By Brad Powell

Leaders at banks and credit unions that have not adopted electronic signatures are feeling the pressure.

Maybe the pressure is coming from customers and members. Remember when your neighbor said they would NEVER shop online? Now Amazon boxes arrive at least three times per week. By now bank customers and credit union members are comfortable conducting any and all sorts of business online, so they want to manage their finances via desktop, mobile phone or tablet – or all three – as well.

Or maybe the pressure is coming from their managers, who imagine the efficiencies and risk reduction that electronic signatures could produce.

Or it could be pressure from vendors who aggressively pitch their electronic signature solution – and tell you, “It’s easy.”

In response, I have two words: Slow down.

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By Brad Powell

How do I give my members the experience they want, on the devices they want to use, both now and in the future? That's a question we hear a lot. Terence Roche wrote a blog post for GonzoBanker recently that addressed that question:

Do We Need Better System Integration or Fewer Systems to Integrate?

You should read the post ─ Mr. Roche offers some great insight. And, at the risk of oversimplifying, his answer boils down to "less is more." Taking a cue from other industries and the mass adoption of mobile devices, he writes that wherever possible, banks and credit unions should move to a single system and single interface, so there are fewer interfaces and less integration.

I agree with much of his piece. And I'd like to describe a slightly different alternative to his "single-system" proposal; one that I believe will prepare a financial institution for the future. In the future, credit union members will likely have a new set of expectations, based on the technologies they'll be using at that time. Those technologies might be smart watches, or breakthrough features in mobile apps, or some device that simply doesn't exist yet.

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We have good news to share on the blog: Axiaware was chosen as a finalist for the National Capital Business Ethics Award for 2014.

From a field of approximately 70 Washington, D.C. area nominees, judges selected Axiaware after a thorough review of the business. award was formally presented by co-chairmen Liz Schwarzman and Scott Harding to Axiaware CEO Bradley Powell at the NCBEA Annual Awards Breakfast October 8 at the Ritz Carlton in McLean, Va.

"We're all extremely proud of this award," Powell said. "I've always believed that being an honest, ethical partner whom clients can trust is just good business. I take Axiaware's success as evidence of that principle. It's great to see the NCBEA work so hard to recognize companies for taking this approach."

NCBEA judges review each nominated business thoroughly, seeking clear evidence that the company's commitment to the highest ethical standards and business practices is a living part of its culture and day-to-day operation.

The National Capital Business Ethics Awards are presented annually by the National Capital Chapter of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, in partnership with the New Century College of George Mason University.

Since the first local awards were presented in 2001, companies from a wide variety of industries have been honored for the programs devoted to integrity and ethical business practices that they have developed, communicated and deployed across their organizations. More information can be found at http://businessethicsawards.org.