Charles Schwab Launches Laser App® Integration With Schwab Advisor Center to First Wave of Advisor Clients

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Schwab Advisor Services, a leading provider of custodial, operational and trading support for more than 6,000 independent registered investment advisory firms (RIAs), announced that after a successful pilot, it will roll out Laser App integration to a first set of advisors and make it widely available by the end of the year. Laser App, an industry-leading desktop software package, allows advisors to leverage existing data from their Client Relationship Management system (CRM) and the Schwab Advisor Center website to pre-populate forms and applications. It will be available at no cost to advisors who custody with Schwab and will include two years of Laser App support.

“We’re always looking for ways to help advisors stay focused on maximizing productivity and efficiency”

“We’re always looking for ways to help advisors stay focused on maximizing productivity and efficiency,” said Steve Hirsch, vice president of Institutional Web Services at Charles Schwab. “Laser App integration allows advisors to streamline paperwork so they can spend more time on growth strategies and strengthening client relationships.”

The benefits of Laser App to advisors include greater efficiency and accuracy by eliminating redundancy of data entry. Eighty of the most commonly used forms will be available and advisors can submit applications online to obtain a Schwab account number. The integration helps improve internal processes by reducing the effort and inherent errors associated with manually completing forms. The pre-population and validation also helps prevent account applications from being rejected, as nearly 20% of applications are rejected, often due to missing data.

“One of my pet peeves is having 15 pieces of data that all have to be reentered every time I do anything. Constantly rekeying data lends to concerns about errors,” said Kimberly D. Overman, president and chief executive officer of The Financial Well, Inc. who participated in the pilot program. “Laser App integration increases accuracy by validating account applications before you submit them. Any implementation like this is wonderful—it’s what I’ve needed for a very long time.”

Laser App Software specializes in the areas of filling out forms and keeping forms current and accessible. The company has spent the last 15 years working on seamless integrations with a wide variety of CRMs.

“We all know how much paperwork is involved in our industry,” said Robert Powell, vice president of Sales & Marketing at Laser App. “And the paperwork is only getting worse. Working with Schwab’s development staff, we’ve added functionality that makes forms filling more intuitive and interactive. In short, Schwab has taken the advisor experience to a whole new level.”

About Charles Schwab

The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) is a leading provider of financial services, with more than 300 offices and 8.1 million client brokerage accounts, 1.4 million corporate retirement plan participants, 736,000 banking accounts, and $1.7 trillion in client assets as of May 31, 2011. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides a full range of securities brokerage, banking, money management and financial advisory services to individual investors and independent investment advisors. Its broker-dealer subsidiary, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC, www.sipc.org), and affiliates offer a complete range of investment services and products including an extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning and investment advice; retirement plan and equity compensation plan services; referrals to independent fee-based investment advisors; and custodial, operational and trading support for independent, fee-based investment advisors through its Advisor Services division. Independent investment advisors are not owned, affiliated with or supervised by Schwab. Its banking subsidiary, Charles Schwab Bank (member FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender), provides banking and mortgage services and products. More information is available at www.schwab.com and www.aboutschwab.com. (#0711-4463)

The mention of the above companies is not, and should not be construed as a recommendation, endorsement or sponsorship by Charles Schwab & Co., Inc, (Schwab). These companies are not affiliated with or employed by Schwab.

About Laser App

Laser App Software pioneered forms-filling technology for the financial services industry in 1995. Today Laser App’s customer base has grown to over a hundred thousand users and 350 broker-dealers. Founded by independent advisor Ed Beggs, Laser App offers advisor-friendly solutions that make the tedious process of completing paperwork simple. By leveraging existing client data, advisors can prefill the most current forms in seconds. For more information, visit www.laserapp.com.