MONTGOMERY – Secretary of State Beth Chapman continued to implement business improvements in the State by accepting Huntsville’s and Decatur’s first UCC online filings at two North Alabama bank branches First Commercial Bank of Huntsville Alabama Main Branch and Bank Independent Decatur Downtown on Tuesday, November 27, 2007.
Online filing was one of the recommendations made by the UCC Advisory Board that Secretary Chapman created to make the processes of the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office more efficient and effective for Alabama businesses by investigating procedures of the Uniform Commercial Code Division. The Board is comprised of representatives from various agricultural, financial, and insurance institutions around the state.
First Commercial officials present included Beth Sippel, Senior Vice President and Sales Manager; Connie Jackson, Assistant Vice President, Loan Operations and Compliance Specialist; and Leigh Pegues, Executive Vice President and Senior Lender. Executive Assistant Tammy McAnally entered the first filing into the computer system. First Commercial is chartered in Alabama and has four branches in Huntsville and two others in the Madison area. It is owned by Synovus, one of the largest holding companies in the Southeast. Bank Independent officials in attendance included Area President David Mathews; Jim Turner, Vice President; Melissa C. Craig, Senior Vice President; and Karen Tidwell, Personal Banker actually entered the UCC filing. Bank Independent is chartered in Alabama with 25 locations serving 15 communities in North Alabama. Established in 1947, Bank Independent is community based and independently owned operating in Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Morgan and Limestone with its’ main branch in Colbert County. Also in attendance at both banks were Sloane Wright, General Manager of Alabama Interactive and UCC Division Director for the Secretary of State, Rebecca Morris.
The new system will be available for all UCC filers on Monday, December 10, 2007, and allows UCC Initial Financing Statements and Amendments to be filed via online service giving the filer immediate lien confirmation information. This will allow businesses that make loans to control their workflow and obtain their lien filing information on the same day that they put their loan package together. The paper method, which is still available, should customers choose to use it, takes about a week to receive the confirmation under ideal circumstances.
“My staff and I are proud to offer this improvement in the processes of how the Secretary of State’s Office operates for Alabama businesses,” stated Secretary Chapman, “the Advisory Board identified a useful solution and we were able to implement the process.”
You may learn more about the online filing process by visiting www.sos.alabama.gov.
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