As 2016 ended, it was clear that many financial institutionswere pleased with the progress they made toward achievingefficiency, protecting against data breaches and improving memberexperience. But looking at the year ahead, many financialexecutives still feel there are huge advances to make towardachieving digital transformation strategies.

Luckily, the beginning of the year is a great time to wipe theslate clean and initiate new plans to align with and achieve newgoals. It goes without saying that improving member experience isat the top of nearly all credit unions' annual priorities – as itshould be. Keeping members happy is the number one way to retainthem. But consumers' attitudes and preferences have drasticallychanged over the last few years. In order to please them, morecredit unions need to deploy digital transformation initiativesutilizing a strategic enterprise information platform.

Three leading capabilities within an enterprise informationplatform that will help credit unions with digital transformationgoals include records management capabilities, reporting dashboardsand workflow functionality.

Improving Records Management

Compliance isn't a new trend for the financial servicesindustry. Banks and credit unions have always struggled tostreamline processes and achieve compliance with industryregulations. This is because these processes aren't simple and thenumber of industry regulations impacting institutions continues togrow every year.

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

Once a document is digital, records management capabilities usepredefined rules to automate the process surrounding that specificrecord, from declaration through final disposition. Users then havethe ability to place holds on those records to automaticallydestroy or purge them from the system, staying in compliance withthe exact amount of time they need to be held, and avoiding anyrisks associated with unsuccessful audits.

Create Digital Workflows to AutomateProcesses

Workflow is my favorite functionality within an enterpriseinformation platform, and another essential piece of the digitaltransformation strategy for credit unions because of the positiveimpact it can make in every department and nearly every process.The right workflow solution is customizable, automating processesby matching work tasks with the staff that can complete them.

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

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

Reporting Dashboards for Greater Insight IntoProcesses

By embracing electronic documents and processes, credit unionsnot only gain faster access to information but also facilitateeasier audits to ensure compliance with internal and externalstandards, preventing costly legal repercussions and negative mediaattention.

Enterprise information platforms log every time a user accesses,views, edits or acts on a document. Users also have the ability toshare audit logs to external auditors to ensure corporate andindustry compliance standards are met. In addition, managers havegreater insight into internal processes through reportingdashboards to view where processes currently lie and wherebottlenecks thwart process completion. In addition, reports can berun to view workload balance of each employee to ensure appropriateworkloads are met.

Today's regulatory environment demands digitization fromfinancial institutions. By taking a digital-first approach in 2017with an enterprise information platform, credit unions willcontinue to deliver on their promise for extraordinary memberexperiences while at the same time setting the path toward digitaltransformation initiatives. Focusing on improving recordsmanagement, implementing workflow throughout the institution andrunning reports to share and view important information will ensureyour institution is well on its way toward a completely digitalenterprise.

Michelle Harbinak Shapiro is financial services marketingmanager, Hyland. She can be reached at 440-788-6803or [email protected].