Streamlining banking and finance processes is crucial to enhancing operational efficiency, reducing costs, and improving customer satisfaction. Rapid adaptation to changing market conditions, customer needs, and regulatory requirements ensures that financial institutions remain competitive and compliant, ultimately fostering client trust and loyalty.
With this in mind, UKRSIBBANK, a commercial bank based in Ukraine and a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, embarked on an ambitious journey in 2021 to revolutionize its loan origination process.
Joining us at CamundaCon 2024 in Berlin, we had the pleasure of hearing from Anna Ivanova (UKRSIBBANK) and Liudmila Pidgorna (Integrity Vision). Anna is a seasoned professional with over 17 years of experience in credit processing for legal entities. Liudmila represents Integrity Vision, a company that partners with financial institutions to aid in their digital transformation. She has been working with banks and other financial entities for over 15 years. Their presentation, “The Orchestration of Credit Processes for Legal Entities,” discusses how they adopted Camunda 8 to optimize their loan origination process.
With Camunda 8, UKRSIBBANK is transforming a complex banking procedure into a smooth, efficient experience for both clients and employees. Their presentation explores their journey from inception to the future-proof realization with Camunda 8 in 2024, demonstrating through a real-world scenario the ease of development and considering the advantages and insights this gave them along the way.
The beginning: Identifying the challenges
In 2021, UKRSIBBANK faced significant challenges from its legacy systems and fragmented processes. The existing system required credit analysts to navigate multiple platforms to compile a single credit application, leading to delays, errors, and frustration.
The credit process was burdened with manual interventions and a lack of standardization. Each department followed its own set of procedures, causing inconsistencies and inefficiencies. Analysts had to juggle between different systems to gather financial data, calculate credit ratings, and check Know Your Customer (KYC) details, often resulting in lost time and miscommunication.
The dream: A unified, agile process
Anna and her team needed to drastically reduce the time taken for credit processing, aiming for a fivefold decrease. The vision was to prioritize the client, ensuring they received funds quickly, ideally within the same day. This required optimizing the process and engaging all employees in a unified effort towards a common goal.
The bank recognized that achieving this ideal scenario meant moving away from siloed operations. It needed an orchestration layer that involved all employees and stakeholders, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration.
The transition: Embracing Camunda 8
UKRSIBBANK partnered with Integrity Vision and is on the way to implementing credit process orchestration with Camunda. The transition aimed to address the core issues of outdated systems, lack of standardization, and manual workflows.
By 2024, implementation with Camunda 8 was underway, marking a significant milestone in their digital transformation journey.
Streamlining processes
Camunda 8 will help UKRSIBBANK create a single, unified window for all loan origination activities. This will reduce the reliance on multiple systems and minimized manual data entry. The platform’s orchestration capabilities will ensure that tasks were completed accurately and efficiently, reducing the potential for human error.
Enhancing standardization
Anna highlighted that a key benefit of Camunda 8 was the ability to standardize processes across different departments. By leveraging best practices and engaging with all stakeholders, UKRSIBBANK not only improved efficiency but also ensured that everyone involved clearly understood their roles and responsibilities. The standardized process minimized the chances of over- or under-quality applications and ensured a uniform approach across the bank.
Leveraging data for continuous improvement
With Camunda 8, UKRSIBBANK will be able to use dashboards that provided real-time insights into the loan origination process. These dashboards allowed managers to track key performance indicators (KPIs) and service level agreements (SLAs), identifying bottlenecks and areas for improvement. Invested parties could now have a transparent view of the entire process, from start to finish, enabling stakeholders to make informed decisions and set realistic goals.
Overcoming challenges: A collaborative effort
The journey from legacy systems to a modern, agile platform was not without its challenges. Initially, the migration to Camunda 8 required an appropriate investment of time and resources. However, UKRSIBBANK approached this transformation with a clear strategy and commitment to change.
Engaging employees
One critical success factor was the benefit of engaging employees at all levels. Anna emphasized the importance of involving all staff members in the optimization process. By fostering a culture of collaboration, UKRSIBBANK ensured that everyone understood the end goal and worked towards it collectively. This engagement was pivotal in overcoming resistance to change and ensuring that the new processes were adopted smoothly.
Addressing client needs
Another challenge came from improving communication with clients. Previously, relationship managers struggled to provide timely updates on the status of loan applications due to the fragmented nature of the process. With Camunda 8, UKRSIBBANK will introduce digital communication channels directly to client banks, allowing customers to track the status of their applications online. This transparency improved client satisfaction and reduced the workload on relationship managers, who no longer had to field numerous status inquiries.
Realizing the benefits: A future-proof solution
In 2025, UKRSIBBANK plans to complete the migration to Camunda 8 and reap numerous benefits that align with their initial goals and dreams.
Improved efficiency
The standardized, automated processes significantly reduced the time required for loan origination. What previously took up to 28 days could now be completed in as little as 12 days, with aspirations to reduce this further to match the market best practice of five days. This improvement enhanced client satisfaction and allowed the bank to process more loans in less time, boosting overall productivity.
“The platform’s orchestration capabilities guaranteed that tasks are completed accurately and efficiently, reducing the potential for human error.”
Liudmila Pidgorna, Head of Software Development, Integrity Vision
Enhanced client satisfaction
Client satisfaction is one of the key metrics for UKRSIBBANK’s success. By providing a seamless, transparent loan application process, clients felt more informed and valued. The ability to complete the entire process online, from application to document signing, without visiting a branch, was a significant advantage in today’s digital-first world.
“With Camunda 8, we introduced digital communication channels, allowing clients to track the status of their applications online. This transparency improved client satisfaction and reduced the workload on relationship managers.”
Anna Ivanova, Lead Engineer, Loan Highways, UKRSIBBANK
Increased employee motivation
With automated and clear processes, employees found their work more manageable and less prone to error. Reducing manual tasks allowed staff to focus on more value-added activities, increasing their job satisfaction and motivation. Furthermore, the transparent tracking of KPIs and SLAs helped create a sense of ownership and accountability among employees.
Strategic insights and decision-making
The data collected through Camunda 8’s dashboards will provide valuable insights into process performance. This data-driven approach allowed UKRSIBBANK’s management to identify trends, anticipate challenges, and make strategic decisions to further optimize operations. The transparency and visibility into every stage of the process ensured that issues were addressed promptly, and improvements were continuously made.
Looking ahead: Continued innovation
Anna and Liudmila further discussed how UKRSIBBANK’s journey with Camunda 8 does not end here. The bank is committed to continuous improvement and innovation. With plans to further integrate CRM, ERP, and core banking systems, UKRSIBBANK aims to create an even more cohesive and efficient environment. The goal is to expand digital sales to 20% of legal entities’ lending and increase the SME portfolio elevenfold by 2025.
Moreover, the migration to Camunda 8 is seen as a stepping stone to even greater agility and responsiveness. The bank is already exploring new features and capabilities within the platform to enhance their offerings and stay ahead in the competitive banking landscape.
A journey of innovation and client-centricity
UKRSIBBANK’s transformation journey, from the project’s inception in 2021 to the migration to Camunda 8 in 2024, is a testament to its commitment to innovation and client-based thinking. By addressing the core challenges of outdated and legacy systems, lack of standardization, and manual workflows, UKRSIBBANK has created a streamlined, efficient loan origination process that benefits both clients and employees.
In their presentation, Anna and Liudmila discussed how the adoption of Camunda 8 has empowered UKRSIBBANK with the tools and insights needed to continuously improve and adapt to changing market conditions. As it looks to the future, UKRSIBBANK remains dedicated to leveraging orchestration technology to enhance its operations, deliver exceptional client experiences, and achieve its ambitious goals.
Their presentation and successful transformation story is an inspiring example for other commercial financial institutions looking to modernize their processes and embrace digital transformation. By prioritizing client needs, engaging employees, and leveraging innovative technologies, banks can create a more efficient, responsive, and competitive environment and be ready and competitive in the ever-evolving future of customer-facing financial organizations.
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