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Web Based Credit Automation: Automating the Credit Application Process
Many companies that process more than a couple of credit applications on a daily or weekly basis find it difficult to keep up with the workload, to keep information organized, and to process these new customers quickly, efficiently, and at a relatively low cost. As a result, applications and other documents are often incomplete, illegible and can be lost or misfiled. Of greater concern, delays in approving pending applications can result in the applicant’s business going to a competitor.
In days past some credit professionals dealt with this problem by hiring more people to handle new accounts, but not in today’s proactive waste reduction directive by senior mgt. “do more with less people”. Others require credit department staff members to ‘lend a hand’ when the backlog of credit applications becomes so significant that it cannot be ignored. Neither of these approaches solves the fundamental weaknesses associated with manually processing new credit applications, which include the fact that:
• • The process is labor intensive
• • Often decentralized
• • Time consuming
• • Dull and repetitive work,
• • Sales personal are harassing you and
• • Subject to a fair amount of human error
As with other labor intensive processes (accounting, invoicing, collections) many companies are looking for ways to streamline the new accounts process to make it easier, more cost effective, more efficient, more accurate, and faster.
One of the companies that have addressed this challenge is Credentrust Software, Inc. The Credentrust CreditSuite™ is a web-based workflow collaboration system for processing new customer credit applications, as well as franchise, tenant and loan applications. This web-based software provides everything credit professionals need to quickly and efficiently process new applications, in addition to:
• A Credit Tool Box that permits access to credit bureaus, and other third party sources for faster retrieval of credit data [including Dun and Bradstreet®, and Experian® among others]
• An Automated Reference Checking tool to automatically generate bank, trade and landlord references inquiries
• Checklist and status tracking procedures that ensure each person associated with the process can view and update the process in the real time
• A Dynamic Decision engine that enables uniform decision making from data off the application, credit reports, financials, references and other inputs for making faster better decisions.
• Workflow administration functionality that makes sure each application is processed correctly
• A feature that tracks all correspondence and email, phone and fax communications with applicants and their references
• A Document library tool that generates acceptance letters and other documents to applicants
The benefits of automating the new accounts process include:
• Faster approvals resulting in increased sales and a favorable first impression of your company by the applicant company.
• The ability to stabilize headcount in new accounts, and in some cases the ability to reduce headcount thanks to process automation.
• Better credit decisions can be made because the credit manager or decision maker will have more information, sooner.
• Reduced processing costs per application.
• Increased sales and market share resulting from the creditor’s ability to approve applications faster than competitor companies can do.
Some of the value added features of this product include:
A Checklist. Used to manage the items and steps needed for processing an application to ensure that each step is taken.
Application Status. This feature allows the credit manager or other interested parties to determine the current status of each pending application.
The ability to assign an application to a designated person. This individual is then responsible for ensuring that the application is processed in a timely manner.
Notes. As with on line credit notes, this feature allows the individual responsible for the application to record relevant information.
Alerts. Alerts create reminder messages on specified dates and at specified times. For example, an alert could prompt the new accounts clerk to send a second request to any reference that did not respond in a timely manner to the initial request for information about the applicant.
Contact Management. This feature tracks email and other correspondence with the customer and its bank and trade references.
Email Templates. The software contains templates suitable for common email communications to trade creditors, banks and other parties.
Decision Engine. This engine is dynamic, flexible and can be created from any data collected from any source, with any number scoring system per item and credit terms established.
Some of the unique features of this software include:
• • CreditSuite can be operational within a couple of weeks.
• • CreditSuite is either hosted as an ASP or sold as software, browser-based application.
• • Credentrust acting as an ASP supplies all the necessary hardware, software and hosting, and manages the system for users. Your company simply needs Internet access.
• • Credentrust is very reasonable priced for any company processing more than 20 new customer per month
• • Credentrust has Fortune 500 and small medium sizes business clients.
• • In addition, Credentrust has connectivity to over 200 lenders to help your customers procure alternative sources of financing to either pay off your line or help augment your line to assist them in growing their business.
For a FREE web demo and to learn more about CreditSuite and other Credentrust Software products please contact Tom Markel at 949-743-1839 or at: tmarkel@credentrust.com
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