MidAmerica
Federal Reduces Paper Reports Distribution From
30,000 Sheets Per Day To Virtually None
MidAmerica
Federal Savings Bank
based in Clarendon Hills, Illinois has eliminated almost
all of their internal printed reports after installing
PCI/Reports used in conjunction with Pegasus-OFS
Storage Management Software for Windows NT. PCI/Reports
enables MidAmerica Federal to electronically search
and view reports produced by their host application
from any networked PC in the bank's 20 plus branches.
Reports may also be printed or faxed if needed.
"When
MidAmerica made the decision to install
Bell & Howell's PCI/Reports, my goal was
to eliminate 80% of our printed reports" said Ken
Rusdal, senior vice president of operations and information
systems for MidAmerica. "It is hard to believe,
but we have eliminated almost all printed material from
our offices. We used to print approximately 30,000 pages
of report information daily, or roughly 7.5 million
pages per year, and, now, those reports are distributed
electronically."
MidAmerica
currently operates 21 branches over a wide area network
and considers itself on the leading edge when it comes
to installing technology and providing quality service
to its customers.
MidAmerica
employs client-server technology in their branches and
loan officers are all equipped with laptop PCs. Artificial
intelligence is used in the underwriting process and
all appraisals are on-line. "Having the most technologically
advanced Computer Output to Laser Disk (COLD)
product was important to senior management. They wanted
the return on their investment quickly and with PCI/Reports,
we were able to see it in about a year. The expenses
we saved from not having to purchase reams of paper
and not paying courier charges alone justified the system,"
Rusdal continued.
Quality
service and answering customer calls are also a top
priority for MidAmerica. "PCI/Reports enables
us to answer customer questions immediately" Rusdal
added. "Before PCI/Reports it could take us two
days to respond to a customer request as to why they
were charged an NSF fee. Now a customer service representative
can easily access a copy of the customer's statement
right on the screen and solve their problem immediately.
Response time to our customers is instantaneous."
Using
Bell & Howell's PCI/Reports eliminates the need
for microfiche and paper. Report data is downloaded
from the host application nightly. The program indexes
the reports according to the bank's specifications for
easy access. Reports can even be customized to meet
unique needs of the financial institution. "I would
purchase the system again tomorrow if necessary"
Rusdal said. "The system was very well received
by everyone, the implementation was easy, response time
has greatly been improved and the payback was within
a year."
MAF
Bancorp is the parent company of MidAmerica Federal
Savings Bank, a federally-chartered stock savings bank.
The bank operates a network of 21 retail banking offices
primarily in Chicago and its western suburbs. The company's
stock trades on the NASDAQ Stock Market under
the symbol MAFB. Additional information about MAF Bancorp
and MidAmerica Federal Savings Bank is available on
the Internet at http://www.mafbancorp.com.
For additional information on MidAmerica Federal Savings
Bank, contact Ken Rusdal at (630) 325-7300 or write
55th Street and Holmes Avenue, Clarendon Hills, Illinois
60514-1569.
Bell
& Howell Company, headquartered in Skokie, Ill.,
is a leading worldwide provider of solutions for information
access and distribution. Additional information about
Bell & Howell Company is available on the Internet
at http://www.bellhowell.com.
For additional information on Bell & Howell Protocorp,
contact Pam Wilson at (704) 226-5608, write 2661 West
Roosevelt Road, Monroe, N. C. 28110 or email pam.wilson@protocorp.com.
For investor relations, contact Kevin O'Shea, Vice President,
Treasurer/Investor Relations at (847) 470-7620. SOURCE
Bell & Howell Company.
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