4 minutes
Lately I’ve had a Steve Jobs quote pinned up on my virtual wall, so to speak: "Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have a faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them."
There are a precious few quotes like this one from the famous founder of Apple that are more applicable to the way loan origination software, and technology in general, should be administered. The most powerful loan origination system becomes truly valuable when placed in the hands of good and smart people.
Throughout my 15 years in the financial industry, I’ve seen numerous examples of how the lending business unit is not only technologically capable enough to administer the software, but also in many ways better equipped to implement system modifications than their pure technology counterparts. This is because of their insider’s knowledge of the lending department. While information technology definitely plays an important role in the maintenance and stability of the credit union’s systems, business administrators hold a unique position as technologists within the business unit.
So what happens when you combine the skills of an undercover technologist with the experience of an expert lender? The possibilities are endless.
For example, one client of ours, $1 billion Utah Community Credit Union, Provo, fully designed and deployed an online loan origination solution with minimal IT assistance, putting the toolset for making future modifications in their own hands. They did so by acquiring a tool that had a “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” screen and workflow designer, and set the business users to work on it.
Utah Community CU started by looking at the paper application and eliminating fields that didn’t matter, and then moved to an informal staff focus group where they asked everyone what was superfluous and what was missing. The CU made changes in real time and showed the updated application to the staff users immediately. The marketing team then ensured corporate branding standards were met and, finally, the technology team published the final result.
Another client, $2 billion BCU in Vernon Hills, Ill., coordinated and executed a sophisticated callback process to new members over a 45-day period. Through detailed sales scripts, efficient workflows and proper data captures (all configured directly by the business unit) the program resulted in additional call volume and 200 percent loan growth.
These customers were able to do this because they had the right tools in place, were provided the proper access, and were allowed focus on the lending functions they know so well.
Older loan origination solutions were built on the idea that credit unions need developers or vendors to manage a system. This philosophy is not the best way to operate in today’s technology environment. Your IT department is not familiar with your lending process and your vendor certainly does not know the needs of your members. The business users, on the other hand, know what needs to be done and, almost always, know the best way to do it. What they need is the agility to make it happen.
Don’t let your software define your process. Instead refine your existing processes by implementing technology that can support your current and future needs.
For example, another Temenos customer uses cross-sell technology, found within our Lifecycle Management Suite (formerly the Akcelerant Framework), to automatically present opportunities to the users (and directly to the members), according to the current quarter’s focus. The key is that the system allows the business unit to determine priorities, implement new offers, define appropriate messaging and adjust the order in which the offers are presented.
Finally, I know more than a few lenders who can implement changes in the lending system almost immediately after they are defined by the lending committee. They meet with the committee, document what needs to be done, and then do it. Rather than going from committee to an email to a manager, and so on, the changes are implemented by a single person based on the committee’s direction. While quality control is always necessary, these lenders take a significantly shorter time to make ideas come to life. They achieved this by starting small with basic index changes, showing a pattern of success and efficiency, and then moving to larger and larger changes.
In summary, find technology that will shorten the path from the current state to the future state, allowing you to take your lending practices to the next level. Get the right access to the right systems so the good and smart people you hired can do the wonderful things you know they are capable of.
Larry Edgar-Smith joined Temenos (formerly Akcelerant), Malvern, Pa., in 2010 and currently serves as SVP/product evangelism. He has over 30 years of experience in technology, 15 of which have focused on loan origination and real estate appraisal solutions.
