Arkansas bankers: consumers taking up tech time-savers.

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SEVERAL ARKANSAS EXECUTIVES say that some banking technologies continue to gain ground as consumers pursue paperless and convenient time-savers.

Jason Kincy, marketing manager for alternative delivery systems at Arvest Bank of Fayetteville, says the number of consumers going paperless, and by extension going online, has soared.

"Some of the biggest trends that we've seen over the past year or two include movement away from paper statements to electronic statements," Kincy said. "That's been a really steep growth curve for customers who are preferring to turn off their paper statement and just access their statements online."

Arvest, which operates in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas, experienced 190 percent growth since last year in the number of customers receiving e-statements instead of paper statements. Kincy said that more than 150,000 of its customers now use e-statements.

In addition, fewer paper-printing people mean more online customers. Kincy said Arvest has seen a steady 2 to 3 percent monthly growth in customer adoption of online bill payment services.

"Online bill pay continues to grow, continues to gain popularity," Kincy said.

Arvest processes more than 200,000 bill payments per month, he said.

He added also that far fewer checks are being written these days.

Spokeswoman Tara Burke said that nearly 30 million of Bank of America's 53 million individual and small business customers now bank online.

Mobile banking has also gained significant momentum in Arkansas. In September alone, Kincy said, Arvest recorded 18 percent growth from the previous month.

"Mobile banking is obviously the newest, latest and greatest way people manage their money," Kincy said. "We've only had it for about a year and a half and we've continued to see good, solid, steady growth.

"And I think the economy being down has actually kind of spurred that a little bit because people want to have even closer monitoring of their account, and that obviously facilitates that."

Kincy said the most common activities on mobile banking are checking account balances and transferring funds.

More Time-Savers

A device that banks have long used for transferring checks to other banks is now available to consumers.

India Holt, vice president of marketing at First National Bank of Crossett, said banks have used remote deposit capture technology for at least 10 years.

For the past year, though, FNB has made the check-scanning device available to customers.

"And it's basically another form of electronic banking," Holt said. "And the deposit goes in that day just like if they walked into the bank or drove an hour to get over here to the bank. So it's really opened up opportunities for banks that maybe don't have a branch in certain remote areas."

Holt said the device, which is about the size of an electric pencil sharpener, has become particularly useful to small businesses that process many checks, such as car dealers, pharmacies and doctors' offices.

"It's just like having your own branch in your business," she said.

Holt said small businesses that stay open late love having the option to deposit checks after their bank branch has closed.

In addition, she said, offering the service differentiates FNB from competitors.

"It helps with their cash flow, and so the chances of them leaving you for somebody else are almost nil," Holt said.

The technology has multiple layers of security, she said. The device reads the magnetic ink with which the checks are encoded. The device can also recognize duplicates.

Remote check deposit is one of the services promoted by Regions Bank for business accounts, and Arvest introduced the remote deposit technology to its customers in 2006. However, the technology really gained popularity last year with a 46 percent increase in the number of customers using the device.

Kincy said the adoption of remote deposit technology is the fastest accelerating trend among its business customers

"It saves the business time, obviously, because the check gets there quicker. It reduces the need to send an employee to the bank with a check deposit every day, particularly if, let's say, your location is in a place that's not close to the bank," Kincy said.

The method far surpasses the headache of a process from a decade ago.

"If we took a check from a bank in Oregon, in the old days they would actually send the check to the bank in Oregon for payment," Kincy said.

Now, the process can be done in a matter of minutes.

"A customer will present us with an image of the check. We'll present that image to the bank if it's not an Arvest check ... and all that's done electronically," Kincy said. "So it really just speeds up the process and helps that business get their funds that much faster."

While FNB has used the device as a retention tool, offering it free to select customers, Arvest has turned the technology into a revenue stream. Arvest charges $75 per month, plus 10 cents for each check scanned.

Bank of the Ozarks has a similar cost structure.

"Your volume needs to be adequate that your benefits outweigh the costs," Kincy said.

Although Bank of America does not offer remote deposit, the national bank recently overhauled its ATM systems so that most automated teller machines now have check recognition technology.

"All you do is put the check in. The computer reads the check and you see on the screen an image of the check. And you can opt to get a receipt that has the image on it," spokeswoman Burke said.

Though customers still have to drive to a bank branch, Burke called the technology a huge time-saver, especially since deposits can be made at any time of the day.

Burke said Bank of America began the rollout of "envelope-free" ATMs last May. Of its 71 ATMs in Arkansas, 44 are now the "envelope-free" type that recognizes check deposits.

Health Savers

Another addition to the high-tech menu at some banks, including Arvest, is a way for consumers to use the Internet to limit the amount of credit available on an auxiliary credit card--the type typically given to teenage sons and daughters.

Arvest has for some time offered a purchasing card, which is basically a second card that is an extension of one line of credit.

Though the card is nothing new, the ability to control limits online has become more sophisticated and consumer interest has increased.

"So you can raise or lower their limit without calling the bank, basically," Kincy said.

But because the card pulls from the same line of credit, the parent still gets reward point credits from the use of the card.

Arvest has a similar card that has become useful to Arkansas businesses.

The type of expenses that the card can be used for can be limited to keep closer tabs on business expenses. For example, a business can set up a card to allow its sales staff to take clients out to lunch, but the purchase of alcohol could be denied.

"Or you're authorized to shop at Office Max but you can't buy candy. You can really do targeted lines of business," Kincy said.

Kincy added that both the remote deposit and corporate purchasing card have gained more momentum because of the economy.

"They're both designed to help businesses either improve their cash flow, reduce fraud or monitor their finances more closely," Kincy said. "So I would say certainly in a down economy, those are things that become even more vital."

By Jamie Walden

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