Hard Information
In banking, the term “hard information” typically refers to borrower and account holder information that can be easily quantified and/or shared. Financial institutions of all sizes rely on hard information for a variety of purposes, especially when it comes to making decisions about commercial loans.
Common Types of Hard Information
According to the Small Business Lending Survey published in 2024 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the following types of hard information are regularly utilized by financial institutions:
- Audited and non-audited financial statements
- Personal and business credit scores
- Purchase agreements
- Collateral
- Guarantees
The specific use of hard information for commercial lending depends on a number of factors, such as loan size, information relevancy, and process. Information use also seems to vary based on the financial institution’s asset size—especially as larger banks continue to adopt automated underwriting technology. As pointed out in the FDIC’s report:
“One of the most noticeable differences between small and large banks in their use of hard information is that large banks consistently evaluate business credit scores more than small banks do.” –Source: FDIC Small Business Lending Survey, 2024
Managing Hard Information with ECM Technology
Large and small financial institutions rely on hard information to understand borrower relationships, evaluate creditworthiness, support complex lending decisions, and fulfill documentation requirements for audits and exams.
Some banks and credit unions still struggle to effectively manage hard information due to antiquated systems involving paper loan files, inter-office mail and couriers, ticklers and spreadsheets, and other manual workflows. Implementing enterprise content management software can better equip a financial institution to meet these diverse needs via:
- Document imaging, categorization, and sharing
- Exception tracking and reporting
- Electronic audit and exam preparation
- Streamlined document collection
- Retention rules and simplified document purge
- LOS, core, and other system integration
Alogent’s suite of ECM solutions were designed for the unique information management requirements of financial institutions. AccuAccount, Alogent’s ECM software that’s optimized for commercial lending, offers an intuitive electronic view of the customer that looks like a traditional loan file—offering quick access to hard information about the borrower, loan, collateral, and related entities. With FASTdocs from Alogent, financial institutions can create a centralized repository of hard information while enabling a two-way document exchange with account holders via digital banking.
Access more banking definitions or contact us to schedule a demo of Alogent’s ECM solutions for financial institutions.
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