I'm still too groggy to read it, so I did a cut and paste to read later
(BTW any way to main line caffine?)
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National Bank of Canada's Web-based Credit Applications Reduce Labor Costs
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The consumer marketplace continually drives demand for the convenience and speed of electronic banking services. To keep pace with today's lending market, the National Bank of Canada knew it needed a secure e-commerce platform for credit applications and approvals. The Bank selected the CALMSTMsolution from Microsoft® Certified Solution Provider Partner Internet Frontier Inc. (iFront), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Microforum, Inc., to address this key challenge. In short time, CALMS has streamlined processes, reduced labor costs, and enhanced productivity for the Bank.
Company Profile:
With more than $71 billion in assets, the National Bank (www.nbc.ca) is the sixth largest chartered bank in Canada, employing over 17,000 people.
Situation:
Manually processing automotive credit applications was labor-intensive and slow. A secure online method was needed for dealers to communicate with the bank without incurring software and hardware costs.
Business Solution:
Using the Microsoft BackOffice® platform, iFront implemented the CALMS, a credit adjudication and lending management system, to automate National Bank of Canada's credit application process. Loan and reporting cycles were significantly reduced, and Internet access to CALMS over a secure Web site eliminated any software or hardware cost at dealer sites.
Benefits:
Car dealers, and other indirect lenders can now submit applications, obtain credit approval and receive documentation over the Internet/extranet in less than twenty minutes. With reduced costs, higher productivity, and increased customer satisfaction, National Bank is now poised as a market leader in its industry.
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Demand for Efficiency
Canadian financial institutions compete in a tight marketplace, where market share has reached maximum growth potential. Therefore, gaining and maintaining a competitive edge is crucial to their survival. A few years ago, the National Bank of Canada determined that it ran the risk of losing its profitability if its credit application system was not upgraded from a manual to an electronic process. They knew that an electronic platform that reduced paperwork and shortened processing time would benefit them with critical economies of scale.
After evaluating a range of possible solutions, the National Bank of Canada selected the CALMSTM solution from iFront, an established leader in Internet-based lending application solutions. iFront's CALMS (a credit adjudication and lending management system), has emerged as the most technologically advanced credit origination processing and decision tool available today. National Bank of Canada was impressed with its easy-to-learn user interface, customizable features and advanced security aspects.
"CALMS is an excellent product in terms of process," said John Bordignon, Senior Manager at National Bank. "I have spent a lot of time looking at solutions in Canada and the US and this is the most innovative yet proven solution in the customer segment."
iFront built its reputation by providing integrated, scaleable, and seamless solutions such as CALMS. Microsoft has recognized this leadership by awarding iFront the exclusive Microsoft Certified Solution Provider Partner status, as well as membership on the 25-member Microsoft Commerce Partner Advisory Council.
The Architecture of Credit Automation
iFront has succeeded in streamlining the credit process by designing, developing and implementing online solutions using the Internet/extranet with a distributed and open architecture to communicate with centralized Microsoft SQL ServerTM-based databases, data warehouses, and external credit bureaus. This framework is applicable to any industry requiring streamlined credit application, adjudication, reporting, and/or funding processes. iFront has successfully re-engineered traditional standards, reducing credit approval and loan documentation process times from days to minutes. The CALMS solution is currently in use by some of the largest financial institutions in North America. iFront has also provided customization services to Financial Pacific Leasing.
CALMS was built from the ground up as a Microsoft BackOffice solution and makes extensive use of BackOffice components. CALMS integrates Microsoft Exchange Server, Proxy Server, SNA Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Message Queue, Microsoft Internet Information Server and Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS).
SQL Server 6.5 was chosen for its scalability, ease-of-use and maintenance, and tight integration with various Microsoft technologies. SQL Mail is used to generate e-mail directly from the database on SQL Server. CALMS also makes use of connection pooling, which is supported by SQL Server and provided by MTS. Connection pooling eliminates up-front connection time and allows for more efficient use of resources. SQL Web Assistant is used to generate HTML documents from the database. Credit decision notifications are generated from SQL Server, and mailed to users through SQL Mail. Microsoft Exchange is used as the e-mail server.
SNA Server is used to retrieve credit reports to assist in the credit decision. CALMS connects to two credit bureaus using two different SNA configurations. In the first setup, an SNA Server is connected to the host mainframe through a UNIX-based SNA Server. SNA Client on CALMS communicates to the SNA Server over the Internet and retrieves credit reports. In the second setup, an SNA Server communicates to the host mainframe through a leased line. An MTS component on the SNA Server is used to pass the credit report to CALMS through the Internet via HTTPS protocol.
CALMS also exploits COM objects. Microsoft Visual Basic® was used to write components in Microsoft ActiveX® Server Component format and runs as DLL on MTS. CALMS was built on a three-tier architecture running over the Internet. Java applets are used as the front end. The middle tier is a collection of ActiveX Server components built with Visual Basic to hold business logic such as scoring and parsing of credit reports. Finally, Java applets use RDS to invoke middle tier components.
Banking on the Benefits
National Bank has realized many benefits from implementing the CALMS solution. The Bank's credit application process can now be completed in a secure and seamless manner from start to finish in less than 20 minutes. No manual intervention is required in most cases, while minimal intervention is required for deals that require a review process.
By streamlining the documentation process and reducing the credit approval cycle from days to minutes, the CALMS solution has dramatically increased National Bank's efficiency, while simultaneously reducing their costs. This reduction in processing time and ease of use was well received both internally and by National Bank's customers.
Finally, the reporting capabilities of the CALMS application have allowed National Bank to much more easily access, analyze and understand their data. This will assist the Bank significantly in its customer service -- and its bottom line profitability.
For more information
About Microsoft
Call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (800) 563-9048. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft office.
About iFront
111 Gordon Baker Road, Suite 710
North York, Ontario M2H 3R1
Tel: (416) 502-2288
Fax: (416) 502-3292
E-mail: johnma@softwareguaranty.com
Web site: www.softwareguaranty.com
iFront is a distributed object-oriented, D.N.A. software development company, specializing in financial applications on the extranet. iFront provides Internet-based lending applications and turnkey e-commerce solutions to some of North America's largest financial services and retail companies.
Microsoft Software Used
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01
Microsoft SQL Server 6.5
Microsoft Visual J++® 1.1
Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0
Microsoft Visual C++® 5.0
Microsoft Windows® 95, 98
Microsoft Windows NT® Server 4.0
Other Products Used
RightFAX Server 5.5 |
