In 2008, Saint Francis Federal Credit Union moved away from paper processing and transitioned to image-based item processing, putting it on the cutting edge of credit unions choosing to run an in-house, image-based solution.Rather than processing items through a third-party provider, the credit union opted to present items directly to the Fed.
CEO and President of Saint Francis, Tom Eaton, says, Many of our peers are unfamiliar with the terminology of image-based item processing. This, along with concerns about communicating with the Fed, has made bringing item processing in-housea rather daunting endeavor. In fact, the Fed has been a great source of support, and communication has never been an issue. We took advantage of the excellent training materials provided by the Fed.
The move to an image-based system has saved Saint Francis approximately $10,000 annually. The electronic environment eliminated courier costs and cut an estimated $16,000 in third-party processing fees. And without the requirement to maintain membershipcapital shares with a corporate credit union, Saint Francis saves even more.
The most important benefit to our credit union is the value weve been able to provide to our members, says Eaton. In addition to passing on savings directly to our members, our transactions and processing times are faster andmore efficient.
As a result of moving to an image-based item processing solution, Saint Francis has seen benefits to its members and employees. It has cemented a solid platform for processing items that gives it complete control over every aspect of the processfrom image capture to settlement, returns, and archiving.
