Specialist business lending and savings bank Shawbrook Bank is using a low-code platform from Pegasystems to rewrite its business process software and automate customer journeys.
Using the code below, the bank has completed the business process of rewriting part of its loan business, and has saved 1,500 hours a month as a result.
Shawbrook Bank, which serves small and medium-sized business customers, is the result of the merger of five different finance firms in 2011, and it has grown rapidly. As a result, the company decided to rewrite the end-to-end processes of its loan and savings businesses.
The end-to-end journey for unsecured loan processing is completed on the Pegasystems platform, while any technology that directly touches Shawbrook’s end customers is Shawbrook’s own bespoke software.
Russ Thornton, Shawbrook’s chief technology officer, said the company “used to be afraid of writing its own software”, but that the low-code platform from Pegasystems is changing that.
“We ended up rewriting a portion of our unsecured loan business, which proved the model, and now we’re doing the rest of it,” he said. “We should have completed the entire unsecured loan process by the end of the first half of this year. Having proven the model, we have transferred it to the largest part of the business, our property and buy -to-let underwriting In this business, we have a lot of automation on the front end, but not on the back end.
The company will start this project at the end of this month.
Once complete, Thornton expects to reduce the time between an indicative mortgage offer and a final mortgage offer from 34 days to less than 10 days.
“Our strategy is all about combining the best in technology with deep human expertise,” he said. “Pegasystems easily integrates with our existing technology stack, streamlining and automating the journey. So our team is able to provide our customers and partners with a simpler and more efficient experience.
Low-code, also known as no-code, development platforms use graphics to allow developers to drag and drop application components, connect them and create apps. This allows teams to develop new web and digital banking capabilities faster.
Pegasystems is best known for its business process management software, which allows users to visually model and optimize their business processes. Low-code platforms can also tap into business processes, but are more focused on rapidly creating web and mobile applications.
Shawbrook works with digital transformation and services consultancy Labb Consulting to redesign the process for customers and staff. “We spent a bucket load of time analyzing processes and working with Pegasystems to automate those processes,” Thornton said.
Shawbrook also plans to digitize its savings business processes to speed up the time it takes customers to open an account and make deposits. “This will replace a monolithic third-party application which means the last bit of legacy is out the door,” he said.
The bank has no branches or current accounts with a 100% digital business.