Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation News Update, May 18, 2021
Wolters Kluwer has been part of the fabric of the local business community for many years, having acquired St. Cloud-based Bankers Systems in 1999. Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions, based in Minnesota, is a growing, thriving business that helps banks and other financial services firms manage their risk and regulatory compliance obligations.
These capabilities were put to the test when COVID hit. Steve Meirink, Executive Vice President and General Manager, recalls his team’s focused effort in responding to the challenge, providing uninterrupted client service as the pandemic entered lockdown stage. “Essentially, over a weekend, we went to 95 percent work-from-home in a completely seamless manner—adaptability perhaps due to our experience in dealing with Minnesota winters!”
Wolters Kluwer’s St. Cloud team worked tirelessly to deliver critical customer support. Key was the team’s success in speedily updating its proprietary TSoftPlus technology for lenders to facilitate SBA loans through the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses hit by COVID. Over the course of the past year, Wolters Kluwer’s combined team efforts have helped save approximately 10 million U.S. workers’ jobs.
Increasing market demand for and recognition of the benefits of digital transactions were clear long before COVID. Wolters Kluwer innovated to address this need, developing an online application capability for consumer loans. In late 2020, Wolters Kluwer further strengthened its online solutions for lenders through the acquisition of eOriginal, a leader in digital lending. The acquisition combined both organizations’ highly complementary offerings and extended Wolters Kluwer’s leading position in U.S. mortgage/loan document generation and analytics into the fast-growing digital loan closing and storage adjacencies.
When asked in a recent Star Tribune profile how Wolters Kluwer helps meet growing demand for digital banking services, Meirink was resolute: “Our role is to help banks, credit unions and other lenders expedite a digitized and contactless transaction with their customers, typically small business or consumers. It's mission-critical for lending transactions to be contactless, remote and easy. Our role is not only to make that process happen, but to make sure it's done in a compliant manner.”
“Our customers operate in highly regulated industries and face a variety of challenges, including managing the tremendous complexity, scope and volume of rules across an ever-evolving regulatory landscape,” adds Meirink. “Emerging technologies such as those that are digitizing banking transactions are altering the business landscape and lenders’ strategies as to how and where to invest their resources. These factors present a significant growth opportunity for Wolters Kluwer’s wide array of expert solutions, technology innovations and domain expertise.”
Of 1,200 Compliance Solutions employees, about 700 are based in Minnesota, and the business is on pace for further growth in 2021. “Minnesota is a great place and market for an information services company such as Wolters Kluwer to thrive,” says Meirink. “We want to continue to be known as a trusted advisor and employer of choice in this space. Our team lives out our purpose-driven values by enabling professionals to make an impact of significance when it matters most.”
To learn more, visit https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en.
