Goodbye to Paper (1989)

Goodbye to paper? Image processing technology has the potential to eliminate it--in fact, one Citi arm is tossing the original documents There's a data processing technology evolving that promises to change the way banks operate in the 1990s at least as much--and possibly more--than did the introduction of on-line interactive systems in the early '70s and the advent of personal computers in the '80s. Further, this new technology promises realization of meaningful paper truncation--an achievement long sought by banks and other financial institutions. Optical revolution? The technology is called electronic image processing, or optical image processing. It involves the electronic scanning of entire documents relating to loans, trusts, electronic funds transfer, human resource, and other everyday bank operations--and conversion of images of those documents to digital form. This information is stored on, and retrieved from, optical disks that can be read by laser beams--much like compact disk recordings. Optical disks are capable of recording images and making those images available for display or reproduction as many times, and by as many devices, as necessary. They are, therefore, called WORM (write once, read many) memory systems. Future optical storage systems will undoubtedly include the capability of recording, erasing, and re-recording images, much like today's magnetic disk systems. Laser-based optical disk readers, in turn, convert the stored images into digital signals. The image of the original document can then be displayed at a computer terminal or workstation, printed on a laser printer, or passed from one workstation to another. The computers that drive electronic imaging systems range in size and complexity from giant mainframe systems to PC ATs or compatibles. Boom predicted. Electronic imaging systems have been used by a few banks, insurance companies, and other financial services organizations for several years. However, recent developments--including IBM's endorsement of the technology last June and its integration with fax, voice response, local area networks, and conventional data communications networks--herald a veritable explosion of the technique's use in financial institutions over the next decade, and into the next century. Most large banks, and even some smaller ones, have begun to realize that image processing is the first technology in the past 20 years that will actually have a major impact on the way they do business, observes Scott McReady, associate director of CAP International, Cambridge, Mass. Banking has an extremely rich group of applications for the use of this technology, CAP specializes in consulting in this and other high-tech areas. Indeed, although optically based image processing technology is little more than three years old, banks are already among its leading users, according to International Data Corp., Framingham, Mass. A recent study by this technology research and consulting firm reported that in 1987 banks and brokerage organizations accounted for 21% of all U.S. image processing installations. Government, with 19%, and insurance companies, with 12%, ranked second and third. Why try it? Benefits from image processing systems in a banking environment vary form application to application. In general, they fall into three categories: . Significantly increased productivity of clerical and customer service personnel. . Elimination of the loss or misplacing of documents. . Reductions in storage space compared to that required for paper or for microfilm. While all these benefits can help a bank's bottom line, the greatest initial benefits results from major improvements in customer service. Citicorp for instance, expects image processing to enable its Florida thrift to provide home mortgage applicants with initial approvals/disapprovals granted to them within 48 hours. …