Banking is a highly competitive market. Fintech challengers are changing customer perceptions while at the same time long-standing incumbents struggle to innovate. Banks are no longer judged solely on their performance. The instant service consumers have come to expect from digital giants such as Amazon or Google has changed expectations and the criteria by which all businesses are assessed—banks included.
Some things don’t change: bank customers still have the highest expectations for security in their finances, personal data, and bank processes. Keeping customers happy in all these areas while staying ahead of the rapidly advancing digital world requires a combination of innovation, prudence, and compliance.
No bank is taking this new reality more seriously than NatWest Group (NatWest), operating in the UK, Ireland, and beyond. Across its banking brands, including Royal Bank of Scotland and Coutts, NatWest considers customer relationships a critical success factor—above even transactions. NatWest’s mission is to champion potential: breaking down barriers and building financial confidence so the 19 million people, families, and businesses who are NatWest customers can thrive. This is particularly important in the post-pandemic world. Natwest recognises that pursuing customer relationships means a change in perspective, and nowhere is this more important than within its own internal processes.
NatWest tasked Appian with a handful of key objectives related to one of their policies, the Change Risk Review process: to maximise efficiency, provide simple and intuitive ways to meet governance needs, and automate change governance to reduce duplication.
NatWest’s ultimate goal is to develop a consistent, single architecture and data model enabling data that has been entered once to be used and reused as appropriate throughout the change cycle controlling risk early and with higher levels of automation. That will make the process more efficient and effective and deliver value quicker to customers.
Appian was brought in because it was the best solution for phase one, and also the best cloud solution strategically for the future phases we want to implement. It will be a core part of the hub we form in our architecture, as my experience through this process to date has been of an incredible company that is really competent and willing to help you succeed.