Wisconsin Bank Scores Big Lending Gains

In the two years it's been using Arta Lending from Bankers Systems, Oostburg State Bank, Oostburg, Wis., has streamlined and enhanced its loan origination workflow, enabling it to process significantly more loans. The bank relies on the system to process a variety of consumer, commercial, and agricultural loans.

"We are experiencing substantial cost savings with Arta," said Mark Olig, vice president of operations at $97 million Oostburg State Bank. "It allows us to do more with less, in the grand scheme of things."

A centralized loan origination and processing system, Arta Lending relieves the drudgery of manual labor that attended loan processing in the past. When the bank receives a loan application, it only needs to input the data once into the system. The system then automatically populates the fields in all required loan documents for that particular type of loan.

For tiny Oostburg State Bank, any time saved in the processing of loan applications makes a big difference. By only having to input data once, the bank's loan processors are free to process more loans.

The bank's loan volume grew from 75 in 1999 to over 300 in 2002. At least part of that increase is credited to Arta Lending.

"Rather than having to input a loan twice, it's a one-step process," said Olig. "It saves substantial man hours."

The system is also easy to use. The bank's loan processors have found that the software's interface is convenient and user-friendly.

"The loan processors are extremely happy with it," said Olig. "It is very easy to work through, to work around."

Bankers Systems provides software systems to a variety of financial institutions, including banks, brokerages, and credit unions. Its core Arta Lending platform delivers loan origination functionality. Add-on modules perform specialized tasks like populating fields in loan documents from a single credit bureau check.

"It gives the financial institution scalability," said Jamie van der Hagen, product manager for Arta Lending. "We've built the modules to allow the financial institution to adopt each capability when they're ready for it."

Overall, Oostburg State Bank has been particularly pleased with the sense of partnership with Bankers Systems, which has worked hard to meet its loan needs.

The vendor provided thorough training to loan processors when the software was installed, and continues to provide much-appreciated customer support, according to Olig.

"With the environment as it is today, it's important to have a business partnership," he said.