First State Bank of Clute, Texas, Implements Electronic Statement Delivery with Director Document Distribution from ITI Unit of Fiserv
Monday June 16, 8:30 am ET
biz.yahoo.com
LINCOLN, Neb.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 16, 2003--Among the most significant emerging trends in the U.S. financial industry is electronic statement delivery - a simple, focused solution that generates a substantial rate of return. Through Information Technology, Inc.'s (ITI's) Director Document Distribution, financial institutions are delivering customer statements and other notices faster, while reducing the costs of printing, labor, postage and supplies associated with this previously labor-intensive task. ITI is a unit of Fiserv, Inc. (Nasdaq: FISV).
First State Bank, a $75 million community bank in Clute, Texas, began offering electronic statement delivery a year ago and recouped its investment in the first six months.
"It costs about $15 per account annually to mail statements to customers," said Tony Brinson, First State Bank's Vice President of Information Services. "Document Distribution brings these costs down to around $1.20 per account - a 92 percent savings. We estimate that we're saving more than $16,000 a year, which is a very significant number to us."
Brinson said that, unlike postal rates, which tend to rise, Internet costs remain flat.
First State Bank favors the use of "pull" statements. Through this method, customers are automatically notified by e-mail when new statements become available. A hyperlink in the e-mail message takes customers to the bank's Web site, where they use their PremierEcom (ITI's consumer Internet banking product) identification and password to log in and open their statement.
"We prefer this method of delivery because it presents an excellent opportunity to promote other products and services through our Web site," Brinson said. "This also provides a way for our customers to review on-line balances, or research check images and past statements."
Another distribution method, "push" statements, uses e-mail to send customers a password-protected statement in an encrypted file. This works well for customers who want to carbon copy statements to someone who is not a customer of the bank (for example, an accountant). Director Document Distribution also offers the option of either faxing the statement or burning it to a CD or DVD. Many businesses find this convenient because it enables them not only to view the statement, but to perform their own research on individual checks or any item that was part of a transaction in question.
The product is especially popular with First State Bank's commercial customers, according to Brinson. "Now they can get their statements on the first business day of the month, instead of waiting several days for them to arrive in the mail," Brinson said.
For the customer, electronic statement delivery offers both convenience and control, according to ITI Document Management Product Manager Chad Kearns. "For financial institutions like First State Bank, the efficiencies created and savings realized prove that a paperless, electronic system of document creation, storage and distribution is a better way to do business," Kearns said.
Director Document Distribution is part of ITI's Premier Director suite of integrated document management solutions that can electronically capture, store and manage literally every document generated or received by any financial institution, from check images, reports and scanned documents to statements, notices and e-mail. |
