Consumer lending documents are an essential part of servicing loans. They include a wide variety, including billing statements, annual privacy disclosures, special letters, and yearly tax forms. If you’re managing this in-house, you know it’s expensive, labor-intensive, and complicated. So, why not consider consumer lending print and mail services?
If you want to save money, improve quality, boost accuracy, and maintain compliance, you’ll need a transactional print and mail partner that’s reliable and experienced. Keep reading to learn how to select the right provider for your financial institution.
Evaluating Print and Mail Services for Consumer Lending
As with any partner, you’ll want to practice due diligence in assessing the options. There are many print and mail companies in the country, but not all are the same. The first focus for you should be finding those companies that are transactional-focused, meaning all their operations are for highly-regulated communications and industries. Those that “dabble” in it may not have the compliance and security thresholds you expect.
With this decision, you’ve narrowed down your options. So, how else should you evaluate these businesses?
Inquire About Processes and Workflows
The process of receiving a print-ready file through production, insertion, and entering the mail stream has many different steps and tasks. It’s critical that your print and mail provider have these in place and standardized. An organization that uses Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma to streamline the workflow and ensure it’s repeatable will give you peace of mind about quality and accuracy.
There are several green flags you’d want to see here:
- Standard works that document the sequence of tasks.
- Usage of advanced technology in inserting to reduce the risk of mis-mailings and increase accuracy. Specialized inserting machines and mini cameras that scan barcodes on each document are the most astute.
- Regular auditing of processes in line with Lean Manufacturing standards.
- Mirror sites with identical operations ensure your jobs always follow the same protocols.
Be Confident in Their Compliance Program
Transactional consumer lending print and mail always have compliance implications. Highly confidential information is in these documents, so it’s critical to find a provider with the highest compliance levels.
So, how can you quantify this and compare it? These are the areas that matter the most:
- Do they hold compliance certifications for anything related to banking and security?
- Have they ever had a breach?
- Are their practices and procedures in line with compliance best practices?
- Do they have a compliance officer on staff?
Having them explain and detail how they adhere to regulations on compliance should give you a clear picture of their capabilities.
Ask In-Depth Questions About Data Security
Any print and mail company can say they secure data, but you’ll need more context and proof than that. Start by discussing their data security protocols related to how they receive your files and what they do with your data. Financial institutions are a big target for cybercriminals, so you want your provider to have the same robust safeguards that you have.
You can have the assurance that the company is security minded if they:
- Encrypt data in transit or at rest.
- Receive your data via SFTP file transmission.
- Provide user-level security.
- Maintain a robust firewall and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS).
- Follow the best practices regarding cybersecurity and update their programs regularly.
- Conduct tests to gauge their data security protocols.
- Have certifications that are data security-focused, such as SOCI & II.
Gather Information on Other Services They Provide
Financial institutions can have apprehension regarding outsourcing consumer lending documents because they feel they’ll lose control. Even if you aren’t doing the printing and mailing, you want complete visibility into the operations.
To gain this, you’ll need a partner that has a web-based, secure document management platform. From one hub, you can review all your jobs and their status, access archives, run reports, and track the delivery of communications. With such a resource, you’ll maintain full control of operations.
Another beneficial tool is address scrubbing, which identifies inaccurate or incomplete addresses. Using this can minimize costs around undelivered mail. You’ll also want the ability to send certified mail and trace its delivery. One more service that you’ll appreciate is document design services, which can help you create more engaging and easy-to-understand documents.
Ensure That Implementation and Customer Service Are Top Notch
Finding out about the company’s implementation and service frameworks is critical to outsourcing. You don’t want to sign a contract and then get surprised by disorganization in the onboarding. You should inquire about how they implement new customers and the steps so you know what to expect.
After you’re up and running, customer service should remain high. Get the facts on their support personnel and the typical turnaround time for a response to an issue.
Consumer Lending Print and Mail Services: Outsource with the Right Partner
Your institution has an opportunity to unburden itself from the costs and complexity of consumer lending printing and mailing. However, you want to partner with a company that’s accurate, compliant, secure, and responsive. In PCI Group, you can find a provider that exceeds the standards and expectations.
Explore our consumer lending print and mail services today and why so many banks trust us to manage them.
