NeoLotex and Kodak Alaris help Vistaar Financial Services reduce the time to process loan applications by 65%

Overview

Kodak Alaris partner NeoLotex Business Solutions, is a technology enabled services company offering a wide range of solutions designed to accelerate digital transformation to organizations across the world. The company recently worked with Kodak Alaris to help Vistaar Financial Services Private Limited streamline its document management and operations workflow across 220 branches in India, reduce costs, meet stringent security requirements, and improve the customer experience.

Challenge

Vistaar Financial Services Private Limited is a non-banking financial corporation (NBFC), which provides a range of financial services and business loans to the small to medium sized enterprise (SME) sector.

The company, which is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has a pan-India presence with 220 branches across the country.

The loan application process was a paper-intensive workflow beginning at the branch level. Customers are required to submit a wide range of documents to support a loan application and in many instances an individual application can be over 300 pages. Processing huge volumes of physical documents was time- intensive and with only basic internet connectivity in the branches, much of the paperwork had to be sent to head office by courier. This meant that some documents got missed or overlooked. In many instances as not all of the information was processed at the same time, multiple files were created for the same customer, resulting in delays and additional costs.

The organization was looking for a solution that would address its key pain points – to remove dependency on expensive software licenses; to eliminate file duplication and the associated prohibitive cost of storage in high priority cloud storage centers; to improve visibility over the status of each loan application and improve the customer experience, by reducing the time from making the application to receipt of monies, which took on average 12 days.

Solution

NeoLotex and Kodak Alaris collaborated to provide an integrated solution that encompassed 250 Kodak ScanMate i1150 Scanners and NeoLotex's proprietary web- based doQman platform which features a built in document management system (DMS), and business process management (BPM) solution.

The scanners from Kodak Alaris integrated with the web-based doQman DMS/BPM platform were installed in each branch as well as within a centralised hub and in the head office. With the new system in place, branch- based staff are able to create a reference number, digitize documents and automatically push the information to the next steps in the workflow process.

Benefits

One of the customer's key requirements was to reduce dependency on and remove the high cost associated with Windows OS. As a member of the TWAIN Working Group, Kodak Alaris was influential in the creation of the TWAIN 2.0 standard to fully support Linux Operating Systems. Importantly, its TWAIN data source user interface for Linux OS provides the same look, feel and functionality as the Windows OS version. This capability has removed the requirement to pay for Windows licenses in all 220 branches – a capex saving of USD $72,000.

With the new solution, once documents are digitized in branch and uploaded into the DMS, the system automatically places the information into the existing file - eliminating the problem around creating duplicate files. The doQman platform is feature-rich. It incorporates configurable workflows, designed to accommodate the clients' requirements for efficient document handling and collaboration; automates tasks such as categorizing documents, reducing manual steps and human error.

The previous workflow which involved physically sharing information between the branch, hub and head office has now been fully automated and streamlined. Both the central hub and head office receive the information simultaneously in real-time which has improved speed of access to information. The biggest benefit has been that, as long as all of the necessary documentation is provided at the application stage, customers are now receiving funds within four working days rather than the 12 days it was taking prior to the solution's implementation.

Perfect Page technology built into scanners from Kodak Alaris has also reduced internet bandwidth requirements, which was a problem in branch. This file compression technology creates smaller size but exceptionally high quality images, which in addition to helping Vistaar Financial Services to reduce spend on cloud storage by 60%, has also contributed to a speedier turnaround time.

Perfect Page technology reduces document preparation to simple tasks like removing staples, with absolutely no pre-sorting required; enables staff to process mixed batches of documents without sorting for orientation, size, type or shape; increases OCR results significantly; and cuts exception handling to a fraction of what it was prior to adopting scanners from Kodak Alaris.

The new system has enabled Vistaar Financial Services Private Limited to realise a paperless environment and from day one delivered a strong RoI. Importantly, the solution which offers complete control at a user level addresses the strict security requirements of this regulated environment – the organization is able to set security levels to control access at the document, page or category level – a criterion that was equally as important as the financial and productivity benefits realised.