How to Go Digital: The Ultimate Guide for Financial Institutions

Forward-thinking financial institutions are turning to cloud-based document management systems (DMS) with an integrated client portal to simplify collaboration, meet security and compliance needs, and elevate employee and customer experiences.

Keep reading to learn more about DMS and client portals for banks and how to implement the right platform for your needs.

How to Go Digital: The Ultimate Guide for Financial Institutions [PILLAR]

Why should credit unions and community banks go digital?
Why should credit unions and community banks have a document management system?
What are client portals for community banks and credit unions?
How can credit unions and community banks choose the right DMS?
Tips to Create Modern Workflows
Save hours of time, keep data protected, and provide next-level service.

Why should financial institutions go digital?

Today’s consumers expect seamless digital banking – an experience that brings the fellowship of your local branch into the digital age and lets you meet your customers anytime, anywhere. This is especially true with Gen Z, the first fully digital generation that has grown up in a world with social media, email, and Google at their fingertips. To attract them as customers, Community Banks and Credit Unions need to be prepared.

Equally important is providing your employees with intuitive digital tools that enable remote work and seamless collaboration across departments.

With a user-friendly, cloud-based document management system and client portal, customers take care of tasks like completing or eSigning forms on their own time, 100% online. Secure platforms facilitate document sharing in real-time and automatically notify you when files are received and/or executed. This helps everyone stay aligned, move forward, and collaborate seamlessly across devices and departments.

Now freed from outdated, manual processes and repetitive tasks, your team will have more time and be better equipped to provide the thoughtful, personalized service your customers appreciate most.

Why should financial institutions have a document management system?

Here are six reasons financial institutions should have a document management system and client portal.

1. Builds Community

DMS and client portals allow smaller financial institutions to provide personalized service – and it’s this great service that keeps customers happy and encourages them to recommend you to their friends and neighbors.

2. Simplifies Customer Collaboration

Client portals give customers access to their own documents, so they can securely log in to access, share, review, complete, and eSign documents 24/7. This is more convenient than calling or visiting a branch during business hours, increasing customer satisfaction and referrals. Portals enable staff to share documents and access historical information with customers instantly.

3. Makes Employees Happier (and More Efficient)

Digitizing processes eliminates the need for physical files, helps staff save time on admin tasks, and makes it easy for employees across branches to collaborate. Having a central repository for files also makes it faster to retrieve information and provide excellent service. The ability to work remotely also gives staff flexibility.

4. Creates User-Friendly Processes

DMS and client portals are user-friendly and intuitive, regardless of how tech-savvy a person is. Not only will you be able to come up to speed on the features quickly, but you can rest assured your customers and employees, regardless of their skill level when it comes to tech, will also have an easier time.

By implementing an intuitive DMS with robust security protections, financial organizations can meet customer demands for digital experiences while continuing to provide the personalized service that builds loyalty.

5. Secures Your Data

You’ll benefit from advanced security measures like automatic data backup, file versioning, activity tracking, bank-level encryption, and multi-factor authentication (MFA). And granular access controls let you be in 100% control of who accesses what folders and documents. These security standards create peace of mind for your team and customers and can help you easily meet the most stringent industry regulations.

6. Keeps You Up and Running

Using a cloud DMS reduces your vulnerability to disasters. Storing your information on the cloud rather than on-premise servers means that you won’t lose everything even if a flood or other weather event impacts your home or office. And if you do lose data, you’ll be able to restore it and get up and running quickly.

What are client portals for financial institutions?

A client portal is a secure, private, and authenticated online platform that empowers businesses to securely collaborate with clients.

Client Portal Software Watch Now

Vstreamline Client Collaboration With A Client Portal

Here are 6 ways a client portal saves time and increases success.

Access files anytime, anywhere.

Don’t lose valuable time because a file exists only on one machine that might be temporarily inaccessible, or worse, destroyed.

Automate notifications.

You and your customers know right away when a file is uploaded, downloaded, or signed thanks to automatic notifications.

Organize files automatically.

Documents are filed automatically to the correct folder.

Backup files with version history.

Document version history provides a backup of your files in case of deletion or errors in recent versions.

Sign documents instantly.

No longer do you need to spend hours or even days printing, scanning, or mailing documents. Built-in tracking lets you see who has opened or signed a document.

Never lose an email or file.

A client portal allows both you and your customers to send, receive, and access documents from one, easy-to-view location.

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How can financial institutions choose the right DMS?

A DMS provides financial institutions with the organization, security, and efficiency they need to stay compliant and better serve customers. As you’re combing through the choices, think about your goals. These can be things like:

Keep data secure
Comply with regulations
Reduce stress and wasted time
Keep customers and team members happy
Communicate better with customers
Create alignment across departments
Modernize and digitize your financial institution

Make a list of the ‘must-have’ features and how they support each of your goals. Consider who will use the technology and how. Don’t forget to also consider security requirements and how the DMS will help you comply with certain regulations. You’ll also need to consider how the DMS will fit into or impact your current tech stack. This includes integration with the other apps you use today. And, of course, you’ll want to consider price and what else the vendor offers.

Choose the Strongest DMS Option

Choosing the Right DMS: A Must-Have Checklist for Financial Institutions

Tips to Create Modern Workflows

Before you start thinking about a new way to work with tech, you should take inventory of your existing document workflows first. Then, consider the feedback as you determine how to improve.

Evaluate and Improve Existing Workflows

When considering what and how to improve, one of the first things you must do is determine what’s working (and not working) today. A key step in this process is gathering feedback across multiple departments and customers, so you can comprehensively understand pain points and how to address them.

Team Feedback

Let’s start with yourself and your team. Surveys and suggestion boxes are popular channels for bottom-up feedback. If you want to go a step further, create a small focus group that brings together staff from different roles to discuss pain points and ideas for improvement. You can also schedule 1-on-1 sessions to walk through specific workflows in detail and identify areas of inefficiency.

Customer Feedback

There are many ways to gather customer feedback. To encourage open discussion and collaboration, invite a small group of customers to meet in person. This will allow you to build community, show your commitment to better serving them, and help you gather critical feedback about pain points. Customer surveys are another common option. Ask questions about – or have customers rate on a scale – how easy or difficult it is to complete workflows like account opening, loan applications, completing and eSigning forms, sharing documents, and more. You should keep a tab on online reviews for customer feedback. And, of course, monitor customer churn by reviewing data on account closures. Look for patterns tied to certain workflows that may be causing attrition.

Create Automated, Repeatable Workflows

Start highlighting common themes. What frustrations, roadblocks, or ideas from your team members and customers keep bubbling up? These likely indicate opportunities with high impact. Map out which fixes and enhancements can provide the most impact versus the work required. Keep in mind those quick wins, too! Something simple, like digitizing a manual form, can vastly improve your team and customers’ experience.

Think about how you’d like to automate tasks and how your tech stack will support it. For example, instead of using emails to exchange documents, you can use a DMS with secure file sharing capabilities and a private client portal. And what about the common struggle of requesting clients to send you the same documents over and over again or having to chase down clients who missed the deadline? Well, that entire process can be automated too.

Simplify How You Request and Track Customer Documents

Create Your Request Lists:

Create unlimited document request lists for services like new accounts, loan applications, and more.

Select Your Clients:

Customers receive an email with a link to their client portal to review, complete, eSign, and upload the documents. They can leave comments, mark files as inapplicable, and simply drag and drop files for quick uploading.

Track and Manage:

Track progress in one dashboard. Review uploads, mark projects as done, and send reminders quickly. You’ll also receive a notification when a customer submits their documents.

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Make Data and Documents Accessible

A cloud-based document management system allows authorized users to access the portal and important information securely and from anywhere in the world – all they need is an internet connection. Additionally, since it can be accessed remotely, a cloud-based DMS will allow your team to work remotely when needed.

And onboarding new team members will be a smooth and quick process, as the portal provides a central, organized hub for all the documents your institution handles for its customers. You won’t have to worry about forms getting lost in someone’s Google Drive, and the days of requesting documents from employees and trying to figure out who has access to what will be a distant memory.

Configure Your DMS

A DMS is most powerful when it’s configured to your unique needs. Choose a vendor who provides tailored onboarding services and will collaborate with you to identify and understand your goals. This will help them customize the implementation and training plan to your business outcomes.

They should ensure you have the proper workflow, connected applications, and confidence to roll out the DMS across your organization and to your customers. Lastly, your vendor should have strong project management experience, so they can keep the implementation on schedule and budget.

Get Staff and Customers Onboard and Trained

Getting everyone on board is simpler when you have a vendor that offers an intuitive DMS and all the training resources you need to quickly learn how to use it. Look for a vendor who provides resources like written ‘How To’ guides, webinars, online courses, custom onboarding and training packages, and ongoing support. With these resources, everyone will know how to use the DMS properly, making interactions easier and more professional and streamlined.

Instill Community Trust

Community Banks and Credit Unions offer a highly-personalized touch that larger financial institutions simply can’t offer. But as with any relationship, even a financial one, the trust you create with your customers is sacred. As such, when adopting new technologies, customers may be weary. It’s important to help ease their concerns and remind customers that just as they’ve trusted you in the past, they can continue to trust you in the future:

Instilling Trust: Just as you trust us with your finances, know that this is the best way to ensure your information is protected as well.
Barriers to Adoption: If you can use your email, you can use our digital solutions! We make it easy for you to securely sign, upload, and send your documents. Plus, we’re always a phone call away.
Privacy Concerns: Our digital system is more secure and has increased security measures to reduce unauthorized access to your information.