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"No, I Don’t Have That File"

By Cameron Marks posted 06-29-2023 11:28

  

Lisa: “Hey Tony, I’d like to borrow a loan file that you checked out. The customer is here, and I need to review a few things in his file.”

Tony: “What loan file?”

Lisa: “The loan file for Mr. Perkins, the oil and gas guy who also owns a lot of commercial real estate in the area.”

Tony: “I don’t have that file.”

Lisa: “What do you mean you don’t have the file? I looked at the registry, and it says you checked it out last week.”

Tony: “Hmm…I vaguely remember doing that, but I’m sure that I put it back. Maybe I forgot to update the registry, but I assure you the file isn’t in my office. Now, if you don’t mind, I have to jump on an important call.”

Lisa sure is in a difficult situation. What will she tell the customer? Even more concerning, what actually happened to the file? Is it lost or just misplaced? Is there another awkward conversation in Lisa’s future? In this article, we’ll explore how to avoid misplaced files—and unnecessary friction—by modernizing your document ecosystem with AccuAccount.

Why Files Get Misplaced

There’s a lot of paperwork involved with banking—especially on the commercial lending side. Loan applications, customer financial statements and tax returns, loan documents, insurance policies, appraisals…the list goes on and on. A single customer could require hundreds or thousands of pages of documentation. Multiplied across all of your bank’s branches and relationships, and that’s a lot of documents. The more paper, the more likely something will eventually slip through the cracks. The sheer volume of paper isn’t the only reason why things get misplaced or lost. Some people are just less skilled at—or concerned with—organization. Perhaps your top commercial lender is incredibly gifted at building new relationships, helping customers, and closing loans, but he frequently ignores exception reports and forgets to return checked-out files. A loan assistant might be very good at obtaining updated financials from customers, but she keeps them on her desk for weeks before remembering to file them. Such situations create confusion, chaos, and friction. And that’s bad for everyone, including customers.

Use AccuAccount to Reduce Misplaced (or Lost) Files

With a system like AccuAccount, your bank can develop a more scalable approach to document management. AccuAccount is an electronic document management system that is used by more than 15,000 banking professionals nationwide. AccuAccount offers a variety of ways to get documents into electronic format—desktop scanning, batch scanning, barcode scanning, etc—and provides convenient solutions for capturing electronic documents, such as emails, attachments, and files uploaded to your document portal. AccuAccount also provides multiple safeguards to prevent missing documents:

Electronic Ecosystem

All things being equal, electronic bank documents are less likely to be “misplaced” by staff—especially if your IT department follows best practices to ensure information security and regular backups.

Accessible by Multiple Users at Once

Unlike paper documents that are only accessible from a single location, AccuAccount makes it possible for multiple users to  simultaneously access the same loan file. A lender at the Denver branch and a loan admin at the Colorado Springs branch can view the same customer file at the same time—without interacting with one another.

Intuitive Design

AccuAccount was built to look like a traditional loan file, which makes it easier to see what’s in the file—and what isn’t. Red and green indicators provide a simple, effective way to know if something is missing.

Built-in Exception Reporting

AccuAccount also offers built-in exception management and reporting capabilities. Even if lenders ignore the exception reports (which can be automated, by the way), you’ll at least have a much more structured approach to systematically identifying and working through missing items.

Fewer Awkward Moments, Greater Productivity

Feeling frustrated by your bank’s current approach to document management? Perhaps it’s time to take a closer look at AccuAccount. 

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