CASE STUDY: UNION SQUARE FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
OVERVIEW
Union Square Federal Credit Union ($174 million) maintains four branches serving approximately 26,000 members in the areas surrounding Wichita Falls, Texas, including Sheppard Air Force Base. Their member services include checking and savings accounts, online banking, mortgages and other loans, and traditional teller window and ATM services.
CHALLENGE
On average, between 2,000 and 4,000 checks are processed at Union Square locations daily, with volumes that can reach as high as 10,000 or more. Union Square was in need of a robust document imaging and management solution that could handle large volumes of checks with ease. Their microfilm equipment had become outdated and had always been expensive to maintain and upgrade. In addition, they also required a solution that would be capable of processing and storing other common documentation, including signature cards, teller receipts, etc.
SOLUTION
Business Imaging Systems, Inc. (BIS) provided a document imaging, indexing, storage, retrieval and management solution for Union Square Federal Credit Union. The system is intuitive and easy to use by tellers - a requirement for high-turnover positions.
Tellers scan their daily workload at one of ten scan stations. Each scan station uses a Canon DR-3060 document scanner. Compact in design and user-friendly, throughput can reach up to 130 front and rear check images per minute. Document batches do not require presorting. Checks, receipts, adding machine tickets - every piece of paper a teller touches throughout the day - is scanned as part of a batch, regardless of paper size and orientation. Each teller scans their daily workload batch by date and by their teller identification number. Union Square also uses a Canon CR-180, a check transport that scans both sides of 180 checks per minute, in a back office setting for additional processing capacity.
According to Joe Mannion, IT manager for Union Square Federal Credit Union, "the scanning operation is very smooth, and we are pleased with the high speeds and ease of operating the Canon scanners."
Document images and data are accessible through EMC Documentum ApplicationXtender. All MICR information and check data - date, amount, etc. - are automatically captured and used as index fields.
The images and data are collected and then stored on an EMC CLARiiON AX100, a storage area network with one terabyte of storage space, which can be upgraded as more space is required. "By setting time limits on images, performing backups and removing old files, we are always 'buying back' storage space," explained Mannion. "The system, coupled with these procedures, gives us lots of room to grow."
Union Square Federal Credit Union also uses two software applications that aid in reporting and file sharing with those individuals who request information internally as well as their 26,000 members. EMC ERMXtender enables electronic presentment of statements, bills and other reports. In addition, any Union Square employee can access check images, based on specific index values, in ApplicationXtender and burn them to a self-executable CD of images using BIS's MasterScan Media Distribution. This enables members to take a CD with them, containing the images they requested.
The original paper documents are destroyed, typically within days of scanning. Documents are queued for shredding, and there is always a backlog of documents to be destroyed.
As part of the complete solution, BIS also provided - and continues to provide as needed - customization, training, implementation, hardware maintenance and support, and other related services for Union Square.
RESULTS
All check images and data can be retrieved in real-time, and they can be shared with members via the online banking system as well as on custom image CDs created at the member's request. Because of the reliability and accessibility of the scanned images and data, most original paper documents are no longer needed. This has enabled Union Square to eliminate physical storage space and has resulted in significant savings in their long-term physical storage costs.
Although Union Square had to make an investment in optical storage as part of this new solution, they will benefit from significant savings over time. They are no longer required to absorb the costs of using and maintaining the outdated microfilm equipment.
"Microfilm has become outdated and invalid," said Mannion. "We could no longer use - or afford to use - our old microfilm-based systems and processes. We are confident that our investment in the new technology will meet our needs for many years."
The new document imaging and management solution is providing immediate benefits for Union Square. For instance, customer service has improved, as tellers are able to provide more services and real-time information to their members, much faster than they have been able to in the past.
But perhaps one of the biggest benefits is yet to come. Union Square executives chose to implement the new technology at a time when Check 21 - the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act - has become a major area of focus for the banking industry. Therefore, in implementing the new system, they took Check 21 systematic and process requirements into account.
"As far as Check 21 is concerned, we're almost already there," commented Mannion. "We're already truncating paper, and we already have a robust, reliable infrastructure in place. We believe that what we've already implemented sets us up for phase two - the actual exchange of check images."
COMPANIES MENTIONED
Business Imaging Systems, Inc.
www.bisok.com
Canon, Inc.
www.canon.com
EMC Documentum
www.emc.com, www.documentum.com
Union Square Federal Credit Union
www.usfcu.us
