More businesses are recognizing the
ecological and economical benefits
of adopting green practices,
whether that means instituting an office
recycling program or integrating sustainability practices into the company’s strategic plan. Going green is not a fad; it’s here
to stay.
“Even small steps a company makes to
reduce its footprint can pay off, starting with
reducing wasteful paper trails in every part
of the business,” says Craig Johnson, president and CEO, Franklin Bank, Southfield,
Mich. “Many businesses are making an
effort to go paperless, and bank transactions are an easy first step toward that goal
if your bank offers the right tools.”
Consider your company’s banking transactions. Beyond online banking and bill pay,
there are technologies available to decrease
paper flow, reduce your carbon footprint,
save time and avert additional fees if your
financial institution charges a premium for
hard-copy statements.
Smart Business spoke with Johnson to
discuss ways that banks are making it easier for businesses to operate in a leaner,
greener way.
Aside from online banking, what other paperless banking technology is available?
Electing to receive statements online
saves a monthly mailing and creates an
electronic footprint, which is a good thing.
You can easily access information online,
saving trips (and, therefore, gas) to the
branch. Beyond that, companies can
process checks at their place of business
through remote capture. This technology
requires obtaining a check machine, which
is used to digitally file checks. The
machine converts paper checks into electronic files, which are transmitted to the
bank. Funds are available immediately,
and canceled checks are readily accessible online. The ease of service alone is reason to incorporate remote capture into
your business practices. The efficiency
created on the business and banking sides
of every check transaction is significant.
Remote capture is the wave of the future
in banking — it’s ‘green’ and incredibly
convenient for business owners.
What is the payoff for adopting paperless
banking practices?
Rather than counting dollars and cents,
consider other important factors that indirectly affect your company’s bottom line
and are just as important: productivity, efficiency and accessibility. How can going
paperless improve these areas of your business, and what will that save your business?
For example, remote capture saves a trip to
the bank (carbon emissions and time) and
makes checks more accessible by storing
them online.
As more financial institutions adopt internal paperless strategies, they will encourage customers to embrace electronic banking. Banks may begin charging fees for getting paper statements or opting for the
paper version of a service that is offered
digitally. Already, most banks truncate
cashed checks and store images on film
rather than mailing the canceled paper
checks back to your place of business. We
can assume that as consumer demand for
‘green’ infuses the business world and
flows into the mainstream, service
providers across all industries will continue
efforts to be more sustainable.
What are bank branches doing to become
more green?
As businesses begin to embrace a more
sustainable culture, they may elect to do
business with vendors that are equally committed to the cause. If this describes your
business, you should talk to your bank
about technologies in place that show an
effort toward being a good corporate citizen. One example in the banking world is
branch capture, which is essentially remote
check capture at a bank level. Rather than
banks couriering checks to a processing
center, where personnel run checks through
energy-intensive machines, branch staff
‘copies’ checks digitally, using a check
machine. Those images are stored electronically and transmitted to the processing center. Branch capture benefits both the bank
and business customer. First, the customer
gets immediate credit for the deposited
check. Second, the paper trail ends at the
branch, saving time and energy.
For businesses concerned about whether
moving to completely electronic banking is
safe, can you address the security issue?
There is actually more control and security with online banking because electronic
statements are password protected.
Identity theft can occur through snail-mail
if banking statements and bills are intercepted. Meanwhile, by managing accounts
online, you likely monitor them on a daily
basis and will immediately detect fraud,
should it occur. Most consumers and businesses are comfortable logging in to online
accounts by now to reconcile accounts.
Receiving statements and depositing
checks this way is just as safe. Paper is
essentially one more step in the financial
transaction that can get lost, intercepted,
misplaced and abused. Talk to your banker
about online security and find out what systems are in place to assure that transactions
are private.
CRAIG JOHNSON is president and CEO of Franklin Bank, Southfield, Mich. Reach him at [email protected] or
(248) 358-6459.
