ROCHESTER, N.Y. - For banks and credit unions, indirect, agricultural and
other specialty lenders, bringing financial services to the Internet has
become a priority. And X/Net Associates, developers of Web Front End, is
hearing a common cry from customers across all these segments: We need more
than just software, we need technology experts.
Financial institutions today are looking for vendors who are qualified to
deliver results through their technological expertise, regardless of the
sign over the client's door. X/Net Associates strives to be that vendor.
"Our customers need to leverage their current technology investments while
anticipating future needs," says Gregg Olin, president and CEO, X/Net
Associates. "Our innovative approach utilizes their existing systems
and provides a migration strategy along with flexible components that
they can use today and carry into the future. It's interesting to see
the unique ways in which our systems are deployed for each customer."
"X/Net Associates integrates. Web Front End brings that integration to the Internet."
- Robin O'Rorke, Desert Schools Federal Credit Union
Desert Schools Federal Credit Union had tapped X/Net Associates before, to help
integrate its credit origination and main processing systems. So when it came
time to automate their online lending services, the credit union turned to
their old partners.
"There is around-the-clock demand among our members for immediate responses to
credit applications," says Robin O'Rorke, vice president, Desert Schools Federal
Credit Union. "In the time it would take for us to reply to a credit request,
good members might also be applying elsewhere. So speed of response and
accuracy were critical."
But as the 1.2 billion dollar credit union delved into the project,
their objectives grew. Why offer only some consumer loans via their
web site? Instead, Desert Schools FCU opted to make nearly
everything available, from auto loans to home equity loans.
Therein lay the challenge.
"Offering risk-based lending in an automated environment is difficult,"
O'Rorke understates. "With home equity loans in particular, automating
the loan-to-value checks and using evaluation software linked to a
matrix of rates behind-the-scenes was a challenge. We're currently
in test mode now, and everything is going well so far. We're on-track
to launch our expanded e-commerce services by January 2001."
X/Net Associates' Web Front End integrates seamlessly with all the different
software packages to help make this goal a reality.
Next up for Desert Schools FCU? Bringing automated first mortgage applications online.
"When we approve an automated application over our site via Web Front End, we
nearly always get the loan."
- Mel Caldwell, Bank of Stockton
The Bank of Stockton brought automated approval for certain consumer loans to
its Internet site in early 1999.
"We tend to be ahead of the technology curve," reports Mel Caldwell, lending
manager and vice president of Internet lending, Bank of Stockton. "We have a
president who's interested in staying ahead of other banks, and it's paid
off for us in internal staff time as well as significant response from consumers."
In the time the large bank has offered automated approval online, Caldwell has
found time to explore additional opportunities to help his investment pay off
even further. He believes he's found a sleeping tiger in automobile dealers.
"We're one of the first to be offering dealers the opportunity to key in auto
loans online and receive nearly instant approvals," he says. "I anticipate
that everyone's going to need to have it soon."
Caldwell has supported an awareness effort with online and direct mail
promotions, and finds that dealers who use his service once usually come
back. In addition, he reports, "Dealers who apply for their customers
online usually don't take the extra time to shop around. If we get them
a fast approval, we usually get the loan."
"Using Web Front End over our Intranet is an effective way of centralizing
the loan application process and provides a uniform set of standards, a
higher quality of documentation, and greater consistency."
- Ron Catrone, Liberty Bank
Liberty Bank was the first financial institution to deploy Web Front End and has
been recognizing the benefits of consistency, quality and efficiency of the
online interface for more than three years.
For Liberty Bank, installing Web Front End seems to have been providence.
In 1997, the Connecticut-based bank was installing a new Intranet, along
with an online application and automatic credit scoring.
"We thought, wouldn't it be great to connect them all," says Ron Catrone,
executive vice president and CIO, Liberty Bank. "We raised the idea
with X/Net Associates, who just happened to be working with us on a
separate project." Soon thereafter, X/Net installed Web Front End.
Liberty Bank has used Web Front End via its Intranet ever since. Bank
employees enter consumer loans, including home equity, auto, and
personal loans, at any branch and receive a qualified answer
within minutes.
"The latest development is using Web Front End in our call center,"
Catrone says. "We capture interested customers - or even those who are
just curious - by filling out a loan application for them while they're
on the line. They get their answers immediately, and though they may
have to stop in a branch office to sign the paperwork, they know they're
already qualified."
The call center component of the strategy is measurable. In fact,
Liberty Bank has seen a significant increase - more than 200% - in
loan applications in the two months since the call center began
taking over-the-phone applications. All this, when only two-thirds
of Liberty's branch offices have their calls directed to the call center.
"More than one-third of all our consumer loans are being made over the
Internet with Web Front End."
- William Zysk, Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union
"Our application volume is up 100%, from 30 applications per day
six months ago to more than 60 per day today," says William Zysk,
vice president of credit services, Pennsylvania State Employees
Credit Union (PSECU). "And up to 34% of approved car, credit and
other consumer loans are originated online."
"We're looking ahead to the establishment of simple yet secure e-signatures
and online disclosure to anticipate where Web Front End can take us next."
- William Zysk, Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union
PSECU has offered automated lending via its web site since early 1999.
In addition to its success with web-originated consumer loans, the
large credit union has turned to successful promotions with car
dealerships to increase its numbers.
"Dealership applications are going well," Zysk says. "We may be an anomaly,
but we're enjoying success in this area despite what the trade media is
saying. And Web Front End is enabling us to handle these higher volumes
and offer greater accessibility at reduced cost.
"Web Front End is one example of how the combination of technologies
we offer answers the real needs of the industry."
- Gregg Olin, X/Net Associates
"Our innovative and flexible technologies allow us to develop solutions
to our customers' real technology needs - from browser-based Internet
and Intranet front-ends integrated with host customer information
files, to automated credit processing, Banker's Systems compliance,
and documentation and host interfaces for booking loans."
X/Net Associates, Inc. is a high-end software development and systems
integration firm. X/Net provides complete software solutions within
the financial, insurance and securities markets. The company
has been a leader in completely integrated Internet credit application
processing solutions for all types of
lending institutions since 1997. The company's products include
CrediSphere™, a next-generation
application for credit origination, and MetaSage®, the powerful
underlying technology platform that is designed to handle all common B2B functional
requirements. The company is headquartered in Fairport, N.Y., and
also maintains an office in Columbus, Ohio. For more information,
contact X/Net at 585-425-7047 or 888-GET-XNET or visit the company's
web sites at www.xnai.com and www.CrediSphere.com.
