Surveyed CUs Rank Branch Capture Efficiencies; 
Service Allows CUs to better Use Staff Resources
While credit unions acknowledge the importance of "cost reductions" related to the elimination of courier and transportation fees, by more than a three-to-one margin, they say that "greater efficiency" is the most valuable benefit gained when implementing Branch Capture.
 
Branch Capture is the most tenured and most widely used of Southwest Corporate's suite of Remote Deposit Solutions, which now also includes Teller Capture, Member Capture, Business Capture and ATM Image Capture. Branch Capture is the process that allows real-time transmission of deposited items from credit union branch locations to Southwest Corporate's processing center.
 
Southwest Corporate surveyed its more than 450 Branch Capture users during late April. One hundred twenty-four credit unions responded.
 
Seventy-eight percent of the responding credit unions cited greater efficiency as a primary value of Branch Capture, while just over 16 percent identified "reduced costs" as the leading benefit.
 
Credit unions were asked to rank the most efficient aspects of Branch Capture from a list of five options. Credit unions cited the following as the top three efficiencies gained:
 
--Scanning checks eliminates hand encoding, enabling staff to pursue other important tasks.
--Transmitting deposits throughout the day speeds work flow and saves payroll expense.
--Online archival provides more timely access to images and eliminates a separate microfiche or image process.
 
"Southwest Corporate has been offering Branch Capture for nearly five years, and now has one of the largest pools of credit union users in the country," said Brad Ganey, senior vice president of payment services. The large group, which cuts across all asset and geographic categories, provides Southwest Corporate with a statistically important resource that can help us better shape our services," he said.
 
"We are pleased that so many credit unions have acknowledged the efficiency and cost saving benefits of Branch Capture. But more importantly, they have shared with us details about how we can make improvements as we enhance Branch Capture and roll-out related Remote Deposit services," Ganey said.
 
The 124 credit unions responding to the survey ranged in asset size from under $10 million to more than $1 billion. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents were in the $20 million to $200 million range. Responding credit unions represented more than a dozen states-stretching from Florida to Washington.
 
A full 97 percent of respondents said they were "very satisfied" or "satisfied" with the Branch Capture service from Southwest Corporate. In the open-ended section, one wrote: "This service is one of the absolute best improvements to our check collection process ever! Staff is more efficient and appreciates Southwest Corporate's involvement...All branches have been active since inception and really appreciate the convenience afforded to all."
 
Based on their experience with Branch Capture, nearly 20 percent of the responding credit unions said they would likely consider adopting Member Capture next.
 
For more information about Branch Capture or any of the other Remote Deposit Solutions, contact a Southwest Corporate account officer at 800.442.5763 or e-mail contactus@swcorp.org.