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Business Workflow
is not really a group of people
dedicated to that. You have
project managers looking into it,
but they are basically missing the
workforce to implement these
kinds of things.”
A broad portfolio
This is where Lexmark’s
expertise comes into play.
Not only does it have in-depth
knowledge of specific industries
and business processes, it also
has a wide-ranging portfolio of
solutions to draw from. These
extend from mobile capture apps
that can be used to capture
receipts using a smartphone
to full enterprise content
management solutions. Thanks
to its software acquisitions, they
are evolving all the time.
As an example, Molhoek
cites Lexmark’s Intelligent
Capture solutions, which scan,
In the retail banking business,
the role of the branch
is changing. Intensified
competition is driving revenues
down, while regulatory burdens
on key processes, increased
regulation of private customer
data and demands for process
transparency threaten to
increase costs and erode
profits.
As a result, bank branches
are evolving from transaction
centres to sales centres; from
delivering speedy and reliable
services to creating customer
loyalty and driving cross- and
up-selling. Today, branches must
help banks lead via service and
relationships, not price.
To deliver on this strategy,
retail banks are transforming
their branch networks to
be more customer-centric,
efficient and profitable.
This transformation
requires better
resource optimisation,
performance and
flexibility, as well as
changes to the flow of
information in branches
capture, analyse and classify
paper-based information for
faster, more accurate workflows.
The incorporation of technology
acquired when Lexmark bought
Brainware makes these solutions
much more powerful than ones
based purely on optical character
recognition (OCR). Once a scan
has been OCRed, the software
analyses the words to classify the
type of document involved and
then finds and extracts key data
wherever it is on the page. This
intelligence removes the need for
homogeneous document designs
and reduces the need for manual
intervention when processing
documents from diverse
organisations all with different
form layouts.
The ability to use such
solutions to capture information
in remote locations brings
additional benefits to multi-site
organisations. Molhoek showed
PrintIT
how they could be used
by a bank’s branch network to
speed up account openings or
loan processing, for example
by alerting customer service
agents in a local branch if any
documents are missing from a
batch and need to be scanned
before progressing to the next
stage of a process. The ‘on-
boarding’ of new employees
is another key application,
especially in retail organisations
that have a high turnover of
low-paid staff, many of whom
might have work permit or Visa
restrictions.
For Molhoek, the important
point about this and other
solutions that Lexmark has
developed or integrated, as
well as its on-going acquisition
strategy, is that it provides
customers with a platform that
they can build on as their needs
change or their appetite for
business process transformation
grows.
“If you look at the companies
we have bought in the last
three and a half years, they
all strengthen the Lexmark
portfolio. Today, we look at the
whole document cycle with our
customers and everything we
are bringing to the table makes
this much more seamless and
smooth,” he said.
All change
HP explains what financial services organisations should
consider when choosing a document solutions partner
through increased automation,
speed and security.
Documents and the
information they carry are the
lifeblood of retail banking:
they drive fee-based revenues,
interest income and new loan
and deposit customers. Today’s
innovators in retail banking are
focusing on maximising the
effectiveness of documents,
while reducing their costs
and improving productivity.
Collectively, this is forcing retail
banks to consider automating
paper-based processes.
Many choose to do this
through a managed print and
document services (MPDS)
vendor engagement. By
automating paper-intensive
workflows through secure digital
solutions that are integrated with
key banking systems, banks can
transform paper-based workflows
into intelligent, streamlined and
secure digital workstreams.
Information workflow solutions
not only deliver cost reduction
and infrastructure efficiencies,
they can also secure information,
demonstrate compliance and
improve the accuracy and
speed of processing. Improving
critical document workflows,
such as account openings, loan
originations and mortgages, can
make the difference between
an unprofitable branch network
that turns customers away and a
profitable, efficient digital branch
that drives customer satisfaction
and loyalty.
To achieve such efficiencies
in your bank, look for a partner
who offers next-generation
information workflow solutions
specifically designed for the
financial services industry. Deep
industry knowledge is imperative
for success, because general
MPDS may not be sensitive to
the specific and complex needs
of banking environments.
Other criteria to consider
when evaluating a vendor
partner include the provision of
a broad range of hardware and
software options – ‘on-ramps’
for content creation and capture
– that maximise available space
and meet strict compliance
requirements and the need for
secure and public access areas;
application integration services
across the entire information
management lifecycle;
and robust infrastructure
management capabilities
that ensure the right controls
are in place to authorise,
authenticate, track and audit
the flow of documents, content
and information.
You may also want to
consider:
n
capabilities for routing the
content;
n
secure management and
retention of content;
n
multi-channel options for
delivering content in paper or
digital form (or both);
n
demonstrable knowledge of
the industry; and
n
global presence, with
strength in the geographies
where you operate.
Retail branch networks are vital
to a bank’s relationship with its
customers. Delivering a positive
customer experience – without
sacrificing profitability – requires
a solid strategy that emphasises
efficiency, flexibility, availability
and security. This can be
a complicated and labour-
intensive process or it can be
streamlined with digitisation
and key information workflow
solutions tailored to the banking
industry, helping you to improve
business results.
HP’s new MFPs are
optimised for scanning
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