The MetLife Broker-Dealer Group has launched a new electronic business processing system for its broker-dealer operations. Known as eApp (Electronic Application) and eApp with electronic signature option, the system speeds up the application process and makes it easier for registered representatives to do business with MetLife.
The application process has been improved by warehousing business forms in a single electronic repository, eliminating the need for paper copies. MetLife broker-dealers can eliminate the need to print an electronic form in order to capture a signature approval. Both the client and the representative can secure electronic signatures in a faster manner.
eApp performs systematic validation after the representative completes the form, and then it notifies the representative of missing information and limited suitability references. eApp also is available on the Wealth Management Services (WMS) platform, MetLife Broker-Dealer Group’s proprietary investment advisory platform.
“We have made significant strides in our technology to help our registered representatives improve the way they manage and conduct their businesses,” says John J. Brett, senior vice president of the MetLife Broker-Dealer Group. “We already have received positive reviews from producers who see this as the future of business processing. These user-friendly electronic applications also help reduce the paper-intensive processes that are so [much a] part of our producers’ businesses, thereby allowing them to go back to what is most important to them—their clients.”
To facilitate straight-through processing, MetLife integrated an electronic signature solution from Interlink into the eApp platform. Once a handwritten electronic signature is captured with Interlink’s signature capture device, IntegriSign binds the electronic signature to the document, creating a secure form that then can be electronically routed through the MetLife Broker-Dealer Group back office.
eApp increases back-office efficiencies due to reductions in “not of good order” (NOGO) applications. It also enables the carrier’s ability to complete fillable forms online and automatically populate existing client information in forms to reduce redundancies.
“Moving toward an electronic, paperless processing system moves MetLife as an enterprise closer to its overall goals regarding the implementation and practice of green initiatives and promotion of environmental responsibility in our day-to-day operations,” says Bob Begun, vice president of operations for the MetLife Broker-Dealer Group.