board-portal-12-11-17.pngIf you counted the minutes in a day that you save because of technology, it would add up to quite a bit. With so many issues confronting financial boards, adequate time for strategic planning is a valuable commodity, so time is exactly what busy board members of financial institutions need.

Changes in the economy and the financial markets have complicated matters for boards of all sizes. Larger banks and conglomerates are finding it difficult to adapt to increasing regulations. Community banks are finding it harder to compete with larger banks. At the same time, financial institutions are finding it difficult to provide the level of technology that their customers want and need, in addition to other significant strategic issues.

Board portals help directors focus more of their time on strategic decisions. These portals have all of the features that directors need, and ensure that the information they need is available to them wherever they are, while also remaining secure.

Preparing board handbooks manually with paper copies and binders places a huge burden on the board secretary. Every time a board meeting approaches, the secretary spends countless hours copying and collating documents, and filing them into the proper sections of the handbook. Updating a board portal requires some work on the part of board secretaries, but they only have to upload a document one time. And secretaries can limit access to certain documents only to the people who need to view them.

In addition to the time savings, board portals provide material and environmental savings. Financial institutions save the cost of reams of copy paper, other office supplies and the labor to assemble board books. The savings can net banks upwards of $1,100 per board meeting. Board portals are environmentally friendly as well. Banks and credit unions contribute less paper to the landfills, and they expend less electricity to produce it. According to a recent analysis by Diligent, boards of banks and credit unions can save up to $10,000 a year by using a board portal.

Board Portals Provide Mobility and Improve Security
There’s nothing worse than the panic that a director of a bank feels in learning that an important piece of paper is missing from the board book. This could happen easily enough with busy board members who travel often for business and pleasure as they juggle suitcases and briefcases in cars and on airplanes. Board portals let busy directors access their board documents with ease on any electronic device, including laptops, tablets and phones. Directors no longer need to lug heavy board books through busy airports and risk valuable information getting into the wrong hands. Most board portals have a double authentication process with a user ID, password and scrambled PIN code, so even if an electronic device gets lost or stolen, sensitive board information remains safe and secure.

Choosing a Board Portal
While board portals are generally intuitive and user-friendly, some directors who are not adept at technology may find that they have a learning curve. But most board directors adapt quickly with a little training and experimentation.
Board portals for banks are a single tool that stores meeting materials, communications, bylaws, archived documents and more in neatly arranged files. Many of the features that board portals provide are of great use to directors, particularly board rosters, board biographies, electronic surveys, voting history and shared notations. Many portals also have a built-in time tracker, so directors know how much time they are spending on board business. This feature can help boards evaluate whether directors are dedicating enough time to board service to comply with proper governance principles. Once they get used to the tool, board members appreciate the ease of posting news items, linking documents, sharing agenda items and calendars, and using the chat and email features. Premium products may also include offline capability, which is an important feature for many bank board directors.

Look for a board portal product that is easy to use and that has knowledgeable customer service support that is available around the clock. As with most products that consumers buy, less expensive board portals aren’t necessarily the best value. Board directors will spend a significant amount of time on the portal, so it’s best to conduct a thorough review of the features, usability, speed and functionality before investing in a portal. The right board portal will do all that you need it to do and more.

Nick Price