9
A Rolodex? Here we are in the new millennium and I am standing in an office of
one of the largest banks in the world and the teller is using a Rolodex? This
does not bode well for my signature guarantee much less for electronic
signatures! Finally I got to the head of the line and made my simple request for a
signature guarantee.
“That won’t be possible” said the teller. “The branch manager is out to lunch”. It
is now 2:45. “You don’t understand” I said, I need this in a hurry”. “You don’t
understand” the teller said, “the branch manager is out to lunch”. Now I am
getting very nervous. “Get in the line to your far left and you will be first in line
when she gets back”. It must have been my lucky day for as soon as I got in the
new line the branch manager returned. She looked at my driver’s license and put
the official bank stamp on my wire transfer request form. I rushed out the door
back to 590 Madison Avenue, up the elevator to the ninth floor, back to the
conference room sweating profusely to apologize to the customers again and tell
them that for sure I will only be a few more minutes. I placed a jubilant call to GE
Capital. It is 2:55. “One other thing, Mr. Patrick”, as she explained that they
would also need a fax of a Federal Express or Airborne shipping label to verify
that I had purchased an overnight fare to send them my wire transfer request
form. GE wanted to make one hundred percent sure that they were going to get a
piece of paper with real ink on it. I said that was ridiculous and they said “maybe
so but we won’t wire the money until we see this additional fax”. “Then you will
wire the money?” I asked. “Yes, as soon as we see that second fax”. “How about
if I don’t actually send you the overnight package?” I asked. The woman
explained that if I was dumb enough to purchase an overnight Federal Express
shipping label and then not ship it that it would be my problem. I ran down the
hall, got a blank (free) Airborne shipping label, filled it out, faxed it to GE Capital
and then called them yet again. It is now 2:59. Still sweating. GE was happy and
wired the money. I was exhausted. I threw the Airborne shipping label away. I
figured if a wire transaction is this hard to do it should be next to impossible to
undo. This fiasco was not e-business.
The story is not about GE. In fact GE is a model company in many ways and is
making a rapid, focused and effective move to become a highly advanced
Internet technology-enabled business from top to bottom. I am sure they will be
successful. My sad tale of woe could have been through a similar experience at
almost any financial services company in the world. Many would have been
much more difficult.
The heart of the problem
Why couldn’t my wire transaction have been a few mouse clicks on a web page?
Is it a technology problem? Definitely not. It would not be much more complex
than clicking to buy a book or reserving a hotel room. Encryption technology and
digital ID technology are available from numerous companies that could have
secured the transaction. Is it a legal problem? Some would say so but if GE was
willing to accept a fax then they have already agreed to accept an image of my
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