By Liese Hutchison
Banks are embracing technology for document imaging, security, Internet service and communication. But before a bank incorporates the latest product, it should assess its current technological needs.
“Before we match up a technology, we recommend that banks and financial institutions conduct what we call a LAN audit,” notes John Sargent, president, PRO Networks, Corp. “During the audit, we take a look at their network and how their infrastructure supports their needs today, then we put together a report that outlines where they should be.” Areas the company investigates include applications that may be causing network problems, how the network is used and who is using the network more than others.
“There are hundreds of products available, but we make sure we put in exactly what the customer needs,” Sargent notes. “When banks look at new applications, it is usually an imaging system or combining voice and data technology,” he states. As a company adds new technologies, Sargent says it typically forces the bank to try and make its current bandwidth more efficient or expand it.
A big concern for all involved is security. Sargent says his company helps banks in three areas when it comes to security. First it develops security procedures and policies for the employees using the system, then it does penetration testing to determine if there are system weaknesses, and finally, it creates firewalls to stop outsiders from entering the bank’s system without authorization.
Other technologies banks are using include Internet, e-commerce and remote communications. In addition, banks are also using wide area networking (WAN) to communicate seamlessly with their branches.
Mary Sherrill, vice chairman of Southwest Bank of St. Louis, says Southwest recently upgraded its WAN system to T1 lines so its seven branches can communicate instantaneously.
In addition, the bank is always looking for technology that offers customers faster service. “Technology helps customers receive up-to-the-minute information on their accounts,” she notes. Sherrill says that when customers get information instantly, it helps reduce fraud.
Using a dial-up system, customers can find out if an accounts receivable was deposited, a wire transfer cleared or an accounts payable was debited out of the account. “Customers, especially commercial customers, want to speed up collections so they can use their money faster,” she says. The dial-up system is secure, Sherrill notes, because Southwest’s computers only recognize the customer’s PC and its access code.
The latest technology Southwest added for its customers was an image-based system. “Document imaging allows us to do very quick research,” Sherrill states. “When customers call us and say they can’t remember who they sent a certain check to, we can pull that information up in seconds.”
The high-speed sorter processes the checks and captures the images, which are saved on the bank’s network. The bank then prints out the images of the checks and offers them to customers as a record-keeping source. “At the end of the year, customers simply highlight their tax deductions or can note other expenditures, because they can see who they wrote the check to,” Sherrill says.
For commercial customers, Southwest offers the document imaging service on a CD-ROM. “Customers can manipulate the data on the CD to fit their accounting needs, which saves them time from re-inputting information,” she says.
Southwest is currently looking into online banking applications. Sherrill notes that Internet banking is also secure for customers, because the data is encrypted.
Liese L. Hutchison is an assistant professor in the department of communication at Saint Louis University and a free-lance writer.
