PLANO, Texas – EDS has cut some more paper out of the lending process, not to mention the overnight delivery or faxing costs. The company has added a new secure document viewer to its Web-based loan origination software, Loan Advantage, taking its CU clients one step closer to a paperless loan process. The viewer add-on allows credit unions to send already populated loan documents to a member electronically via a secure Web site. The member retrieves them off of the site and prints and mails them to the CU. Since Loan Advantage is integrated with the CU's core system, the loan officer is viewing and processing the member's loan application electronically as well, and members can complete their loan application online so the data does not have to be re-inputted by a loan officer. The real beauty of Loan Advantage said Sara Brooks, director of offerings development for EDS' Credit Union Group, is EDS maintains the secured Web server, acting as the ASP. Credit unions have none of the maintenance or troubleshooting responsibilities of an in-house system on their servers. It also means the CUs need no special hardware or software, just a connection to the Net and a laser or ink jet printer. Some 131 credit unions have signed up for Loan Advantage, which with the new secure document component, is only missing one thing to becoming completely electronic – the member's signature. "From a technology standpoint we're ready. We could implement e-signatures this year. The issue is going to be the regulations, the issue of what the credit union needs to do in order to make sure that person who never stepped foot in the credit union is who they say they are. And with the US Patriot Act, we now have the added burden of proving they're not a terrorist," said Brooks. Brooks said EDS wanted the system to be portable so credit unions could take their lending act on the road. For instance a credit union could set up their lending operation on site at a car dealership with as little as a lap top and signature pad. The signature pad does make the process completely electronic. An exciting feature of the document viewer said Brooks is it allows the CU an opportunity to retract electronic documents. "If I lost something or screwed up, I can pull that notification back. I can make the correction all while staying within my loan origination system," said Brooks. This eliminates loan docs not matching up. As for pricing, it depends on the size of the credit union. There is an implementation cost, a monthly hosting fee, and CUs will pay per document as they use the document viewer add-on. Since Loan Advantage is browser-based, EDS is able to train CU employees over the phone. "It's the first product we've used where employees can be trained via telephone, anyone who can use a browser, point and click can use the application," said Tim Stephens, president of Health Care Family CU in St. Louis. The CU has been using Loan Advantage since March. [email protected]