The evolution of financial institutions these last years has been indissolubly linked to the development of Information Technology. Furthermore, if anything has characterized the banking sector it has been its firm bet on the application of IT applications for optimizing its business processes to reduce costs and to improve service to its clients.
In the 70´s financial institutions were already pioneers in using technologies. In that embryonic moment, they replaced tab machines with real computers, which provided them online teleprocessing. Since then many have been the battles that banks have faced: incorporating the Internet in their processes, virtualization, document management, eBanking, and the arrival of SOA and Business Intelligence. And these are only some of the battles.
However, taking on these battles and overcoming them with a good grade has helped transform banking into a dynamic sector, efficient and generating wealth, besides being the IT standard bearer in our country.
New times, new challenges
At this time, financial institutions are facing a period of remodeling in which branches will no longer be transactional centers but financial product clerk offices. The intensification of electronic Banking and the reduction of physical headquarters may appear to be a drastic step but it is necessary in the evolution of financial systems.
According to the last report by Accenture in 2008, entitled “Study of costs of Information Technologies in Financial Entities, ”there are three main challenges that the banking sector must face in the coming years: application of technologies with a good quality/price ratio, which provide a quick return on investment; reduction of non-discretionary costs, by rationalizing technological activities and making investments that improve the efficiency of financial sector businesses; and betting on difference-making levers, which may be real multi-channeling, mobility or virtual offices, for example.
The evolution of the banking sector will depend on its capacity to adjust to the new requirements of the market. Therefore, offices will have to continue investing in new technologies and, more importantly, to maintain an open mind with a certain positive predisposition to change. Otherwise, bank offices run the risk of getting away from proper service standards and their client relationships may suffer.
Documentary technology, a requirement
Although some financial entities eliminated pre-printed paper some time ago, new norms and increasing demands of citizens make document printing resolution and electronic generation in multiple environments now more than ever a matter of vital importance for the banking sector.
For example, in Spain, the 57/2007 Law demands that public and private businesses provide citizens telematic means of communication. What at first might increase complexity can be turned into a great business opportunity if existing technological resources are taken advantage of.
Document technology has experienced important advances in the last years. Electronic generation of their documents, among other options, allows businesses that manage large volumes of information to save on costs derived from physical printing and to improve their corporate image and client satisfaction.
Different environments, different requirements
Generally, financial entities work with different environments: office networks responsible for generating and printing, in real time, contracts, policies, statements and receipts; batch or high-volume production environments for postal delivery and e-mail communications; client Web portals from which personalized PDF documents can be dynamically generated for viewing and printing statements, contracts, policies, etc.; and Web portals that enable external collaborators to access reports, lists, printing proposals, etc.
When banks work with different environments, even with different plataforms, their requirements regarding document technology multiply. For this reason, the solution selected must have a set of features that attend to all the demands of financial sector businesses.
It is important that form design be performed with a single tool, whatever the environment may be where the work is done. Additionally, control must be exercised over the different versions of forms being used and the objects composing them. Likewise, the solution must be able to manage creation of multi-language documents, incorporating dynamic 2D and 3D graphics, barcodes, legal clauses, etc.
Office networks require an efficient use of bandwidth and printing in real time without delays. Batch environments must produce a high volume of documents, by batch separation and management of envelope marking. Client Web portals must be able to display dynamically generated documents on the computers of the end users. And Web portals for external collaborators must be able to distribute certain documents in a totally monitored manner.
Other requirements of enterprises using document software, i.e., requirements of moderns banks, are control of printing resources (print counts, print quotas, etc.), publishing Web forms for filling out with browsers and digitalizing signed contracts.
The future
As it occurs in many other areas of technology, all these advances do not imply that we have come to the end of an era but that in the coming years bank offices will experience an even bigger evolution of the processes relative to the distribution of information and, as part of that, an even higher volume of electronic documents will be used.
Financial entities are not isolated from this process. All of them are aware of the existence of a great variety of solutions relative to document production, distribution, presentation and management. Efficient use of all that ‘hardware’, associated with good ‘software’, can serve as a help to them in optimizing management of their internal processes and improving communication with their clients.
Bank offices will eventually be using multi-functional machines, since they support printing, photocopying, image capture, and sending and receiving by fax all types of documents. Their quality/price/benefit ratio is excellent. Practically there are more than enough reasons for any financial entity to have at least one. Use of pre-printed paper will be significantly decreased the more that on-demand electronic documents are used, and storage and distribution problems can be avoided as well as obsolescence risks.
On the other hand, these businesses have discovered a long time ago the advantages of electronic document distribution and they have incorporated processes that support ‘online’ generation for visualization via the Internet and high quality remote printing that doesn’t overload communication lines. We can expect continued advancement of standard definitions that facilitate interconnection of document solutions and support more integration with ERP and CRM systems.
Resolving risks
As with any journey, this one is not exempt from risks. One of the most common errors is acquiring equipment that presents integration difficulties with existing architecture. Purchase management by non-expert personnel or without proper consultation leads to painful mistakes that incur great costs which normally must be assumed by the organization. The software and possible consultation support that is contracted are no less important, since a properly designed and integrated project will produce, without a doubt, great satisfaction to its users and the personnel charged with its support and maintenance.
Finally, it is important to indicate that it is not necessary to cross our borders to find such products and consultation support, since we have in our country a good offering of national consultants and even a manufacturer of document software that competes in the market with great success in Spain as well as in Europe and America.
Julio Olivares,
President and Founder of DocPath