Bank of Charles Town automates commercial lending with Jack Henry

By Edlyn Cardoza

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. recently announced that Bank of Charles Town (BCT) collaborates with Jack Henry Lending to digitize its commercial lending experience.

Charles Town, W.Va.-based BCT has experienced rapid growth in recent years after investing heavily in digital banking solutions, namely their website, digital wallets, and mobile deposit features. Still, the bank’s previous loan origination system had a manual backend process, leading to a burdensome experience for both borrowers and employees and a lengthy loan turnaround time. To continue growing, BCT needed a loan origination solution with a superior customer front-end and a seamless process, which would boost efficiencies, enhance customer experience, streamline internal work efforts, and ultimately eliminate unnecessary costs. With Jack Henry, the bank is gaining a centralized and flexible solution that enables lenders to make an informed credit risk decision, track and monitor individual loans, and manage portfolios.

Anthony J. Ranghelli, Vice President of BCT, explained, “We selected Jack Henry’s lending platform because it supports our broader digital banking strategy. The platform will help us grow with scale and efficiency while improving everyone’s experience. Our immediate goal for the next few years is to expand our digital lending footprint geographically to support businesses in neighboring communities and diversify our portfolio. We selected Jack Henry to position us for success and help us break down physical barriers.”

The solution’s all-digital loan origination, analysis, review, and portfolio management workflows will allow BCT to serve better both customers and small and mid-sized businesses in their community and beyond. Plus, the mobile capabilities will enable the bank to meet customers where they are by allowing them to bank and apply for loans on their own time. Ranghelli added, “With Jack Henry, we will be better equipped to assist the small and mid-sized businesses in our community and grow our support for niche industries like dental practices and law offices, a top priority for our bank. This extended relationship will not only streamline efficiencies with clients but will also improve internal processes as our employees will be cross-trained and have one vendor point of contact, resulting in a consistent vendor experience and greater continuity.”

Gary Lewis, managing director for Jack Henry Lending, commented, “The digitalization of the banking industry is happening quickly, and consumers expect their financial institutions to keep up and continue serving them on their financial journeys. By making strategic investments in digital solutions now, institutions like Bank of Charles Town will be better positioned to serve their customers and communities in the future and differentiate themselves from the competition. Our lending system reinvigorates the lending process by providing both lenders and borrowers with an easy-to-use, fast and flexible solution, which is exactly what customers are looking for today.”

IBS Intelligence had reported that Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. is a leading provider of technology solutions and payment processing services primarily for the financial services industry. Its Symitar division had announced that $1.02 billion-asset Westmark Credit Union will convert to Symitar in a private cloud environment.