Adjamian Affiliated

In April 2002, a devastating tornado in Maryland left a long trail of demolished buildings and ruined businesses. One bank in the town of La Plata lost all of its client loan files and learned a hard lesson about the value of a digital document management system.

PeoplesBank, a busy bank system in York, PA, paid attention when they saw their neighbors pay dearly for relying on paper. The tornado illustrated the need not only to digitize checks and client files, but all the operational documents that allow a major bank to run smoothly.

A York County banking tradition since 1865, PeoplesBank provides investment, insurance, trust and real estate services, along with commercial and personal financial products. In addition to the La Plata tornado, the 9/11 attacks and the Enron scandal of late 2001 spurred changes at the long-established bank.

Enron-inspired mandates like the Gramm-Leach-Bliley and Sarbanes-Oxley Acts require all banks to have orderly, secure systems for storing official records. Personal finances have to be tracked under strict security controls, and operational documents need to be easily accessible to auditors.

And then there were the records. If the bank's offices were ever damaged or destroyed, PeoplesBank needed a system with a back-up feature that could re-build the document library from any laptop and would enable staff to access files within days or even hours of a disaster.

PeoplesBank was examining ways to solve their problem when they discovered Laserfiche.

"The functionality of Laserfiche was most impressive," says Angel Kern, vice president of information technology at PeoplesBank. "Laserfiche helps us handle everything from compliance to records management."

Checks, statements, balance sheets, loan documents, accounts payable information, back-up archival CDs. Laserfiche provides a single system to manage all of it. PeoplesBank now provides its clients with faster, more efficient service, and both management and clients have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that their financial information is protected in the event that disaster strikes.