The transformation of medical banking now well under way will only accelerate in the coming years with the implementation of the sweeping changes prescribed by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Under the law, health plans must adopt electronic processing protocols by July 2013, and a series of other provisions will take effect through 2018. So it’s no surprise that HIMMS estimates the banking industry is investing more than $100 million a year in technologies to process claims and other transactions for providers of health services.
Banks clearly have recognized that the lock boxes that doctors and hospitals routinely use for process efficiency and risk mitigation can also help improve the flow of critical information and financial transactions. From their position in the direct path of the standard process — and with the appropriate technology solutions – banks see they can move from mere cash management into healthcare transaction processing. HIMSS goes as far as to suggest that banks can adapt their online and mobile banking platforms to also accommodate the transfer of patients’ electronic medical records from one health care provider to another. [Read more…]
Digital mail has arrived, and with it plenty of excitement about a technology that promises electronic home delivery that is faster and more secure at a fraction of the cost.
With digital mail, a user’s bills, statements, notices and other customer correspondence land in an online mailbox. There they can be viewed, the bills paid and the letters, statements, bills, etc. stored without the user having to go to the website of each and every bank, utility, insurer, etc. with whom they deal. It’s more secure than traditional mail, and more selective. The technology can even screen out junk mail.
Electronic substitution of traditional mail is accelerating with the volume of first-class mail dropping by 25 percent since 2006, and Postal Service officials expect it will continue to fall by 50 percent over the next five years. Business mail users are shifting from traditional hard copy distribution models to a variety of new ways to digitally communicate with their customers, while lowering costs. Consumers are attracted to greater convenience, faster service, and more control. Even the embattled U.S. Postal Service is considering how it can go digital. [Read more…]
The banking industry has invested heavily in information technology to improve customer experience, security and compliance, and in the process found sizable savings.
For years, the largest financial institutions in the world have turned to Systemware for enterprise content management solutions that include an industry-leading technology for delivery of electronic statements.
The situation for one of our bank customers was typical. Paper statements were costing more than $35 million a year to produce and deliver, and many were simply ignored. Some customers even resented the mailed paper, considering it an invitation to identity theft. A solution would not only cut the cost of producing and delivering paper statements, it would help increase use of the website, thereby exposing customers to other available services.
Systemware eStatements was a perfect solution. Our electronic statement solution captures and stores the statements, and it’s ADA Level 2 compliant. Now banking customers can quickly and easily access up to seven years of online statements, In the process Systemware replaced an existing repository that was not going to be supported any longer, which further consolidated the operation. Soon enough, some 2.7 million customers were receiving electronic statements.
The dividends were substantial, starting with the $18 million in savings on paper, postage and the handling of paper. Other operating costs were reduced as well as branch visits and telephone inquiries went down. The customer experience online as well as brand recognition was improved. Customer relationships were expanded through the cross-sale of other bank services. And the seven years we were able to keep statements available? The bank viewed that as a competitive advantage.
It was competitive all right. Over the next 12 months, this bank went on to add 3 million new customers.
Boston was the site of this year’s Association of Financial Professionals annual conference, which I attended along with colleague Alan Beaney. Amid the bustle of more than 6,000 financial professionals, the AFP released two surveys that reflect the current realities for the industry.
The Treasury Benchmarking Program 2011 Survey highlighted how, in reaction to the economy, treasury and financial professionals are paying closer attention to a financial institution’s health when deciding whether to begin or continue a banking relationship. [Read more…]
Plent
y of things happen with a click. We look at an online bank statement, spot a forgotten check, and click on a link to see an image of it. It seems simple, until those checks number in the hundreds of thousands. And what if the checks and the statements aren’t in the same place?
That was the situation for one bank client that had already implemented our eStatements solution and wanted a way to present the check images with each statement. But in order to find the right check image, a check sequence number is required, and that check sequence number is not included anywhere on the statement.
The challenge is integration, one easily solvable by using Systemware’s Content Integrator platform, which retrieves and combines content from applications, systems, and other content repositories located across the enterprise, enabling these disparate sources to look and act as one system.
[Read more…]
In the financial services industry today, change sometimes seems to be the only constant. And yet, perhaps surprisingly, many financial institutions have yet to make a change that could have an enormous impact on their bottom line — the transition to paperless banking.
With rising demands from customers, government agencies and other constituencies, paper-based processes increasingly create costs that forward-looking banks simply can’t afford to bear. The accumulation of paper drives waste, inefficiencies and the risk of lost information.
[Read more…]
