CMS Journal

An efficient, cost-effective paperless bank branch is the way of the future, and attendees at the BAI Retail Delivery Conference & Expo in Boston this week will be among the first to experience it.

WAUSAU Financial Systems’ Paperless Branch encompasses all areas of the banking office, including new account opening, teller line, back office, safe deposit box and ATM. Electronic signatures, document capture and image verification work together seamlessly in a formerly paper-intensive environment. WAUSAU’s display at BAI will bring this concept to life. Those who attend will literally walk through all areas of the branch that can benefit from a paperless strategy.

Attendees will also see how to make the most of an existing branch, rather than bear the expense of opening additional locations.

The Paperless Branch has won the BAI Innovation Award as well as the 2009 BankNews Innovative Solutions Award for Best Management Solution.

In addition, WAUSAU Financial Systems and Aite Group will release at BAI a comprehensive final study that sizes up exactly how far banks have come on their journey toward becoming truly paperless – and how much work remains to be done.

The 45-page study, “Beyond Check Imaging: Reaping the Benefits of a Paperless Branch,” contains 36 figures and two tables. A complimentary copy is available for download at www.paperlessbranch.com.

“Check imaging and deposit capture are critically important, but they’re truly just the beginning of what we call Paperless Branch,” said Todd Juracek, President, Enterprise Payment Solutions Group for WAUSAU Financial Systems. “There are endless opportunities for transformation within a branch environment, and the benefits include improving workflow, mitigating fraud, meeting compliance needs, reducing costs and eliminating lost data.

“Our collaboration with Aite Group is the first significant research of its kind, detailing the current priorities of retail and IT leaders. The study points to where organizations may be falling short in terms of missing opportunities to drive further efficiency as well as mitigating risk associated with compliance issues,” said Juracek. “It’s must-read information.”

To complete the study, Aite Group held in-depth conversations this summer with 21 U.S. bank executives. Initial results were released in September.

The survey’s major conclusions include:

• Paperless branch processes are at the top of financial institution executives’ list of branch priorities. Also ranking high in importance are improving compliance efforts and minimizing risk of fraud.
• Opening new branches and redesigning current branch locations are low priorities for financial institutions, not surprising given the condition of the banking industry. Banks need to work with what they have and focus on improving branch efficiencies. The branch is still their most expensive channel.
• Many financial institutions believe they have already implemented a paperless strategy because they have deployed branch or remote deposit capture, but there are many other areas within the branch that are still paper intensive that offer significant opportunity. Making incremental investments can drive efficiencies and ROI in the near term.
• Seventy-five percent of surveyed branch executives do not have access to detailed, real-time data on where, when and by whom each document is touched. Without electronic processes, there is no way to be 100 percent sure that all employees are following the appropriate procedures across the entire branch channel.

“We encourage bank leaders to read the entire report to gain a solid understanding on the state of the industry with regard to Paperless Branch, and to realize where they rate in relation to their peer institutions and the potentially significant financial opportunity that exists. Our objective is to provide background and perspective that helps organizations make informed business decisions, critical in a challenging economic environment like we have today,” Juracek said.

To download a copy of the complete report, go to www.paperlessbranch.com. WAUSAU’s Paperless Branch display can be found at booth 214 at BAI on Nov. 4-5.

About WAUSAU Financial Systems

WAUSAU Financial Systems is a premier provider of payment and receivables processing solutions, helping businesses of all types move money faster. With its products, services and consulting, WAUSAU works with customers to speed check processing, electronic presentment, ACH payments, transaction processing, distributed capture and enterprise content management. WAUSAU holds the No. 1 market share position in retail and wholesale remittance processing solutions. WAUSAU processes more than $1 trillion in payments each year through its work with more than 650 organizations, and maintains more than 30 percent of all U.S. lockbox volume. The company works with 13 of the 25 largest financial institutions, 42 percent of insurance companies with more than 5 million customers and 24 percent of utilities with more than 100,000 customers. More than 200 financial institutions use WAUSAU’s remote deposit capture service, and industry consultants Celent and Aite have ranked WAUSAU’s remote capture functionality above all competitors. For more information, visit www.wausaufs.com.