Bank of San Antonio Takes Commercial Loans Paperless With Finastra and Docusign

Offering a personal touch in lending has long been a key differentiator for community banks. And while that has often translated to more face-to-face interactions, smaller banks like Bank of San Antonio recognized that eliminating the need for customers to visit a branch could also help build stronger relationships, especially with their business customers.

In 2017, after one of the bank’s executive vice presidents first experienced e-signature during a personal matter, the community bank decided to move its entire commercial loan operation paperless. Now, customers can handle many loan application steps, including document signature, digitally from anywhere. The result? Fewer visits to a bank branch by loan applicants, a loan process that takes minutes instead of multiple days, and quicker access to loan funds. What better way to cement customer relationships than to be a strategic partner helping customers to grow their businesses?

Bank of San Antonio is not alone in recognizing this opportunity. Creating a faster, simpler, more efficient and cost-effective loan process is now a priority for banks for all sizes.

An Industry That Wants To Change, But Can’t

Increased competition, more non-bank lending alternatives, and stricter compliance are just a few of the reasons banks are feeling pressure to provide a better experience for their customers. According to the Digital Banking Report, the biggest concern for banks is removing friction from the digital customer journey. But not all banks have been quick to act. As of 2018, half of large banks (assets over $1 billion) and 38 percent of smaller banks offer digital loan origination.

What’s holding them back? A recent American Bankers Association survey of 200 financial institutions showed that the biggest hurdles banks face when implementing a digital loan system are integration with core systems (60 percent) and compliance (57 percent). Digital tools eliminate those challenges. The cloud makes it easy to integrate systems, and modern digital banking solutions provide consistent and trusted compliance processes.

Connected, Compliant Digital Loans

Docusign’s partnership with Finastra LaserPro allows banks to improve their lending process and offer customers a fully digital experience—all from a single solution. With the Docusign Agreement Cloud, Finastra’s 9,000 customers can easily digitize key steps of the lending journey:

• Loan applications: With Docusign Guided Forms, loan application fields can be minimized - asking only the most relevant data based on information provided. Customers complete loan applications quickly, without the frustration associated with cumbersome paper applications.

• Identity Verification: Docusign Identify uses a legally approved process to digitize customer identity verification during the loan application process, a task that traditionally happened in person.

• Loan processing: Together, Finastra LaserPro and Docusign automate the loan processing and approvals process by routing loan applications to the correct people based on standard workflows, a far simpler and accurate approach than paper, email, or fax.

• Closing packet: The final step of the loan process is sending a closing packet to the customer for approval and signatures. With Docusign and Finastra LaserPro, lenders can send the closing packet digitally, enabling all parties to sign in minutes.

As more banks digitize their loan operations and new non-bank lenders enter the market, a digital loan process is no longer a competitive advantage—it’s a customer expectation. Docusign’s partnership with Finastra LaserPro helps lenders meet those expectations and join the digital world of finance.  

Attending the LendIt Fintech conference? Meet us at Booth #1827 for a chance to win high tech Bose headphones!