Content Management Sparks Big Savings

Republic Mortgage LLC, a mortgage company in Las Vegas, has hit the jackpot with OnBase content-management software from Hyland Software Inc. Since installing the system last May, Republic has realized $170,000 in savings--about the cost of the software--by digitizing W2s, bank statements, employment records, and other supporting documents, the bank revealed Wednesday.

Banks are required to retain documents for quality control and repackaging loans for resale to the secondary market. They also need to retain them for regulatory reasons; in Republic's case, it's required to keep hard copies on file for two years and images for seven years.

The need to turn mortgage applications around rapidly and efficiently led Republic to choose the OnBase system, says CIO Spencer Van Pelt. Rising home prices in the Las Vegas area have triggered a flood of applications; Republic expects to process $1.5 billion in loans this year, up from $1.1 billion last year and $760 million in 2003.

The OnBase system provides Republic with superior image quality and retrieval times versus the older method of scanning documents in-house and sending them to a service bureau for storage, Van Pelt says. The system also integrates easily with a mortgage-application system that Republic is planning to install in the next six months, he says. Republic also plans to deploy the system in areas outside of mortgage processing, such as customer service, accounting, and human resources.

U.S. banks will spend a total of $3.5 billion on mortgage technology this year, up from $3.4 billion last year, says TowerGroup analyst Craig Focardi. About $120 million of that will be spent on systems for storing and retrieving documents used in closing and post-closing processes.