Tradition Capital Bank

Tradition Capital Bank is a private-banking firm that needed a way to control huge volumes of paper. Using KnowledgeLake software, Microsoft SharePoint, and a high-speed Fujitsu scanner, the firm is digitizing information such as loan and deposit documents. Bank documents are easily scanned, indexed, and stored on the corporate intranet for fast retrieval, and are protected using built-in enterprise security features.

Tradition Capital Bank is a small, private banking firm that focuses on high-net-worth individuals, their business and their families by offering a full range of banking and cash management products and services.

The company has grown rapidly since it was launched in 2005. During that time, Tradition has increasingly struggled to manage a growing volume of paperwork, including loan files, customer deposit documents, and other documents.

"After just a few years in operation we were running out of filing cabinet space to organize and store paper files," says Shawn Carlson, Director of Information Technology for Tradition Capital Bank. "Then we opened a branch office, which increased our need to share loan files among employees in both offices. Our employees were frequently transporting these paper documents over 12 miles from one location to another. This was both inefficient and potentially insecure."

The bank needed an imaging solution that could help reduce the need for physical document storage and create a secure, efficient way to share documents among its locations. The bank evaluated but rejected a number of legacy solutions.

"They all had drawbacks," Carlson says. "They were either difficult to administer, they could not scale to keep up with our growth, or they had complex user interfaces. We also wanted to avoid proprietary systems that would have limited support systems."

Tradition Capital Bank decided to deploy a KnowledgeLake enterprise content management (ECM) solution built on the Microsoft SharePoint technologies that Tradition already had in place.

"The solution fits seamlessly into our environment," Carlson says, "and we felt that leveraging our Microsoft technology with KnowledgeLake would give us a solution that will grow with our business."

"We deployed the basic system in less than a week, and less than a month later we had already uploaded or scanned about 3,000 documents into the system," says Carlson.

The solution includes three KnowledgeLake products, including:

• KnowledgeLake Imaging for SharePoint, which enables easy batch scanning of paper documents and provides bank employees with tools like flexible searching of images from inside a web browser.
• KnowledgeLake Connect, which lets Tradition employees scan, upload, index, and search through documents in SharePoint from within commonly used software, including Microsoft Office programs.
• KnowledgeLake Capture, which quickly converts high volumes of paper documents into electronic format as they pass through the firm’s Fujitsu fi-5750C, a high-capacity scanner that scans up to 57 pages per minute and has a 200-page automatic document feeder.

After scanning, documents are stored on a Microsoft SQL Server database, where they are accessible through the firm’s intranet. Searches are conducted using metadata that is tagged to documents as they go through the scanning process.

The solution also enhances security. "Since the KnowledgeLake solution is based on SharePoint, our users don’t need a separate login, and we can easily secure documents within domain groups," says Carlson.

Additionally, the KnowledgeLake solution lets users index documents using standard naming conventions. An auto-indexing feature lets the firm automate the majority of the indexing processes for end users.

By deploying a KnowledgeLake ECM solution, Tradition Capital Bank has been able to improve processes that are vital for smooth daily operations. The solution makes it much easier for employees to search for and find documents. Posting documents on SharePoint allows employees in remote locations to quickly access important information. And the built-in security of the KnowledgeLake ECM solution helps the company control access to sensitive data.

Fast Filing and Searches

The KnowledgeLake ECM solution has transformed key business processes by giving Tradition employees greater control over indexing and searching through an array of documents.

"In the past, when a loan document was received, it was printed and punched," says Carlson. "Then an employee would have to find the right folder in a sea of filing cabinets, open the folder to the correct section, and file the document. This process would take between 5 and 6 minutes. Now, anyone involved in the loan process can upload a document to the system as soon as they receive it. The new process takes roughly 45 seconds to complete. And searches based on metadata are completed within seconds."

Easier Document Access

The solution makes it easier for Tradition to extend document access to employees who are working outside corporate headquarters.

"Prior to this solution, branch employees would have to wait a day for a file to be delivered by courier," says Carlson. "Using the KnowledgeLake ECM solution and SharePoint, employees have instant access to documents. The entire file is online, and documents can be looked up by any employee regardless of their location if they have the proper security. It allows our employees and our processes to be much more efficient."

Better Security for Data

Security of documents has also been improved from the days when Tradition stored paper documents in locked file cabinets.

"We use Windows-based security to control who has access to documents," says Carlson. "Not only can we secure the access to documents, but we can restrict who can see particular types of documents. This is huge benefit when we go through audits and regulatory exams because it enhances compliance with internal security policies and industry regulations."