Otkritie Bank automated underwriting and verification using low-code

2023: Underwriting Automation and Low-Code Verification

The Russian Universal Commercial Bank Otkritie has automated underwriting and verification processes using the low-code FIS Platform, developed by FIS (Financial Information Systems), which announced this on April 21, 2023.

Otkritie Bank

According to the company, in 2018 the bank adopted an updated business development strategy for 3 years - until 2020. The bank faced an ambitious task - to carry out modernization as soon as possible and start making a profit. Since Otkritie was formed as a result of the merger of 15 banks, more than 600 IT systems functioned in it at the same time - and 60% of them needed to be optimized. Including - fundamentally transform the underwriting and verification system that consolidates various data. 

To solve the problem of improving the quality of customer assessment, the bank chose the low-code platform of FIS, which had previously collaborated with Binbank, which was attached to Otkrytie, and decided to create a customized Attribute system based on it. 

It was critically important that the solution fit into the comprehensive plan for changing the bank's IT infrastructure. The developed solution was designed to fully automate underwriting and verification processes, replacing three systems previously implemented in the bank at once.

The tasks of the project were to create a single desktop for verifiers, a single search interface, a single repository of negative lists and a single entry point for integration with a number of external sources. Due to this, it was planned to receive significant additional benefits to meet business requirements and optimize the work of the Customer Verification Department (CPD) and the Bank's IT Development Department (DITR). 

Building up the customer base became the main business task of the bank, it was necessary: 

• increase the number of retail business customers by 2 times;
• 5 times - SME customers;
• 3 times - clients of large corporate business. 

To achieve these results, the implemented Attribute system was supposed to increase the volume and speed of processing applications by at least 15%, as well as increase the effectiveness of risk checks and make them faster. 

It was decided to automate the business processes of the Otkritie Client Verification Department for a number of reasons: 

• the time for consideration of the application was about 120 minutes - during these two hours, many clients who were looking for an operational solution could decide on the choice of another bank;
• capacity was reduced by the use of three different systems to verify different types of borrowers.

The optimization of the department's work was supposed to allow the bank to increase its customer base and minimize the number of operational errors. 

The work of the IT department also had to correspond to the parameters of the updated strategy: 

• Optimizing multiple systems and aligning them with current market requirements
• reduction in the budget for the annual maintenance of the underwriting system; 
• Synchronize the implementation with other systems. 

The updated system was supposed to become a single base for the development of underwriting and verification processes at Otkritie Bank, as well as the basis for working with other areas in the future (retail business, SMEs, corporate business, RKO, debit operations).

The FIS team has been implementing the Attribute project since 2019. A key feature of the project was that most of the work was carried out by the bank, FIS was involved in creating the interface of one of the system modules. All integration work was carried out by Otkritie Bank specialists. The system was built into the bank's IT landscape. Additional functional modules were developed and integrated, as well as scaling. 

Thanks to the cooperation of the bank and the vendor, work on creating a basic version of the system was completed in 6-8 months.

As a result:

• In the bank ecosystem, there is a single entry point for collecting information from external/internal sources for all systems - CRM, credit pipeline, back-office systems;
• Data from internal and external systems is processed automatically
• Created a single verifier desktop
• A single interface has been created to search for information about the bank's client;
• the ability to collect data from all internal sources (including blacklists) is implemented;
• the ability to quickly collect data from external sources is implemented;
• automated decision-making strategies for the application.

To implement an effective automation system and solve problems in a timely manner, the project team: 

• Optimized the verification process. All functionality was transferred to a single system, which multiply optimized the process of working with applications and improved the quality of their processing.
• Developed a universal user interface. It took into account the wishes of end users, applied an updated approach to creating widgets.
• She worked on the SCRUM methodology. The project was implemented iteratively, in sprints of three months. At the end of each sprint, the bank team had its own KPI.
• She worked together with the bank team. The bank allocated a team to develop and maintain the low-code of the FIS Platform. At the stage of development, the customization of the system was promptly carried out by the bank's team.

As a result of the work on the Attribute project, a single universal solution was developed to automate the processes of underwriters and verifiers. FIS Platform has become a target platform for creating the bank's IT solutions. 

{{quote 'author
= told Maria Sashevskaya, head of the verification and underwriting department, Otkritie Bank|The introduction of a low-code platform into the bank's ecosystem, first of all, contributed to the creation of a single verifier desktop. This had a positive effect on productivity - for example, the time of consideration of loan applications we have decreased by 3 times. A queue management system was also implemented - it takes into account time zones, employee schedules, and a priority system. Naturally, this also allowed us to increase our performance. As of April 2023, we have already transferred several products to the platform - consumer loans, mortgage lending, collateral underwriting, verification of RKO requests and SME lending.}}

Using the Attribute system, business processes have been optimized and become more transparent to users. Customer reviews are now faster and claims solutions are more accurate, as data retrieval and analysis is automated and minimizes the risk of operational errors. 

The following parameters have been optimized: 

• customer verification strategies have been streamlined - now they respond to market trends and the economic situation. They added cross-checks of triggers for express lending, SME lending, mortgages, consumer lending (withdrawal of functionality from RTDM);
• the number of automatic decisions has increased significantly; 
• the quality of solutions has also increased - due to the expansion of the list of available sources of information;
• data retrieval and analysis was automated;
• a single group cost center for information resources was formed - now all costs are completely transparent.

In addition, the process of continuous optimization and adaptation of the system for working with incoming business requirements was launched.  

The underwriting and verification system was comprehensively optimized: the speed of verification of applications increased by 2 times, and the number of operational errors decreased by 2 times. Now each line employee is easier to navigate in the system and processes 15-25% more requests than before. Waiting times for application processing also decreased (by an average of 10%), and the quality of decisions made increased due to the expansion of the list of available sources of information. 

The work on optimizing the IT department was carried out in stages: 

• upon the implementation of the Attribute system in March 2019, a unified client data accounting system was created, automatically updated and updated with information from different sources;
• 3 months after the implementation, it was possible to fully automate the processing of requests and decision-making strategy - including by reducing the processing time of retail lending processes and SMEs by 30%;
• six months after the start of work, 80% of the pilot group from the participants in the underwriting and verification processes have already been included in the system;
• at the beginning of 2020, 3 front-line SME and retail lending systems were integrated into the system, and all participants in verification and underwriting processes were connected to work. 

The "Attribute" underwriting and verification system developed on the FIS Platform allowed the bank to accelerate customer service, optimize the quality of decisions made, and also contributed to improving the quality of the portfolio.

Otkritie Bank is our strategic and technological partner. Flexible solutions based on the FIS Platform allow it to develop at an accelerated pace and involve specialists without narrow technical skills - at the analyst level - in the process of constant digital transformation. In working on the Attribute system, the joint team from the bank and the vendor created a solution in a short time, continuing to develop an internal competence center for development on the low-code application designer. This project became possible due to the involvement of the bank's management in the modernization of business processes. told Amangeldy Mamyrbekov, FIS Development Director

As a result of implementation, underwriting and verification processes have been optimized, much fewer people are engaged in their maintenance, and all the data necessary for work are aggregated and prepared automatically.

The Attribute system has been developing in the bank's ecosystem continuously for more than 3 years, changes are implemented every 2-3 weeks. With its help, more than 40 processes were automated and the volume of processed requests was increased to 100 million. As of April 2023, more than 100 users use the system every day, and among external sources - about 40 bases.

2022: Deposit Pipeline Implementation

Otkritie Bank introduced the FIS deposit conveyor, which was last announced on April 13, 2022.

Thanks to this decision, corporations can quickly find out the maximum deposit rate based on current market conditions and quickly decide on the placement of funds in Otkritie.

The pipeline was developed on the basis of the no-code platform FIS Platform specifically for Otkritie Bank. The solution greatly simplifies the opening of deposits: the bank can prepare a personal offer for the client with a pre-approved rate, which will be available in the Internet bank "Otkritie-Business Online." Now companies have two ways to open a deposit remotely: at a standard or individual rate. At the same time, different ranges of placement dates and amounts are available to customers. Taking into account the versatility of Otkritie Bank's deposit line and its full representation in Internet banking, this approach to individual offers expands the capabilities of companies to manage liquidity.

The ease of implementation and management of the pipeline made it possible to launch the project in less than 6 months. During this period, a rate matching system and integration with the Internet bank, ABS and CRM system were developed.

This technology will allow companies to decide on a profitable placement of funds in just a few minutes. Current individual rates are available in the Otkritie-Business Online online bank, so you no longer need to wait for the bank's approval. Hundreds of transactions pass through the pipeline every day, and our customers receive a high income from their own funds. Thanks to the introduced technology, liquidity management has become more effective, - said Andrey Karasev, Senior Vice President, Director of the Corporate Business Department of Otkritie Bank.