Wacom STU-500 Signature Tablet at Work in the Confederation of Spanish Savings Banks (Spain)

Three very clear objectives were set forth by CECA prior to beginning this project. First, to save direct costs associated with documents generated by banking transactions; second, to convert the electronic signature into standard practice in the banking world; and, finally, to achieve greater convenience for employees and customers.

Typical bank and savings transactions, such as money transfers, credit card contracts, and loan agreements, have traditionally been in paper form with a series of signatures required, by the customer and branch employee, to complete the transaction and make it all legal. With a focus on the future, CECA's initiative, dubbed Digital Signature System (DSS), is helping to reduce paper, printing and processing costs within the banking system, as well as other costs such as archiving, warehousing, and security.

According to Santiago Uriel, CECA Technology vice-secretary, roll-out of the DSS project will involve an average direct saving of three euro cents ($0.38) for each paper document that no longer requires processing. This may not seem much at first glance, but when multiplied by the number of documents handled by a single branch in a year (averaging approximately 40,000) it renders a potential saving of $38 million annually across all Spanish savings banks. And this figure only takes into account direct costs related to paper and printer ink. Other costs, such as archiving and processing, are so high that they have not even dared to calculate them, according to Uriel.

After a successful pilot project, where CECA, Wacom, and the software developer Softpro worked together to create a solution that met specific protocol needs within each branch, the program went "live" after CECA management, the participating branches, and their customer base totally embraced the digital workflow. Of the 45 savings banks in Spain, 16 already rolled out the project in some or all their branches. Today, there are more than 1,500 branches that have adopted the DSS program with almost 10,000 tablets installed and more than 5 million transactions signed digitally. It is anticipated that the tablets will be fully operational in more than 3,000 branches within the next few years.

Wacom's STU-500 provides high sensor resolution and pen pressure sensitivity to produce clear true-to-life signatures. The anti-glare tablet surface coupled with Wacom's patented battery-free and cordless pen technology provides a durable platform for extensive daily use. In addition, Wacom's attention to ergonmic and design details not only provide a rich interactive experience for the customer, but also an appealing, "smart" look on any counter or desk.