As 2016 ended, it was clear that many financial institutions were pleased with the progress they made toward achieving efficiency, protecting against data breaches and improving member experience. But looking at the year ahead, many financial executives still feel there are huge advances to make toward achieving digital transformation strategies.

Luckily, the beginning of the year is a great time to wipe the slate clean and initiate new plans to align with and achieve new goals. It goes without saying that improving member experience is at the top of nearly all credit unions' annual priorities – as it should be. Keeping members happy is the number one way to retain them. But consumers' attitudes and preferences have drastically changed over the last few years. In order to please them, more credit unions need to deploy digital transformation initiatives utilizing a strategic enterprise information platform.

Three leading capabilities within an enterprise information platform that will help credit unions with digital transformation goals include records management capabilities, reporting dashboards and workflow functionality.

Improving Records Management

Compliance isn't a new trend for the financial services industry. Banks and credit unions have always struggled to streamline processes and achieve compliance with industry regulations. This is because these processes aren't simple and the number of industry regulations impacting institutions continues to grow every year.

In order to keep pace with the growing number of regulations that involve documents and records to avoid fines and bad press, credit unions should set records management improvements as the first goal within the digital transformation strategy.

Once a document is digital, records management capabilities use predefined rules to automate the process surrounding that specific record, from declaration through final disposition. Users then have the ability to place holds on those records to automatically destroy or purge them from the system, staying in compliance with the exact amount of time they need to be held, and avoiding any risks associated with unsuccessful audits.

Create Digital Workflows to Automate Processes

Workflow is my favorite functionality within an enterprise information platform, and another essential piece of the digital transformation strategy for credit unions because of the positive impact it can make in every department and nearly every process. The right workflow solution is customizable, automating processes by matching work tasks with the staff that can complete them.

Whether it's automating new account opening, loan processes or fraud investigations, electronic workflow solutions ensure the proper process is followed, alerting the right personnel at the right time when their input is needed, and completing processes much faster compared to manual operations.

In addition, because all documentation is now electronic and stored in a secure, central location, employees are able to access member information and documents directly through the core system, or line-of-business interfaces, without having to switch screens or applications.

Reporting Dashboards for Greater Insight Into Processes

By embracing electronic documents and processes, credit unions not only gain faster access to information but also facilitate easier audits to ensure compliance with internal and external standards, preventing costly legal repercussions and negative media attention.

Enterprise information platforms log every time a user accesses, views, edits or acts on a document. Users also have the ability to share audit logs to external auditors to ensure corporate and industry compliance standards are met. In addition, managers have greater insight into internal processes through reporting dashboards to view where processes currently lie and where bottlenecks thwart process completion. In addition, reports can be run to view workload balance of each employee to ensure appropriate workloads are met.

Today's regulatory environment demands digitization from financial institutions. By taking a digital-first approach in 2017 with an enterprise information platform, credit unions will continue to deliver on their promise for extraordinary member experiences while at the same time setting the path toward digital transformation initiatives. Focusing on improving records management, implementing workflow throughout the institution and running reports to share and view important information will ensure your institution is well on its way toward a completely digital enterprise.

Michelle Harbinak Shapiro is financial services marketing manager, Hyland. She can be reached at 440-788-6803 or michelle.shapiro@onbase.com.

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