STAR Financial Creates Process Efficiencies with Built

Since adopting Built in 2020, the STAR Financial team has improved efficiency in all areas of their portfolio. Slow, manual processes prevented their team from having the time in their day to focus on business growth and customer experience. Now, they have decreased the time it takes to disburse draws, all while mitigating unnecessary risk.

Manual draw processing slowed down draw disbursement for the STAR Financial team. All in all, their team calculated that each draw was touched 42 times prior to disbursement. Due to the manual nature of the processes, they saw balance discrepancies and errors. Overall, it was time consuming and inefficient. On top of internal processes, the team noticed that many of their borrowers struggled with budgets, attempting to make changes and updates post-close.

After a Built demonstration, the team knew that Built would be the key to implementing digital processes for increased efficiency. Eliminating the number of touchpoints was very important to their team—and Built provides just that.

The efficiency provided by Built, getting away from manual processes, ultimately has empowered the STAR Financial team with the time they need back in their day to better serve their customers. Built has drastically eliminated the number of touches required for a draw disbursement and decreases the number of back-and-forth emails between team members and customers. In addition to a slow, manual draw process, the STAR Financial team lacked insight into the data behind all of their historical efforts. As their team adds more of their workflows into the Built platform, the more value they are able to see from reporting functionality.

Managing multiple funding sources and change orders for commercial real estate project budgets can have timely and costly effects on project outcomes if clear, streamlined processes are not in place. The STAR Financial team can add the entire project budget into Built, providing increased visibility across the board. Once the team has added the project budget within the system, they can set out specific guidelines to help keep their customers on track. Built makes it clear what funds are available and what can be reallocated appropriately. For example, for projects that include an AIA contract, Built makes it easy to update or change based on project needs and recalculates accordingly so that everything stays on-budget. With Built’s budget functionality, manual and duplicative data entry of line-item cost breakdowns is removed from lender workflows. And, alerts within the platform prevent any potential room for error.

The STAR Financial construction loan administration team’s 2021 business plan is focused on the ways that they can increase efficiencies in all areas of their business. Not only is Built making work more efficient for their internal team, but they are able to provide a better, more efficient experience for their borrowers—which is key for repeat business. Rather than 42 touches on a single draw, Built has decreased the number of touches by approximately 83%. This efficiency, in tandem with improved communication and centralized information, will empower their team to exceed their goals and win more business this year and beyond.