Andera
Until 2000, the idea of making the account opening process for banks and credit unions an integrated technology was unfounded. Then came along Andera, a Brown University start-up that has blossomed into a leading service provider of integrated account opening processes.
Founded in 2000 by Charlie Kroll, who was finishing up his final year at Brown University at the time, Andera was originally founded as a custom developer of websites and applications. In its first few years, Andera produced diverse projects such as movie websites for Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer, interactive advertisements for Time magazine and underwriting technology for John Hancock.
While Andera was doing well, the company lacked a niche. Kroll and his co-founders Taylor Coburn discovered there was a large demand for online account opening for retail financial institutions, and the company re-focused itself on solving the problem.
"During its startup period, Andera had previously built online account opening systems for several of its banking clients," says Kroll. "We recognized a similar need among the nation's 16,000 other financial institutions."
Thanks to Andera, consumers were able to open bank accounts without the hassle and long processing time normally associated with banks. "For the first time, customers were able to open a bank account without visiting a branch or signing any paper," says Kroll.
Andera's software combines real-time identity verification with initial funding, instant approval, personalized cross-selling, host system integration, electronic signatures and compliance with United States Patriot Act and OFAC regulations.
New Accounts Online allows the entire process to be completed within eight to 10 minutes, including identity verification, funding and credit-based cross selling capabilities. The service provides banks with a competitive advantage by allowing them to offer the most integrated, automated, real-time online account opening capability available in the market today.