Celonis speeds up digital bank's client conversion by 50%

A digital bank looking to increase its client base 20x over 5 years leveraged Celonis Process Mining and Execution Management technology to potentially improve  client conversion rates by about 50%. 

The case study was presented at a Celonis hosted a webinar, "Securing Market Advantage through Data Transparency and Expert Insights,” September 22. 

Zeno Schneider, Digital Consulting Manager, Celonis, walked through the financial services project and also served up best practices for dealing with information overload and speeding up process optimization. He was joined by Martin Seefelder, Automation Expert from McKinsey & Company, who provided the strategic context for the transformation and perspectives on the impact that was delivered.

Speaking on the webinar, Seefelder noted that the digital bank already had a solid process for onboarding customers, but every minute counts in the onboarding of a new customer. By running Celonis Process Mining, it was possible to analyze the onboarding process tree within three hours. Coupling the data with industry benchmarks and trends allowed the team to identify additional improvements. 

As a result, the bank was able to identify potential reductions in Client Acquisition Cost (CAC) by 35% on an annual run rate with a 60% productivity gain by reducing about 30 hours of total processing time for onboarding. 

Also see: McKinsey’s Julian Fischer on scaling process excellence in volatile times

Honing digital banking processes has become a top priority for financial services firms, which are expanding digital capabilities while also reimagining physical channels, said Seefelder. "The financial services industry needs to better leverage digital to sell existing product and services while migrating physical structures and processes to a new environment," explained Seefelder. "It's about how to best attract new customers."

To achieve that and entice existing ones with new offers, financial services firms’ clients are optimizing each step of the awareness, action, and closure sales funnel, he added. "Every single minute counts in an onboarding process," said Seefelder. "The process has to be very well aligned and optimized to avoid additional friction. The higher the conversion rate, the more efficient customer acquisition campaigns."

Seefelder and Schneider also offered perspective on the digital bank case study and covered the following:

Benefits and challenges of Celonis Process Mining. The panel discussed the main benefits of getting a fast view on how processes are running. In the past, a lot of time was spent to understand what was happening, where the problems were and then fixing them. With the advent of these latest technologies, it is possible to get hold of the data fast and, when matched with an industry view, to identify optimization opportunities. 

Seefelder observed that while accessing process data can be an accelerator, it also brings a flood of information. "You can drown in data if you don't have a clear view of what you want to improve," he said, matching these data-points from insights from industry can help provide that view. 

Starting with the question. Seefelder recommended that the best way to start is with a clear understanding of what you wish to achieve. By identifying the question that needs to be answered, you can formulate an upfront hypothesis. When process mining comes into the picture it will provide a view of what is really happening. 

Balancing speed and data flow. Celonis can be used in two different ways. One is to connect Celonis Process Mining directly to an organization’s infrastructure. That approach works for off-the-shelf tools with connectors such as SAP and Salesforce. The second is more relevant if an organization has their own homegrown systems. In this case, it often makes sense to create a simple query and import that data as a flat file. This tiered approach balances the volume of data while doing the upfront work to ensure optimizing and automating processes goes well, said Seefelder. 

Larry Dignan

Editor in Chief (former)

Larry Dignan is the former Editor in Chief of Celonis Media. Before joining Celonis, he was Editor in Chief of ZDNet and has covered the technology industry and transformation trends for more than two decades, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine.