By W.B. King
In an effort to advance its digital-first strategy, Financial Plus Credit Union worked with its long-term fintech partner IMM and now offers a new e-transaction solution.
“We have been with IMM since 2007 when we were just looking for options on printing and physical storage of member documents,” Kelly Olesen, information technology specialist at Financial Plus Credit Union, told Finopotamus.
The $480 million Ottawa, Ill., Financial Plus Credit Union serves more than 42,400 members at five branch locations.
“During the pandemic, we made the transition to IMM eSignPlus and that was paramount to our success,” she continued. “Adding eReceiptsPlus is the next evolution of our digital strategy, amplifying the member experience yet again by enabling members to electronically sign transactions in real time, regardless of their location. The entire transaction is completed digitally in a matter of seconds.”
IMM’s cloud-based eReceiptsPlus generates advanced digital receipts out of teller platform transactions that can be provided to the member through thermal printing, email or via SMS-based text messages, explained Michael Ball, IMM’s senior vice president of markets and strategy.
“IMM values our client relationships and the long-term partnership with Financial Plus exemplifies perfectly why our clients turn to us again and again for their digital transformation needs,” Ball noted.
For 26 years, the Rahway, N.J.-based IMM has been a provider of e-signature and digital transaction solutions designed exclusively for financial institutions. More than 1,650 banks and credit unions currently use IMM’s eSignature and Digital Transaction Management. In early June 2023, the company announced that it joined with CFM and NXTsoft to form Kinective, a provider of connectivity, workflow and analytics software for the banking sector. CFM, NXTsoft, and IMM products will remain available and supported under their existing brands.
How eReceiptsPlus Works
If a member has a transaction that requires a receipt signature, the member can e-sign the receipt in the branch on tablet devices, traditional signature pads, and/or even using the member’s own smartphone, Ball explained.
“Through the SMS/text delivery feature unique to eReceiptsPlus, the member can also sign the receipt outside of the branch, thereby providing a new approach to handling drive-thru and call center transactions,” he continued. “Upon completion, the digital receipt, including the member’s signature (if applicable), is automatically archived into the credit union’s imaging/enterprise content management (ECM) system for permanent record-keeping.”
Financial Plus Credit Union currently employs 100 people, with five tech-facing positions. Olesen explained that IMM’s solution was also selected due to its interoperability with the credit union’s core processing system. Additionally, she said IMM provides digital membership documents, lending documents, digital receipts and checks to the credit union’s back office.
“With the membership and lending documents, the employee will choose the necessary documents from a listing, then bring it on screen for the member to digitally sign,” she told Finopotamus. “These documents can also be securely sent to the member so they can be remotely signed.”
The receipts, she further explained, are then brought up on screen for every transaction for the member to sign, then archived for the credit union and printed (if requested for the member).
“Money orders and cashier’s checks are brought up on screen for the member to sign, then archived for the credit union and printed for the member,” she added. “Accounts payable checks are batch printed to be sent to vendors.”
Rollout and Management
From an ongoing tech management perspective, Olesen said that one of the credit union’s employees is an IMM specialist (along with other rolls). She added that the rollout process took roughly six months, with two months being used for beta testing.
“The specialist will make minor changes to the documents and does the testing on new releases. IMM has an in-person class for this training," she said. "There are three virtual servers to be maintained that house the software for the documents, checks and a SQL database."
The credit union’s “receipt server” is maintained by IMM. Each employee computer, she shared, has clients for the documents, receipts and checks as necessary to their role.
“Member service representatives and loan officers each have a laptop that can be converted to a tablet for the member signature,” she said. “Tellers each have a signature pad for receipt and check signatures.”
While the solution was only recently rolled out, when Finopotamus asked for before and after user statistics, Olesen responded: “Unfortunately, we don’t have data from prior to the introduction of IMM to be able to compare the impact of this product.”
Results withstanding, in Balls’ view if credit unions want to remain competitive, they can’t become complacent with respective digital strategies.
“Financial Plus is a great example of an institution that is constantly improving and always looking for ways to provide their members an even more enhanced banking transaction experience,” he said.