved – resulting in hundreds and even thousands of possible variations,” said Tommy Petrogiannis, CEO and co-founder of Silanis Technology, the electronic signature provider for leading financial institutions, including U.S. Bank, Stewart Title, Country Financial and 21st Century, and host for the event.
In each scenario, the appropriate documents and disclosures must be presented and specific actions have to be taken in the correct sequence, in order to comply with various federal and state laws. Attendees will gain invaluable insights from Mr. Whitaker’s extensive knowledge of electronic records and electronic signatures compliance requirements.
In addition to co-authoring a book entitled “The Law of Electronic Signatures”, Mr. Whitaker served as an advisor to the financial services industry during the drafting of the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN), was the reporter for the Standards and Procedures for electronic Records and Signatures (SPeRS), and chaired the Online Lending Subcommittee of the Mortgage Bankers Association Legal Issues Committee, amongst other things.
This one-day event will also feature presentations by senior executives from US Bank, a senior analyst from Gartner, and a leading e-commerce law firm.
Categories: Silanis Events
Tags: banking summit, Buckley Sandler, e-signatures, electronic banking, electronic loan processing, electronic signatures, Gartner, Legal Counsel, loan operations, Silanis, Straight-through Processing, US Bank, Wells Fargo
The ROI of Electronic Loan Processing: US Bank to Present at Silanis’ E-Signature Banking Summit
Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011
Bank executives looking to quantify the value of adding electronic signature capabilities to loan processes are invited to attend the E-Signature Banking Summit in New York City on April 8, 2011, hosted by Silanis Technology. Two senior executives from U.S. Bank will share how their organization has moved to paperless, consumer loan processing across 3,000 retail branches.
David S. Miller, Senior Vice-President, Consumer Loan and Lease Operations, and Ben Carpenter, VP and Associate General Counsel, at US Bank will discuss why automating back-office operations with automated workflows and imaging isn’t enough to enable straight-through processing.
Mr. Miller and Mr. Carpenter will discuss how the manually processing of loan applications by bank personnel causes unintended errors and a series of ancillary problems and risks, and how US Bank eliminated these problems using electronic signatures to achieve the following benefits:
- Reduction in processing errors
- Decrease in future risks expected
- Document handling costs eliminated
- Redeployment of bankers’ time
- Improved customer experience and banker experience
- And more
“The value of moving to paperless processing typically exceeds customer expectations,” said Tommy Petrogiannis, CEO and co-founder of Silanis Technology, the electronic signature provider for US Bank, and host of the event. “Eliminating the time-delays, costs and errors associated with manually processing documents has an immediate impact on both bank’s front and back-end operations. And while the ROI of electronic signatures is extremely compelling, the improvement in the customer and banker experience, which is more difficult to measure, is priceless.”
This one-day event will also feature presentations by a senior Gartner banking analyst, Wells Fargo’s senior legal counsel, and leading e-commerce law firm, Buckley Sandler.
Categories: Industry Insights
Tags: banking summit, Buckley Sandler, e-signatures, electronic banking, electronic loan processing, electronic signatures, Gartner, Legal Counsel, loan operations, Silanis, Straight-through Processing, US Bank, Wells Fargo
