DocuSign helps CBA accelerate its digital strategy

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has been helping Australians with their savings and general banking needs since 1911. Today, the bank serves 15.9 million customers across the globe and is Australia’s leading provider of integrated financial services.

Passionate about innovation and providing the best level of customer and employee experience, CBA has a business culture that embraces continuous improvement. In early 2020, this saw CBA fast-track its technology implementation of DocuSign in both Retail and Commercial lending to digitalise agreements, allowing them to be electronically signed and returned.

In the midst of a pandemic, with paper-based agreements no longer a viable solution due to restrictions, CBA was able to roll out DocuSign eSignature to meet the immediate needs of its customers and pave the way for future growth and greater efficiencies.

Helping Australians grow their business

CBA works with Australians to manage and grow their business with flexible commercial loans. The faster businesses receive their financing, the sooner owners have capital to support projects.

Prior to implementing DocuSign, commercial customers had to sign loan contracts at a CBA branch, visit their broker or receive the paperwork by post, then mail their documents back to the bank. It was a manual and time-consuming task.

Since implementing DocuSign eSignature in 2020, CBA is leading the industry in the use of eSignatures for commercial loans, with adoption above 95% for all loans across all segments nationally. 

The benefit? DocuSign deals are, on average, 20 days faster than paper contract deals.

“We now use DocuSign for over 95% of loans,” explains Executive Manager Digitisation of CBA’s commercial lending business, Tim Roberts. “We have a very high adoption rate, considering the nature of these documents.”

Positively impacting customers’ lives

The retail banking team at CBA delivers a seamless banking experience to more than 10 million personal and small business customers. Helping Australians achieve their dreams of home ownership, buying a car, or applying for a credit card is all made possible through CBA’s retail lending arm.

Prior to DocuSign, the process for sending and receiving loan contracts through the post took around two weeks. On top of this, pandemic restrictions made it difficult for customers to visit CBA lenders and brokers to sign paperwork in-person.

CBA sought to double down on its digital offerings to create a better experience for retail banking customers, and streamline the adoption of digital loans. Through CBA’s broker network, the team integrated DocuSign eSignature as part of its DigiDocs platform.

Marcus Maclean, Executive Manager of Home Lending Operations and Transformation at CBA, says that introducing DigiDocs, which enables brokers to send and receive digital home loan documents, has been met with enthusiasm from customers, brokers, and the wider business.

“The vast majority of our customers are now eligible for digital loans, whereas, before COVID-19, it was close to zero,” Marcus says.

“DigiDocs is now a permanent and expected service. Many of our customers now receive, sign and return their documents digitally, resulting in operational efficiencies; improved customer certainty; a reduction in document signing times; less escalations from mail issues; and a significant environmental benefit.”

Our Lenders have shared feedback on the operational efficiency DigiDocs has provided allowing them to spend more time with customers on value add conversations and improving customer experiences. 

Convenience is key for customers, brokers, and employees

Initially, CBA used DocuSign as the default delivery mechanism for paperwork associated with emergency loans due to COVID-19. Now, more customers are opting to apply and sign their loan applications digitally, forgoing the pen and paper, for a more convenient way to sign.

“Some of our commercial lending deals involve 20 different documents. There might be five or six different envelopes that need sending to different combinations of borrowers and guarantors. It’s a complex process that could take considerable time, now it takes just hours with Docusign,” Tim explains.

DocuSign has helped CBA streamline operations and improve efficiency across retail and commercial lending. By switching to a digital solution, there are fewer mail delays, and the user experience of customers and brokers has improved considerably.

An innovative mindset for continuous business growth

An innovative and customer-first mindset meant the adoption of digital lending helped create more time for lenders to spend with customers.

“Customers also told us that it made a huge difference to their buying experience. They love that they can receive the documents digitally. It’s also reduced our escalation times due to postage delays and losses,” Marcus explains.

Switching to DocuSign also gives the bank additional reporting capabilities, helping to improve form design to optimise completion rates and improve customer experience.

CBA will continue to improve and automate its upstream and downstream processes and has a three-year plan to expand digital solutions to ensure further efficiency and automation.

“We want to simplify and digitise more documents. We’re going to continue to expand the scope of what we can sign electronically,” Tim notes.

Tim also says DocuSign is saving customers time and effort as they no longer need to attend a branch to sign loan documents.

Business growth comes from innovation and making big decisions. Tim says that introducing new technology, like DocuSign, and changing long-standing processes can be challenging, but the reward of digital transformation is worth the effort.

“Real leadership is about having the energy and the drive to create positive change,” Tim says.