Digital Align Enables Gesa Credit Union to Hit Mortgage Stride with Digital Process Alignment

FREMONT, Calif., June 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Even prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the $4 billion Gesa Credit Union had difficulty recruiting qualified mortgage loan officers and processors to the team because of the tight labor market. When the Fed dropped rates 150 basis points in response to the coronavirus, the credit union's mortgage applications went through the roof.

Gesa Credit Union called on Digital Align to begin identifying bottlenecks in the mortgage process in January 2020 and by March of 2020, Digital Align, a business process strategy and business transformation firm, went to work transforming the end-to-end mortgage process. The efficiencies gained helped Gesa CU through the skyrocketing volume. Currently, 60% of Gesa's mortgage processes have been automated, implementing digital assistants for all aspects of the mortgage process, from application through closing.

"At Gesa, we are always looking to streamline our processes to serve more members, control expenses and increase revenue – all while providing the best member experience possible," Gesa CU CEO Don Miller said. "Digital Align's domain expertise and solutions aligned really well with our needs."

Gesa CU CIO Raj Bandaru continued, "We're handling the highest mortgage volumes ever in the history of Gesa, and we're not adding staff." Gesa increased its funding volume by 4X a month, even with staff working from home due to coronavirus, and growing.

Gesa Vice President of Mortgage Lending Randy Wacker has been pleased with the results. "At 125 applications, we used to be overwhelmed. Now, we're at 300, and they're busy, but it's not hair-on-fire busy."

Automation has helped keep employees focused on serving Gesa's members rather than repetitive task work. A mortgage application might have 1 field missing or 25 fields missing, which took significant staff time. After Digital Align installed Gesa's digital assistants, the assistants identify those and gather the information. Data has become more consistent, creating fewer compliance issues, and the credit union is experiencing a decrease in overtime.

Automation is a great tool, but the domain expertise and strategy really make a difference. "We're very pleased with the results Gesa Credit Union has achieved by modernizing and streamlining its processes," Digital Align Co-Founder/CEO Rajesh Patil said. "Our team's blend of experience in both the credit union's and the tech world gives us the insight necessary to diagnose issues and apply the appropriate tools to fix them. We're looking forward to seeing what solutions we can provide to Gesa's consumer lending, commercial lending and back office teams next."

About Gesa Credit Union

From modest beginnings in 1953, Gesa Credit Union has grown from a part-time office operating out of a shoebox to the second largest credit union in Washington State, serving more than 255,000 members around the world. Gesa as a community-chartered credit union continues to experience explosive growth.

About Digital Align

Digital Align is an experienced team of experts who streamline processes so financial institutions can do more with less. Our Digital Transformation and Solution experts understand how to deploy innovative solutions to enhance capabilities across all departments within financial institutions. We have decades of experience building digital strategy roadmaps, developing executable plans and implementing digital solutions to generate better ROIs for financial institutions.

Media contact:
Sarah Snell Cooke
[email protected] 
443.472.6276

SOURCE Digital Align Inc