Australian Bank redefines the broker experience through user experience research & design
- Industry Banking & Finance
- Capability Innovation & emerging technologies
- Customer Australian Bank
Our client is a customer-owned Bank in Australia with a vision to increase its footprint and streamline its operations via service upgrades and strategic acquisitions. Having recently acquired other Banks across Australia it now has operations in Western Australia, Queensland and NSW and is establishing a presence in the fiercely competitive home lending space.
Opportunity
Recent acquisitions and an imminent strategy to become a national segment leader led the Bank to embark on an ambitious 3.5-year digital transformation program with a target of achieving a 50 percent increase in home lending revenue.
On setting these targets, the Bank found its existing ICT processes and systems were not aligning with its growth objectives and, with more than 70 percent of home loan applications now coming through brokers, it had identified opportunities to improve its broker experience and capitalise on the growth in this segment.
With its long-term vision to create seamless digital experiences, the Bank wanted to provide its brokers with a faster and more consistent experience that retains the all-important personal connection.
However, for the Bank, and many other organisations in the banking sector, the complexity, security issues and high regulation of this industry makes it difficult for businesses to know how to approach new ICT or UX strategies – and getting it right is essential.
Whilst the Bank had already built an internal digital transformation team to establish operational preparedness and adaptability for future mergers and evolution within the category, it could see that reviewing emerging industry information on user experience in brokerage was crucial to choosing the right products to deliver the strategy and serve it moving into the future.
Solution
A well-designed UX can improve the end-user experience and therefore customer satisfaction and loyalty. It can also improve operational efficiency through intuitive interfaces, simplified processes, and automation, which can help reduce errors, minimise customer support requirements, and streamline banking operations. This can lead to cost savings and increased productivity.
To ensure the success of its broker experience improvement program of work, not just for its brokers but also its own operational efficiency, the Bank enlisted NRI to help it identify user requirements, areas for improvement in current processes, and select a suitable technology.
Leveraging our User Experience processes and methodologies, we facilitated the navigation of the complex UX landscape and helped the Bank identify three key areas that contribute to a positive UX in the broker space:
- An intuitive and user-friendly interface that customers can easily use.
- Personalised support such as a portal providing portfolios of products offerings.
- Readily available online support to deal with issues quickly so brokers can service their customers effectively.
Following this initial discovery and identification of the core attributes that would deliver a positive user experience, we played a driving role in the nomination, design, and delivery of the following projects:
Platform & solutions selection
As part of this process, the Bank needed help to determine, acquire and deploy the right technological platforms and solutions, in service of the planned product and service improvements.
Broker Support Chat
To support the delivery of a webchat solution to connect brokers with the Bank team in real-time, we identified the user requirements and service outcomes, which were then rigorously tested to optimise the broker support experience.
Broker Portal
Following the technology platform evaluation, Salesforce was chosen as the platform to build the new Broker Portal. We conducted comprehensive user research to inform the design and produced wireframe prototypes to facilitate broker processes and inform decision-making.
Simple upfront forms
We conducted stakeholder workshops and user research to identify opportunities for enhancement in the home loan application process, leading to the development of an efficient loan platform with improved form-design and usability.
Outcomes
By listening to and understanding their needs, the Bank is changing the way brokers empower Australian borrowers and has invested in the suggestions put forward by brokers via feedback, to ensure seamless, hassle-free processes.
The collaboration between the Bank and NRI has so far yielded the following business improvements:
Exceeded program goals: Our services contributed to an early achievement of the digital transformation program’s ambitious 50 percent revenue increase in the home lending sector.
Record application volumes: Process improvements have contributed to the highest application volumes ever recorded by the Bank.
Drastic reduction in turnaround times: The average home loan application turnaround time decreased from 19 to 5 days without additional resourcing.
Improved efficiency and quality of service: The Broker Support Chat service solution provides brokers with immediate support and assistance and accurate and fast feedback on applications in progress. The solution scored highly in efficiency, service quality and user satisfaction – benefiting both brokers and support staff.
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