First Interstate Bank Optimizes Account Forms And Data Collection Process

First Interstate Bank (FIB) is a multi-state, $4.6 billion banking organization, with a Trust Department that is responsible for processing a number of new accounts per month, in addition to keeping over 7,000 existing accounts current. Formerly, transactional information associated with these accounts used paper-based processes that were labor intensive and prone to error.

The forms and data collection processes at First Interstate's Trust department have been re-engineered to provide a web-based forms library accessible to 49 branch locations. Uniformity and built-in business/routing rules ensure accuracy and efficiencies throughout the form and data's lifecycle.

Serving over thirty communities across Montana and Wyoming, the Trust department used over 200 paper forms to process new account information and update existing accounts. Form standards, including versioning, were non-existent. Also absent was an established repository — forms were stored in multiple locations including hard files, shared drives, and individual PC workstations. File retrieval was labor intensive and prone to error—lost documents and incomplete filings resulted. Valuable resources were being exhausted for routine processes, such as the manual routing of applications for appropriate review and signatures.

The Trust department's business processes focus on managing and maintaining financial and legal documents in accordance with State and Federal regulations. Types of documents include trust authorizations and agreements, 401K, business trusts, retirement account elections, distributions and account authorizations.