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.
By Brad PowellHow 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.
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.
Some of the most satisfying work we have done at Axiaware started with a simple realization by leaders at a credit union with a significant automotive loan business: Their online auto loan channel was underperforming, and it was hurting them in serious ways.
It was surprising. Somehow, at a time when more and more consumers conducted more and more transactions online, this credit union's branch and phone channels produced two to three times the auto loan business as the online channel. And this low performance created several problems for the credit union:
By Brad Powell
One of Axiaware's credit union clients recently found itself facing an uncomfortable reality: While the loan origination system this credit union had relied on for many years was still getting basic tasks done, the basics were no longer good enough.
One of Axiaware's credit union clients recently found itself facing an uncomfortable reality: While the loan origination system this credit union had relied on for many years was still getting basic tasks done, the basics were no longer good enough.
The system could process loans, create reports, run approval queues and accomplish the other functions a traditional financial institution needed. But it wasn't as efficient as it needed to be, and it didn't integrate with other platforms very well. And at the same time, the system's front end – the elements that members and customer service staffers used every day – was not up to modern standards.
By Brad Powell
You can get relationship advice nearly everywhere these days, it seems. And now I will be offering it at Agile 2014 on July 29 in Orlando.
It won't be that kind of relationship advice. My session focuses on Agile service providers and their prospects and customers. Negotiating the start of such a relationship can be tricky, so I believe it's best to approach it a little bit like we approach dating.
If you're attending Agile 2014, I'd love it if you came to the talk. It is scheduled for Tuesday, July 29 at 9 a.m. in the Naples room. Here's a longer desscription of the session:
From the time we take our first quiz in school, we learn that success often requires us to come up with the right answer.
Sometimes, however, it's not about the answer. Instead, success can depend on asking the right question.
That is certainly the case when it comes time to choose a technology partner for your next development project. It is a crucial decision, determining which company will be working side by side with yours for an extended period of time, building systems that your customers and staff will depend on well beyond the development period.
To make the right choice, you need to ask good questions. To help you do that, I've listed five key questions for potential technology partners — the kinds of questions I hope a potential client will ask me before we start work together:
The official deadline to enroll for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act passed last week, but the real deadline day has not yet arrived -- and it's unclear when it will.
That's because the Obama administration announced at the end of March that it would grant an extension to people who are having trouble securing health care through the federal marketplace. There is plenty of debate about the politics behind this announcement, but from the perspective of a technology company like Axiaware, it is clear that this news means the ACA and healthcare.gov are still experiencing technical difficulties.
And this high-profile, massive IT project, while painful for many, can provide some valuable insights into the realities of any IT project.
Did you read enough advice about New Year's Resolutions last month?
If you spend more than a few minutes online each day, you no doubt witnessed the cottage industry that materializes in late December and runs into mid-January. There are self-help gurus trying to sell their methods, advertisers who use resolutions as hooks to get you to try their goods or services, and bloggers who try to gain web traffic by riding a common search trend.
It's understandable — in fact, a year ago, I used New Year's Resolutions as a hook for a blog post. And most of what you read is well-intentioned: One of the aims of these posts is helping you achieve your goals.
Our company tries to help credit unions and banks reach their goals, so I can relate. But from the perspective of a consultative technology partner, it's apparent that there are a few things the "resolution experts" won't admit. Here's my short list of those omissions:
The last thing a financial institution embarking on a new technology project would want to do is gamble.
That said, a few lessons from America's premier gambling event apply quite well to development projects. I was reminded of this when I saw the latest World Series of Poker Main Event champion had been crowned (23-year-old Ryan Riess won the championship – and $8.4 million last November).
There are many playing styles that work for poker pros like Riess – some fold many hands before the betting turns heavy, while others fold very few. Some are aggressive and some are more conservative. But they all share some attributes that help them excel – and that make sense on a development project, as well.
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