Check Into Cash Recognizes Ten-Times ROI Using ThinkLP

About Check Into Cash

Founded in 1993 by W. Allan Jones, Check Into Cash is a financial services retailer with more than 1,100 stores in 30 states and operates in the United Kingdom under the banner Cash and Cheque Express. Headquartered in Cleveland, Tennessee, Check Into Cash offers payday loans, online payday advances, title loans, check cashing, Western Union money transfers and other financial services. As a founding and active member of the Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA) with board representation, Check Into Cash is helping shape industry best practices and is strongly positioned for continued growth and success.

Case & Incident Tracking

As Check Into Cash grew rapidly there became a need to automate and implement an incident and case management software solution. With thousands of incidents being reported via several channels including phone, email and faxes, reports would oftentimes be submitted with missing or inaccurate information which initiated extensive follow-up efforts to obtain more complete information.

There were several main requirements for a desired solution: ease of use, automated notifications and business processes, restitution management, and comprehensive dashboard and reporting. Having identified ThinkLP as a solution that solved for the current business requirements, but which also offered a platform on which to grow and expand, Check Into Cash was quick to realize immediate automation and savings. More incidents were being entered because it was simple for employees to complete and submit the reports. More consistent and timely communication resulted in reduced complexity and greater policy adherence. Automated notifications, assignment rules, and task management dramatically increased productivity and kept the entire team including district managers and field leadership on the same page. Reports and dashboards provided management with the trending and analysis required to become proactive in dealing with the risks and opportunities within the business.

The amazing part is that the solution today far exceeds the original automation concept, thanks to the vision of Check Into Cash and the endless capabilities and configuration options of the ThinkLP solution. Katherine Bartcher succinctly summarizes: “We keep adding and adding to it. There doesn’t seem to be anything you can’t do with ThinkLP.”

Intelligent Auditing

Auditing is a critical compliance function within the financial services industry, and the transformation of the audit process under the leadership of Glenn Bartcher has been significant. With state-specific regulations and compliance standards, Check Into Cash was quick to utilize the intelligent auditing features of ThinkLP allowing for conditional questions and question branching depending on the answers or business metrics of the specific location.

Leveraging the extensive scoring options within ThinkLP, the audit program automatically calculates a store risk rating based on a complex set of calculations which is also used to drive audit frequency and audit schedules. “We’d have to hire a room full of employees to calculate these risk ratings, where ThinkLP does it automatically for us.” says Glenn Bartcher, Director of Internal Audit.

The reporting of audits has been similarly transformational. With a 99% reduction in the time it takes to create and publish audit results to senior and field leadership every week, the time savings alone has been incredible. Glenn recognizes the benefits: “The value of ThinkLP has far outweighed the cost. We’ve realized a ten-times return.”

Performance Reviews

Check Into Cash has also automated their performance review process into ThinkLP which pulls in numbers like location financials and bad debt results. Moving from a very manual and time-consuming process, the new performance review process within ThinkLP has increased the accuracy, speed, and outcome of the review process resulting in determinations for training, additional support, and compensation.

Expanding on the original review to include more than twice the monitoring questions including both objective and subjective information, the process was automated using workflows and approval processes to streamline communication and reduce in-process time. Overall the solution has resulted in better and more accurate reviews, automated capturing of information, access to all current and historical reviews, timely and accurate adjustments based on real-time performance, and the ability to set and monitor goals. Director Nicole Dicus said “I find the review process straight-forward and self-explanatory.”

Repossessions

With dozens of repossessions occurring daily, Check Into Cash is able to streamline the complex repossession process within their unified ThinkLP software. The previous process was managed using Excel, and with the complexity of state-based regulations and need to communicate with third parties and marketers, it required the collections team to continually monitor the spreadsheet for required actions to be taken.

With ThinkLP, the repossession process was re-imagined. With the data entered directly into the software including third-party details, invoice details, and marketer information, the software automatically sets the tasks and reminders for actions. Communication with third-parties is automated with the information generated and attached to notification messages. Leveraging the ThinkLP Process Builder, the complex set of business rules have been automated to make the process far easier to manage, and the dashboards and reports provides the collections team with a view of every aspect of repossessions in real-time.

Eric Ratcliff, Director of Collections summarizes: “Everyone at Check Into Cash just loves ThinkLP, so we keep thinking of new ways to use it.”

Investing in Innovation

When Check Into Cash was first introduced to ThinkLP, the solution was still in its early days, but Check Into Cash realized the enormous potential and capability of the technology. In the final meeting before choosing to adopt ThinkLP, a Check Into Cash executive at the time said “We’re an innovative, entrepreneurial company and we recognize and invest in innovative, entrepreneurial people.” With that said, a solid partnership was born which has resulted in significant business process transformation and returned financial benefits to Check Into Cash which will continue long into the future.

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