Amidst industry disruption, banking executives prepare for a digital future

By Nisha Pattan, Product Marketing Director

Digital transformation is not just a new trend in banking—it’s a necessity. And the clock is ticking.

A recent Gartner report predicted that digitization will render most traditional financial firms irrelevant by 2030 as new entrants poach their customers with more modern financial solutions that prioritize a fast, reliable digital experience. Banks need to stay competitive by understanding the evolving needs of their customers and developing their digital offerings to meet those demands.

We heard from two banks doing just that at our annual user conference, Momentum, during the session, “Banking Under Siege: Winning the Digital Fight.” Multibank holding company Zions Bancorporation operates more than 450 branches in 11 western and Southwestern states. KeyBank provides retail, small business and wealth management solutions, and is one of the largest banks in the U.S. Amidst disruption across the banking industry, these organizations are digitizing and automating critical processes to ensure they don’t get left behind.

 A digital banking experience

Several years ago, a tornado threatened a KeyBank branch in Dayton, Ohio. While the branch remained unaffected by the tornado, Ann Guess, SVP and director of branch operations, realized that the vast number of critical paper forms locked in file cabinets had been at risk of being destroyed. This realization kick-started KeyBank’s move to digitize forms and agreements.

In addition to the urgency around protecting these documents, KeyBank recognized that their loan closing process was also in need of an overhaul. As a result, the bank rolled out the Docusign Agreement Cloud to create a simpler and mobile friendly loan closing process, making it convenient for customers and also reducing the time backend office staff spent processing paperwork.

Until recently, applying for a loan at one of KeyBank’s 1200 branches was time-consuming and inefficient. According to Guess, while customers could complete an application online, closings had to occur in the branch regardless of whether you had filled out the application online or in person . Once their application was approved, they then had to return to the branch to sign the closing package and finally receive funding. Instead of the bank requiring its busy customers to fill out and sign documents at a branch, applicants now have the option to apply either on the web or at their local branch. Their application is then processed and sent to them for digital signature and, once finalized, customers often receive funding that same day.

With Docusign, loan closing times decreased from an average of 8.5 days to just two days. The Docusign-powered loan process also saved bank staff approximately 90 minutes per loan—and digitally stores all of the paperwork.

Developing a continuous training program to help banks adapt

In the Momentum session, Zions Bank VP of Digital Experience Kevin O’Brien shared how the organization began its Docusign journey by digitizing the treasury management onboarding process for new customers. Zions’ process previously was manual and paper-driven, which often resulted in errors on forms, slowing down customer operations. Standardizing and digitizing the onboarding process meant lower rates of errors and fewer incomplete forms. Zions’ treasury management onboarding process, which once lasted between one and two weeks, now takes fewer than six hours to complete.

With big ambitions for Docusign at Zions, leadership wanted to be strategic about how they unveiled the solution to staff. Zions established a center-of-excellence (CoE) to support an efficient and methodical rollout of Docusign for treasury management and beyond. Employees can also approach Docusign experts in the CoE with specific questions about the solution. Zions’ investment in a CoE represents a commitment to empowering employees with digital tools can help them do their jobs more efficiently—now, and in the future.

KeyBank has also taken steps to pave the way for a digital customer experience future. Guess and her team plan to expand their use of Docusign to 15 other financial products, starting with home equity lines of credit.

Learn more about the power of Agreement Cloud for Financial Services here