The Power of a Modern Document Management System

Jim Marous (00:08):

Hello and welcome to Banking Transformed, the top podcast in retail banking. I'm your host, Jim Marous, founder and CEO of the Digital Banking Report, and co-publisher of The Financial Brand. In the industry where security, efficiency and client relations are paramount, having an integrated and democratized document and information management platform is more important than ever.

Jim Marous (00:33):

In this episode of Banking Transformed, we explore the evolving landscape of document and information management of financial services with Matt Geiger from ShareFile. We discussed the critical challenges banks and credit unions face, and how innovative solutions can address these issues head on. Matt, also touches on the future of financial document management, including the role of the AI and machine learning in creating more personalized, secure and efficient systems.

Jim Marous (01:06):

Banks and credit unions are being forced to rethink customer communication strategies as insight sources expand and uniform insight deployment across an organization becomes a strategic advantage. Financial institutions must personalize customer engagement using instantly accessible contextual data.

Jim Marous (01:26):

So, Matt, before we begin, can you do a little bit of introducing yourself to our audience and share a little bit about how ShareFile helps financial institutions navigate this battlefield that's far from what we've seen in the past.

Matt Geiger (01:40):

Happy to, thanks for having me on. This is going to be fun. I'm Matt Geiger, I'm with ShareFile. I'm the strategic director at ShareFile here. I handle several verticals; I cover financial services. I cover healthcare, I cover public sector. A large portion of our business is under that financial services wing. So, I’ve been doing automation and tech sales for about 20 years now.

Matt Geiger (02:06):

And so, the next iteration of that being at ShareFile has been super fun. It's fun to be in the world where I worked on the data center a lot, and so it's now more fun for me to be on that edge of customer interaction, where I think the magic kind of happens between our customers and their customers and that's where ShareFile really plays in the space today.

Jim Marous (02:30):

So, a lot of what you're talking about though, are regulated industries, aren't they? You really specialize in those organizations, those industries that have desperate data everywhere, but need to combine it, but need to do so in a regulated way. Correct?

Matt Geiger (02:45):

Yeah. I mean, regulated industries are our bread and butter because that data has to be secure and honestly, it's been somewhat painful. In those regulated industries, our customer's customer needs to get data to our customers.

Matt Geiger (03:02):

They have to have that interaction between the two of them and we have to do that in a way that's really secure, but it also has to be — as you know, customer expectations are an all-time high. So, it has to be something that's simple and easy as well. That's where ShareFile plays really, really well, and that's where we found the biggest growth in our business.

Jim Marous (03:23):

Well, it's interesting when we did some prep calls with your company beforehand, what your company does really resonated in my mind as far as what investment services and wealth managers had to do. They have to take files from all these different sources and combine them to make them manageable, but also make them so that they can do something with them.

Jim Marous (03:43):

But as you start to get into the retail banking space, the Joe and Mary on the corner, the customer that has still the same amount of data from multiple sources, but the need to really combine these as actionable, what do you see as the major challenges, I guess would be the word around document and information management in the retail sector?

Matt Geiger (04:07):

First of all, that's exactly what … I've been listening to your podcast for a while. That was exciting for me too, because I think there's a congruence between what you're talking about and what we're doing that I was excited to have this conversation. So, in that retail space, I think customer expectations have never been higher.

Matt Geiger (04:24):

And so, that confluence of, hey, the customer wants this to be simple, easy, fast, but also to get a loan processed. When we went through 2008, our organizations really want to make sure that they're getting the right amount of data so that they can make a really healthy business decision as to whether or not they need — let's just say it's a loan.

Matt Geiger (04:52):

We need to make sure that we have the right amount of data to make sure that that loan has a risk tolerance that our customers are happy with. So, with that, we got to get a whole bunch of data and that data is getting more and more and more complex over time.

Matt Geiger (05:05):

So, you've got this era of, "Hey, we need a whole bunch from our customers," but if we don't automate that and figure out how we can take that and make it a simple, easy user experience and also keep it secure, then you've got digital friction where you're asking so much from the customer, you're getting all of this data into the system, and you don't know really what to do with it or how to handle it.

Matt Geiger (05:29):

As well, when you start talking about AI, then you can start taking a look at all that data and saying, "Hey, there may be an opportunity with this customer that you haven't thought of that a large language model might be able to pour through that data and pull through."

Matt Geiger (05:42):

So, it becomes this really interesting time where we've got a whole bunch of data that we need to get from customers, from A to B, it has to be secure, it has to be easy for that customer to get that data.

Matt Geiger (05:51):

But then there's also a bunch of data that needs to be automated so that our entities know how to handle it and where to put it and how to maximize the amount of revenue and the services that they can offer their customers.

Jim Marous (06:05):

So, I started in banking when we would take information of a customer, put into our file drawer, and actually even beyond the other side of the consumer, I realized, we never going to touch that information. It's too hard to access, we're just going to ask for it again when we need to take action.

Jim Marous (06:20):

Well, digital's changed a lot of this. It's made data much more fluid, much more accessible, and the consumer's expectations have certainly risen to the point of people feeling, "If I've answered the question once, I don't want to answer it again. And if you really are trying to do me a service, I need to have that data." Once you’ve got access to the source to be updated regularly on an ongoing basis that you can take action.

Jim Marous (06:47):

Is this an advantage or a bigger challenge on the horizon where we have the ability to do so much more with what we can get access to, but we got to think differently because a traditional banker was used to, I was used to going to five different areas of the bank if I had to get a complete view of the consumer.

Jim Marous (07:07):

But in your platform, you're really talking about sharing files of multiple parts of the consumer's behavior, the consumer's background, the consumer's identity, not just for a know your customer onboarding process, but for ongoing solution management. Correct.

Matt Geiger (07:28):

Absolutely. So, I mean, you've talked about this before and actually, I hadn't thought about it in the way that you talked about it, and I thought it was brilliant. So, you've talked about the fact that the diversification of our customers, or even how we think and work is if I'm not getting the level of service that I want for my current vendor I might not move my account away from that vendor. I might keep my account there, but any ancillary services that I want, I'm going to go somewhere else and find them.

Matt Geiger (07:59):

And that's exactly the kind of things that we're talking about. If you don't take the data that your customer's giving you and think about a way to provide a specialized customer experience where you're not only thinking about the way that that customer's interacting with you today, but also the ways that that customer might want to interact with you in the future, you might not be losing revenue, but you are losing future opportunities and that data is so important when it comes to that.

Matt Geiger (08:31):

I'm a golfer, a little tangent here. I'm a golfer. I have this golf app that I've been using for seven years and it calculates how far I hit my drive so that when I'm on the course, I kind of know. It used to calculate my handicap. I spent 30 minutes yesterday in this golf app trying to figure out what my current handicap is because I've gotten a little better in areas of my game.

Matt Geiger (08:53):

And I was so frustrated. I was ready to throw away that app and that seven years of usage because the one piece of information I couldn't find and then I found out that that app no longer actually calculates that anymore.

Matt Geiger (09:09):

And so, for me as a user, even though I'm spending money for this golf app, I'm ready to throw it away because it's not giving me the data that I want in the moment that I want it and I know there's 15 other apps out there that probably will, that's what's happening in almost every industry that we have.

Jim Marous (09:27):

Which app do you use?

Matt Geiger (09:28):

I use Golf Pad.

Jim Marous (09:30):

Okay. So, my son is a Grint fan. He uses Grint and it's interesting because it doesn't necessarily do everything that you have had done in the past, but it's a great management tool for your handicap, how many times you four putted versus three putted or two putted, where if you had the problems and the sharing aspect of it among friends is the real value.

Jim Marous (09:57):

They post it and everybody gets to see who's gotten better at it. But it's interesting because this all used to be done with a stubby pencil and a piece of paper, and you'd save them in a pile, and you'd never really knew. You just go, "Gosh, I played that course before. Where do I find it?" It was never digitized.

Jim Marous (10:16):

Well, now the digitization, as you mentioned, and it's the consumer's aspect and the financial industry aspect is that you are expecting more because with digital data lives on, we see that with LinkedIn.

Jim Marous (10:29):

If I get a recommendation from my very first job, it lives through infamy as opposed to, "Jeez, where's that letter I got from Bob that was sent to Carol,” and now it's being digitized and democratized in such a way that can be used therefore.

Jim Marous (10:46):

So, it's interesting, we talk about the basics and make sure we get the basics right but when you really get down to the nuts and bolts of it, especially in banking or in healthcare that you're involved in security is a top concern.

Jim Marous (10:57):

Can you elaborate a little bit how organizations today are protecting sensitive data while still facilitating easy collaboration between departments within an organization? How do you balance them?

Matt Geiger (11:10):

Jim, it's actually when customers do that in isolation is when it cause problems. It's the same thing with regulatory compliance too.

Jim Marous (11:19):

And when you're talking about customers, you're talking about financial institutions, right?

Matt Geiger (11:22):

I'm talking about — yeah, financial institutions. Yes.

Jim Marous (11:25):

The financial institution. Yeah. Yep. Okay.

Matt Geiger (11:28):

So, financial institutions are customers, so when financial institutions do this in isolation, it creates a more of an issue than if they think about it in tandem. I've worked at a lot of organizations; I've done a lot in IT over the past 20 years.

Matt Geiger (11:43):

If you think about compliance, regulatory compliance and security, and you think about it starting in the data center, and then you work out to the end user, what ends up happening is you have a process and automation, a process without automation that makes it really cumbersome for your users and really cumbersome for your customers, then they don't want to do it because it's hard. And so, they try to think about ways to usurp the system and work around it.

Matt Geiger (12:08):

But at ShareFile and if you start thinking about it from the end user perspective, back to the data center where I'm thinking about my customers and how they want to interact with me, but I also have to think about the fact that that has to be secure.

Matt Geiger (12:25):

So, if I think about the way that my customer wants to interact, if I think about the data that they need and the ease of use and the seamless automation that has to happen at the end, and then I think about that in a secure way across to the backend into the data center, then what you get is this really great tandem mix where actual users want to follow that process because it's easier.

Matt Geiger (12:49):

But then it also adheres to all of your compliance, regulatory compliance, all of your regulatory compliance, as well as all of the security audits. And then I get the best of both worlds where my end users and my customers want to work this way and I'm also getting it secure and auditable within regulatory compliance.

Matt Geiger (13:08):

That's the magic sauce. Working with ShareFile, that's where we have found the best-case scenario where users actually want to work the way that we're offering in a secure way.

Jim Marous (13:21):

So, you go into a financial institution, every financial institution knows that they need to use better data to be able to actually leverage it for the consumer's benefit going forward. They understand it's got to be secure. But when you're going into a financial institution today, and the organization has all kinds of sources of data and all kinds of internal users, where do they start?

Matt Geiger (13:51):

This is always the hard thing. I find that the best way to do this is to … the old adage, "If you got an elephant, what's the best way to do it? Will you do it one bite at a time?" So, I always talk to our customer about starting small, find the places where you can get the most bang for your buck and focus on those places in a phased rollout, but you also have to think about long-term gains.

Matt Geiger (14:19):

So, so many of our organizations look at this and say, "Oh man, there's so much to do. It's probably better if we just wait for the right time to go and do all of it and change our systems and overhaul our document management." And all you do at that point is you're just creating more and more of a problem.

Matt Geiger (14:37):

So, you have to think about this in terms of ROI that's not in months, but you know, over time, "Hey, listen, this is the right path that we have to go and we're just going to have to chunk this out and get there."

Matt Geiger (14:48):

Because like we talked about earlier, if you don't do it, if you don't start managing your document management, if you don't start thinking about automation, if you don't start thinking about security, compliance, ease of customer interactions, you're going to be dead in the water because your competitors are doing it and they're doing it right now, or they grew up digitally and they haven't had to adopt digital and you're going to be underwater.

Matt Geiger (15:16):

I also would say partner with experts. There's a lot of people who are doing this in the industry. There's people like ShareFile who have done this for a really long time. So, find those partners that you can go and get good advice from and work with them to go help you chunk away at the problem.

Jim Marous (15:33):

Well, you know what, you gave so many pieces of an answer there that are so key and something we hear more and more frequently from firstly, every vendor. Number one, start small and try to make it so that you're in an area that's going to build a good return. So, in other words, it's going to pay for itself quickly and easily as quickly and easily as it can be.

Jim Marous (15:56):

Number two, work with a partner that knows what they're doing. That may seem logical, but the reality is it's a partner that you feel comfortable with, that you're … I use the analogy of football and I say like the person, the organization, you're going to be feeling it, feeling comfortable enough to lateral the ball with and let them go down the field as opposed to you holding the ball the whole time with them.

Jim Marous (16:17):

And thirdly, and I think just as importantly as any is work with an organization that can also partner with other organizations you're working with. Because the last thing you want is to have this good solution be a silo by itself, just like every other silo we have.

Jim Marous (16:35):

In other words, you really have to make it so that the deployment of the solutions can be integrated with other solution providers that are out there that are bringing value to the equation.

Jim Marous (16:46):

So, it's very interesting because visually, I'm more of a visual person. I always think that it's like making a PDF digital, well, it's more than that because all this data is continually evolving. When you're working with a solution like yours that's also why you need to start relatively small because it can get overwhelming.

Jim Marous (17:10):

And you also, by working with a partner that's done it before we've used this example before where I had an organization in the Netherlands say, "80% of what we provide to our clients, our financial institutions is the same from one financial institution to the other. Don't spend time on what's already been figured out, spend time with the 20% that's unique to your organization."

Jim Marous (17:34):

I think it's another key element of this solution and especially at a time when client portals are so important. Can you give an example or explain how customer portals can actually enhance the customer experience?

Matt Geiger (17:52):

Yeah. I want to tap onto something that you just said and then I'll answer your portal question because I think this is really, really valuable. It's just like when I go to a bank, when I buy anything, to be honest with you, there's a percentage, I think it's 60% is roughly the percentage where I want it to be transactional.

Matt Geiger (18:10):

I know what I want. I'm going to go buy it, and I'm going to walk away, it's done. I don't need to talk with somebody. But then there's that 20 to 40% that I want it to be a lot more interactive. I might need advice, maybe I don't know all of the offerings and I want to talk with someone. We're finding that in our business too.

Matt Geiger (18:31):

Part of the technology that we implement, we have templates. If you are doing loan and origination documentation and you need to get, loan documents from your customer, our customer base, our financial institution, they need to go to their retail bank, they need to get loan origination documentation, their last W2s and all that other stuff, we’ve automated all that.

Matt Geiger (18:54):

Those are templates that are built throughout any organization. We have all of these templates that are built because it's a kind of a universal solution, everyone kind of needs the same thing. But then there's also a portion of our business that's very customized where we go in and we sit down with your organization and it's unique to you, where we understand a little bit more about what you are trying to accomplish and how we can automate those processes.

Matt Geiger (19:22):

And that is part of the portal experience too Jim, to kind of tie all that question together. You've got to have both within your organization, it has to be somewhat transactional and somewhat consultative.

Matt Geiger (19:34):

The hard part that I think portals and our businesses are dealing with is when I'm a customer and I want to come to you and I want a particular service, if I want it to be transactional, but I get a consultative approach, I'm frustrated. Like I don't want to talk to somebody, I want this to be a transactional engagement and the opposite’s true too. If I want it to be a consultative approach, but I get a transactional engagement where it's just only automation and without that personal touch, then I'm frustrated.

Matt Geiger (20:07):

So, portals, our financial institutions, even us at ShareFile, we have to find that balance of understanding what our customer wants when they come to us, knowing how to meet them where they are and give them the experience that they're looking for in the moment. Portals that do that well are going to be massively successful, portals that don't do that well just create digital friction and frustration with the customer base.

Jim Marous (20:35):

It's funny because people say, “It's automating the wrong thing makes us just do the wrong thing faster.”

Matt Geiger (20:42):

Exactly. Yes.

Jim Marous (20:44):

And we see that. I mean, and you said it earlier in this conversation, that you have to know your strategic objective to why you're doing what you're doing. Again, sounds like all the common sense in the world and nothing that should wake somebody up and go, "Oh yeah, I never thought about that." But the reality is we get distracted.

Jim Marous (21:04):

We sometimes find a solution without knowing what the problem's going to be. You need to find what the problem is that you're trying to solve for in order to deploy that solution that also can work with other solutions.

Jim Marous (21:18):

So, that automation component, the ability to automate the data that comes in, how do you find organizations actually incorporating automation to streamline document management right now?

Matt Geiger (21:30):

Yeah, it's funny automation is this kind of buzzword, and everyone's afraid, I shouldn't say everyone, there's some people in our world that are somewhat afraid of automation. But look at ATMs in the 70s. ATMs, they were invented, I think in the 60s, but they were really adopted between the 70s and the 80s.

Matt Geiger (21:51):

Bank tellers were scared about ATMs because it was going to automate the process and these banking institutions were afraid that it was going to outsource jobs, and that bank tellers wouldn't have a space in the new world but all it really did was it automated pieces of the transaction between a customer and a bank to the point where it created a higher level of interaction that bankers were going to need to have.

Matt Geiger (22:21):

That's all that we're talking about with automation. We're creating a higher level of interaction that our customers are going to have, our financial institutions are going to have with their customers. That's the fun part about what ShareFile is doing right now, to be honest with you.

Matt Geiger (22:35):

We're taking the work that people don't really want to do. We're just automating those pieces because it's faster, talk about security and regulatory compliance, if we can automate those pieces, then there's an audit trail. It makes our audits so much simpler, we can save 30% of the time with a customer in their audit and regulatory compliance pieces.

Matt Geiger (23:01):

So, that's where automation becomes fun. I think because we're taking things that we don't really want to focus on, and we're paying people to do the job that we want them to do, which is actually be wise and help specialized customer, interactions and give them a specialized human interaction.

Matt Geiger (23:24):

I'm not one of those guys that's going to say that automation will replace human interaction, I think we're built and we're made to interact with each other. The question is, what can we outsource to something that can do it faster and better? And then how can that increase and enhance our conversations between us and our customers? I think that's where it becomes fun.

Jim Marous (23:48):

And it's a balance of human versus digital and when you look at this, as you said, the whole automation process is to make the nuts and bolts of it simpler to work with and to make it so it's always updating itself. So, when you look at the automation process, the technology side of things, what role do you see AI and machine learning playing in the future of future financial document management?

Matt Geiger (24:18):

AI being that ubiquitous word that kind of means a whole bunch of things to a whole bunch of different people, but large language modeling and AI, I think I'm so excited about it. I think it's going to revolutionize the way that we look but I think a couple of things in AI.

Matt Geiger (24:33):

Number one, it's going to automate manual processes. So, as it gets better and better and better, it's going to see the places where it can step in and take a look at data extraction, document classification, compliance checks, reducing human error, and just saving time.

Matt Geiger (24:51):

So, I think automating those manual process is going to be number one. It's going to do some predictive analysis for us. So, it can automate trends, it can understand patterns, it can provide insights.

Matt Geiger (25:03):

That becomes super interesting because there's just places where we as human beings are going to miss, that AI will be able to give that predictive level of analytics that will create a more specialized experience between us and our customers, or financial institutions and their customers.

Matt Geiger (25:22):

Security becomes really interesting when you start talking about AI because in some ways AI is going to enhance security but with detecting digital anomalies and handling fraud detection, those type of things. But in other ways, AI is actually going to increase our need for security because the bad guys have AI too and so they’re going to find different and ways to go and attack our institutions

Matt Geiger (25:48):

And so, we have to be really careful about making sure that AI enhances our digital architecture, security is going to become way more important in the future, and human interaction is actually going to have to be a part of multifactor authentication, and all those other pieces are going to be really, really important when it comes to AI, because the bad guys have it too.

Matt Geiger (26:08):

So, I'm excited about AI. As it continues to involve, I think we're going to see more efficiency, more security, more proactive management and I think it's going to be a fun world for us to go and navigate. I mean, as you know, we don't really know exactly where it's all going to go, but right now it's future predicting.

Jim Marous (26:25):

Well, from a consumer standpoint, I think what it will do is over time is going to make it so you do a better job of figuring out how to talk to me or what to talk to me about. Where right now we're still stabbing in the dark. We may have all the information in the world.

Jim Marous (26:41):

I mean, I get so frustrated with my current financial institutions, and I really know they know more about me than I know about myself yet they're not building solutions around what they could find about me. They're not putting this all together, which is really what we're talking about today.

Jim Marous (26:57):

How do you put us all together to build solutions that really make a difference in the consumer's life and in the financial institution's life. So, do you have an example or two that you could share with me around how organizations have really used a shared document solution that really has impacted both their internal and/or external operations?

Matt Geiger (27:19):

Yeah. First of all, I completely agree with you. I think it's frustrating to me too that this AI exists out there and what I want it to do with my financial institutions is not actually what it's doing yet.

Matt Geiger (27:33):

But I know it's coming where it's going to be able to analyze where I'm spending my money, how I'm spending my money, where my investments are, and be able to come to me and say, "Hey, by the way, you haven't thought about this and you should because this is a way for you to go and make more money or create wealth for your kids, or what have you." It's not doing that yet, but I'm excited for the day that it will.

Matt Geiger (27:58):

I think there's a couple of different stories that I would have where our customers are using our product set and it's really enhancing their bottom line or being able to save them money or even give them a better interaction with their customers.

Matt Geiger (28:12):

Strategic Treasurer is a customer of ours that deals with large and small treasury, either at banks or in the fintech world around treasury. They were having a really hard time with managing data and they were doing it all via email, it's just a terrible idea in general.

Matt Geiger (28:32):

And so, it was probably about five to … it was actually closer to 10 years ago, they came to us. We've automated all of that workflow in getting really secure data from their customers into their systems. They now have the ability to understand their customers better, it's a streamlined process.

Matt Geiger (28:52):

I think the latest is that they've saved thousands upon thousands of hours per employee in a given year because of the way that we've automated those processes, it also has helped their customers be a lot stickier.

Matt Geiger (29:07):

So, their customers have stayed longer with them. There's areas of the business where we've increased their revenue because of the ways with which they're using ShareFile. So, that automated integrated file sharing system has been instrumental and we've also decreased their risk significantly in those customer interactions. So, that's one.

Matt Geiger (29:28):

There's another one we have, there's an organization that has well over a hundred thousand employees that does audits as part of their business model. We have tens of thousands of licenses that they use for all of the audits that they do with their customers.

Matt Geiger (29:46):

So, that data is really, really important to make sure that as they both get data from the customer as well as share data to the customer, that that interaction is very secure because it's really sensitive data when we start talking about auditing process, we are their audit engine throughout North America.

Jim Marous (30:08):

It's interesting because when you look at shared documentation, shared data, the whole concept of sharing becomes new. I worked in finance institutions for a number of years, and I remember having to reach out to the data department to get results of a marketing program I did or having to reach out to another area to get files that I could then use to market to consumers.

Jim Marous (30:32):

But in today's environment, organizations really want to look at democratize information. So, we don't just want one area to be the master, the key that knows everything about all of our customers and in this shared environment.

Jim Marous (30:46):

How are organizations now deploying your solutions in a more democratized way so that more people in the organization ranging from the top management personnel and product managers to the tellers, are able to use the entire or at least subsets of the data you're collecting?

Matt Geiger (31:04):

I mean, part of that, you have all of this digital, the data fragmentation that exists within an organization, because a lot of financial institutions have operated and built things that are very piecemeal. So, hey, this department needs this, and this department needs that, and this department needs this over here and so you create all of this fraction of data throughout an organization.

Matt Geiger (31:28):

If you do that, then the data can't learn from each other. You can't really use AI in this fragmented world where all of it lives in different places as well, it's really hard to automate that. It's what we're calling digital friction. So, a lot of financial institution are creating really great point solutions but then creating this digital friction where they don't really work with each other.

Matt Geiger (31:54):

It's actually one of the places that ShareFile is doing is that we're talking about disparate operations that are outside maybe of your big financial application, where you have all these little fringe processes that you need automated, ShareFile is coming in, and then automating all of those fringe processes that are outside of the norm that you have within a big application.

Matt Geiger (32:19):

And we're pulling all that data together, we're automating it, as well as we're giving you a central place for you to understand what data exists, how it exists, then you can also create user controls on that too, so that not everyone has the ability to view everything. Not everyone has the ability to edit everything, you can create that, that user control within it.

Matt Geiger (32:45):

And then there's audit trails for all of those things too, because I'm pulling all of those things together so that I know where it all exists, how I can manage it, and then what I need to do and how I can handle that data too.

Jim Marous (32:57):

So, finally Matt, what advice would you give to financial institutions that are considering implementing their document management systems, but are hesitant to do so because it's a big thing?

Matt Geiger (33:11):

My wife came to me the other day and she was frustrated because I had to … we have these big gardens in our house and we need to weed several areas of the garden and I've continued over time to just put that off. It's like, "Yep, I need four or five hours to go and get all of it done." And so, I'll just put that off and put that off.

Matt Geiger (33:31):

Well, now I've got what was a four or five-hour problem that's now moved into a seven-hour problem, because the longer I put it off, the more work it entails. What I should have done is I should have just progressively weeded parts of my yard over time and bit it off and then I'd have a happier wife and probably a cleaner looking yard. That would be my advice.

Matt Geiger (33:55):

I would take a look at the area — we talked about this a little bit earlier, taking a look at your document management system. What's my biggest pain? Where's the place where if I automate this small piece, I can get it done quickly, I can have some quick ROI on it, I can build a process, and then over time I'm chunking along and to the point where my whole garden is now weeded and I've got it clean and now I just have to maintain it. So, that would be my advice.

Jim Marous (34:25):

Really great suggestion. And again, it amazes me how quick some organizations are to knock on the door and to find out information on how they can make their business better. It amazes me even more those that don't.

Jim Marous (34:43):

An organization like ShareFile that works with a number of financial institutes has all kinds of history on file successes and failures that you can learn from. I sound like a TV commercial. The cost of the call is free and all you have to do is say, "Here's what we're trying to solve for. How can a shared document information system help me get to my destination quicker, better financially, more secure, and security more secure in a way that really has make my business better?"

Jim Marous (35:17):

Because as you said more than three times during this podcast, the problem does not get easy with time. My saying from way back is, "You can't put spoiled milk in the refrigerator and expect to get better again," the reality is the problem only gets worse. And I think organizations, no matter if they work with ShareFile or somebody else have to address this issue because it works well in everything that's happening right now.

Jim Marous (35:44):

And it's a completely different game in the digital world than it was in an analog world, which is the biggest, the biggest advantage out there is that it's not about digitizing PDFs, not about taking paper and just making them PDFs. It's about rethinking your entire process so that you can use digital data better. So, Matt, thank you so much for being on the show today. I appreciate it.

Matt Geiger (36:09):

Hey, Jim, this has been really fun. I've enjoyed your podcast. I've enjoyed listening. I've learned a bunch from you too so this has been good for both of us. I think the one thing that I would add to your final is to say your customers, our financial institution customers are demanding that people do this, that they digitize these things. And if you aren't the one who's going to do it and make that customer interaction easier, they'll find someone who will.

Jim Marous (36:35):

Great point. They're going to make it digital and accessible and the consumer's patience for you looking through the drawer or asking you for the fifth time, the same piece of information, or not being able to connect the dots. Again, consumers know what's possible. They see with Amazon, they see it with Google, they see with Domino's.

Jim Marous (36:55):

I mean, they can see when they call up, Domino's knows what you've done over time, and they provide you that access to say, "I don't have to think about the whole process. What did I buy last time?" And people are getting used to that and expecting that. They're expecting the same from their financial institution. Matt, again, thank you so much for being on the show.

[Music Playing]

Matt Geiger (37:13):

It's been a blast. Thank you, Jim. Appreciate it.

Jim Marous (37:16):

Thanks for listening to Banking Transformed, the winner of three international awards for podcast excellence. If you enjoyed today's interview, please take some time to give our show a five-star rating. Also, be sure to catch my recent articles on The Financial Brand and check out our research we are doing for the Digital Banking Report.

Jim Marous (37:35):

This has been a production of Evergreen Podcasts, a special thank you to our senior producer, Leah Haslage, audio engineer, Chris Fafalios, and video producer, Will Pritts. I'm your host, Jim Marous. Until next time, remember, the key to efficient information management is to have the tools that can capture insight and provide access to the broadest audience possible.