How Capital City Bank’s Success with Automating PPP Loans Propelled its Digital Transformation
Abrigo’s PPP Solution Sets the Stage for Lending Automation
Three days before the second round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) lending was set to begin, Capital City Bank found out its third-party service provider was not going to be able to support the new round. Due to their previous experience with Abrigo’s CECL solution and Abrigo’s implementation team, the bank selected Abrigo’s PPP Solution. Capital City Bank had just 48 hours to implement a solution ahead of the second round of PPP, and Abrigo helped the bank get up and running within 36 hours.
“Even though we had a software for the first round, there were still a lot of manual components we had been doing on our own,” said Lee Nichols, Senior Vice President of Credit Administration at Capital City Bank.
Early in the process with Abrigo, the bank realized that a large number of applications were missing signatures when returned by Adobe. Abrigo not only developed the fix quickly, but they also assembled a team to help get the forms completed with the bank’s applicants in less than 24 hours. Abrigo was able to quickly resolve any errors and automate key processes, helping Capital City Bank complete more than 1,100 PPP loans.
“Abrigo helped us get out of the fire and took a major headache away for us. They were working overtime alongside us,” Nichols said. Capital City Bank delivered than $50 million in PPP loans to small business owners in the second round, and another $73 million in 2021.
The user-friendly, online capabilities of the Abrigo PPP Solution allowed for Capital City Bank lenders to work quickly and efficiently. “It was a 100% digital process. We had 30 lenders working on PPP, and it was hugely efficient – even remotely,” Nichols noted.
Following the success of the PPP and seeing the benefits of digitalization first-hand, the bank has expanded its relationship with Abrigo to further transform and automate its lending processes with the Abrigo Loan Origination System (LOS).
Furthering Digitalization with
Abrigo Loan Origination System (LOS)
Abrigo LOS streamlines the origination process and ongoing customer management. The software helps institutions like Capital City Bank to increase efficiency with automated workflows and notifications, improve consistency, and maximize insights and data.
Workflow management was a key area Capital City Bank wanted to improve. “We wanted to know where the bottlenecks were and figure out where the holdups are in our current process,” Nichols said. So far, Abrigo’s ability to track the sales pipeline and workflow has been “better than expected.” With a streamlined workflow, Capital City Bank can achieve greater consistency in loan delivery, as well as better reportability with employee productivity to help identify bottlenecks.
Like Abrigo’s digital PPP solution, Abrigo LOS is entirely web-based to give institutions greater efficiency and flexibility. The high-tech capabilities of the LOS, complemented with award-winning customer support, were a key reason Capital City Bank selected Abrigo as its LOS provider.
“It’s cloud-based, so it’s easy to make changes on the fly,” said Daniel Fowler, a Credit Administrator at Capital City Bank. And while the digital touch is a big advantage, Abrigo’s implementation and support teams have been an integral resource to the bank. “The support we get from Abrigo is a huge factor. Abrigo is more like a partner to us than a vendor or software provider.”
In addition to the initial implementation and training, customers also have access to Abrigo University, which gives users product tutorials to learn the technology on a deeper level. Nichols noted that the vast majority of users at the bank had completed the online courses.
A Better User Experience for All
For years, the banking industry has talked about “digital transformation,” but the pandemic has propelled the importance of digital banking and automation. Abrigo LOS enables Capital City Bank to meet customers’ convenience and speed expectations while also making lenders’ jobs more efficient and effective. Nichols noted how impressed employees have been with the LOS, especially employees coming from larger institutions or other banks using a different LOS.
“It’s been easy for our lenders to hit the ground running,” Nichols said. The lenders that have used a different LOS have indicated that the Abrigo LOS is similar to those used at larger institutions but “way easier to use.”
When Capital City Bank implemented the Abrigo LOS, it set a goal to make Abrigo part of its daily life, Nichols said. Today, all of the bank’s business loans are going through Abrigo, with consumer loans on the horizon. The smallest business loans, which could often take just as long as large loans, have a streamlined workflow in Abrigo, saving significant time for lenders and customers. Like the benefits of automating PPP loans with Abrigo, Capital City Bank has been able to make its entire lending process more consistent, efficient, and transparent with the help of a loan origination system.
