Company
In 1947, employees of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund came together to create a convenient and affordable way to save and borrow—and the Bank-Fund Staff Federal Credit Union (BFSFCU) was chartered. More than seven decades later, BFSFCU serves the employees, consultants and contractors of the World Bank Group (WBG), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and their families and household members through its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The credit union tailors its products and services to meet the unique needs of its multi-national members and remain true to its original mission of providing the best value available in financial services to its member-owners. For more information, visit https://bfsfcu.org/.
Problem
Bank-Fund Staff Federal Credit Union (BFSFCU) serves the employees, consultants and contractors of the World Bank Group (WBG), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and their families and household members. Given BFSFCU’s widefield of membership, the credit union and its members encountered unique challenges when closing mortgage transactions using traditional, paper-based processes.
As Joe Sufczynski, Loan Operations Manager at BFSFCU, noted in one example, “Our membership is not always in the same state or even in the same country, and that poses a problem regarding settlement. A lot of times, we needed a power of attorney to be filled out so that the transaction could be completed in person, and our members would have to make a special appointment, often at their local U.S. Embassy, to get that document notarized in person, which was expensive and time-consuming for us and our members.”
Knowing there had to be a better way to execute mortgage closings for its members, BFSFCU turned to its trusted digital technology partner DocMagic for assistance in providing convenient eClosing from any location. After a proven history of seamless LOS integrations and utilization of DocMagic’s Document Generation and eSignature solutions, BFSCU demonstrated their commitment to innovation by transitioning from traditional lending methods to hybrid and full electronic closings.
Solution
Implementing DocMagic’s Total eClose™ platform provided BFSFCU with a comprehensive, end-to-end eClosing system that guides users through every step to ensure an efficient, transparent and compliant closing process. The system provides BFSFCU’s members with the convenience of both hybrid and 100% paperless eClosings, making it possible to close a loan from anywhere at any time. The Total eClose platform includes:
- An extensive eDocument library with eSign technology;
- Generation of a MISMO Category 1 SMARTDoc® eNote;
- Embedded remote online notarization (RON) technology;
- Direct connectivity with the MERS® eRegistry;
- Long-term storage within a secure, certified eVault; and
- An investor eDelivery channel with audit trail.
For remote online notarization (RON), BFSFCU relied on the strategic partnership between DocMagic and NotaryCam. The process begins with DocMagic, which provides a Loan Detail Report (including an eReadiness audit to confirm how “e” the closing experience can be) and generates the final closing documents for the RON signing ceremony. These documents are seamlessly delivered to NotaryCam’s patented eClose360 platform where the settlement agent or closing attorney can connect with signers (and any other parties the signers have invited to join the process) to electronically sign and notarize the closing documents.
Once the closing documents are fully executed, Total eClose provides the fully executed document package to all participants, takes care of MERS® eRegistration and expedites eDelivery to investors through SmartREGISTRY®. The authoritative copy of the eNote is instantaneously and securely stored in SmartSAFE®, DocMagic’s industry-leading eVault for long-term storage and easy access when needed. This integrated solution ensures a smooth and secure eClosing experience for all parties.
Results
With the combined power of DocMagic and NotaryCam, BFSFCU has crafted an eClosing process that delivers significant time- and cost-savings to both the organization and its members.
“Being able to have everybody in one place electronically is much more efficient and cheaper,” Sufczynski says. “Our borrowers are spending less time in the remote signing room than they were at the physical closing table, and doing our closings this way saves our borrowers money because they’re reducing the number of other documents that they previously had to pay for to complete the transaction.”
Improving the borrower experience is at the top of lenders’ desired outcomes from an eClosing conversion, and BFSFCU is no exception. Given the unique challenges its membership base faces in completing real estate transactions, the ability to execute closing documents remotely has tremendously improved the convenience of working with BFSFCU.
“From those who have used it overseas, it’s been an enjoyable experience. They haven’t had to go to the embassy to get anything notarized so it’s been great for them,” Sufczynski explains. “The only area we sometimes have issues with is the knowledge-based authentication, and that’s strictly because of our membership base. Many of our borrowers don’t have Social Security numbers or extensive credit histories, but in that event, NotaryCam can shift to using biometrics to assist in verifying identification.”
Improving the borrowing experience isn’t the only benefit BFSFCU has experienced working with DocMagic and NotaryCam. From an operational perspective, the shift to eClosings has also provided a significant operational lift throughout closing and post-closing.
“Because we’re delivering the closing documents to the borrowers electronically, they can review them prior to closing, which decreases the questions they have during the signing ceremony,” Sufczynski says. “From the post-closing side, the accuracy of the closing documents is tremendous with the eClosing process because nothing gets missed, and once the closing is complete, the eNote goes directly into the eVault. It’s a very smooth, very quick process overall.”
One of lenders’ biggest challenges in moving to eClosings is the jurisdictional variances regarding the legality of electronically executed documents for real estate transactions. But with DocMagic’s eDecision™ tool and the Loan Detail Report it generates, these questions are put to rest instantly with each loan. Adjusting internal processes to accommodate legal variances can still derail lenders’ digital closing efforts, but the flexibility of the DocMagic-NotaryCam eClosing environment ensures BFSFCU can close as electronically as local jurisdictions allow without missing a beat.
“If we can do the full eClose, we’re going to do the full eClose,” Sufczynski states. “The recording offices in most of the counties where we lend locally will accept electronically executed real estate documents, but when we get out to other areas that may not be on board, it’s pretty fluid for us to shift to a different closing type and doesn’t take a lot of effort for our team to make that shift. Thanks to the process we’ve built with DocMagic and NotaryCam, we’ve executed full eClosings with an eNote, hybrid eClosings, eClosings with RON – really any combination you can think of is possible with the tech stack we have in place.”
“Working with DocMagic and NotaryCam has enabled us to offer a service to our members that previously would not have been possible and provides a more efficient and smoother transaction experience,” Sufczynski adds. “Our end goal is to execute as many full eClosings as we can.”
About DocMagic
DocMagic, Inc. is the leading provider of compliant document generation, automated compliance, eSignature, and comprehensive eMortgage solutions for the mortgage industry. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Torrance, Calif., DocMagic, Inc. develops award-winning software, mobile apps, and web-based systems for the production and delivery of compliant loan document packages. The company’s solutions connect industry participants, promote collaboration, and ensure data integrity to execute precision-based digital lending transactions. DocMagic’s compliance experts and in-house legal staff consistently monitor legal and regulatory changes at both the federal and state levels to ensure accuracy. For more information, visit https://www.docmagic.com/.
About NotaryCam, a Stewart Company
NotaryCam, a Stewart-owned company, is the leader in online notarization and mortgage eClosing solutions, having notarized documents worldwide for hundreds of thousands of customers in all 50 states and more than 146 countries. The company’s eClose360® platform delivers the “perfect” online mortgage closing in every jurisdiction and supports all eClosing scenarios – RON, IPEN or Hybrids – with a flexible workflow for document recording and unparalleled identity verification, security and customer convenience. In addition to real estate transactions, NotaryCam provides RON services to many Fortune 500 companies as well as small and midsize businesses and includes the execution of electronic wills (eWills), legal docs (i.e. power of attorneys) and Apostilles. The company also proudly maintains an industry-leading 99.8 percent customer satisfaction rating and the highest Net Promotor Score (NPS) amongst the best global tech brands.
Visit https://www.notarycam.com for additional information or to get a document notarized today.
Media Contacts
Joe Bowerbank
Profundity Communications, Inc.
+1 949-378-9685
jbowerbank@profunditymarketing.com
Lindsey Neal
Depth for NotaryCam
(404) 549-9282