Overview
- Customer: U.S. post-trade financial services company
- Industry: Financial Services
- Challenge: Develop a new internal data system to replace the flawed and outdated manual process to ensure a standardized process with secure, accurate data
- Solution: Customer Due Diligence Application with IBM BPM
- Outcomes: Increased reliability, accurate customer risk ratings, ‘near time’ updates, increased risk mitigation resources
Summary
This financial services company implemented a customer due diligence process (“CDD”) to replace its manual and outdated systems. This automated process, built on IBM’s Business Process Management Platform (BPM), eliminated manual data updates, increased reliability of data, and provided for standardized customer risk ratings, thus allowing the company to allocate resources to risk mitigation, as opposed to general administration.
The Customer
The client is a U.S.-based post-trade financial services company that provides clearing and settlement services to customers who wish to conduct transactions within the financial market. The client provides a method for buyers and sellers to exchange securities in a safe and efficient manner, eliminating risk of fraud, coercion, and insolvency.
The Challenge
The client previously utilized a process of disparate systems and manual data exchange. While this system accomplished the client’s goals, it was heavily flawed. Data would often be entered multiple times, thus diluting the desired level of quality reviews. This system would no longer be supported by an outside vendor.
The challenge was multifold: The client needed to streamline the remaining systems, design and implement a new internal system to replace the previous system, standardize a process for functions that would be performed automatically, ensure that data would only be entered once, and implement a schedule that would provide for routine quality checks of the system to ensure it was functioning accordingly. The end goal result would permit the client to provide succinct, accurate data to customers in a timely fashion.
The Apex Action
Apex Process Consultants was engaged to provide wide-spectrum support. Apex designed a new process that would provide an optimal product, integrating its technical expertise. Once development was complete, Apex conducted a number of quality assurance reviews to ensure the product would meet (and exceed) its demand.
Apex used Agile methodology for this project, which allowed Apex to partner with the client to quickly address changes within data sets and address the ever-evolving processes. The use of daily scrums allowed for quick resolution of any issues and a short playback cycle enabled the Client to review the work during the development phase, thus allowing the client to provide real-time feedback. Apex stepped in to unify the development team, providing leadership, framework and experience to ensure quality practice during the project lifecycle.
The Solution
The architecture employed for the CDD application used IBM’s BPM, Apex Toolkits, and well-known BPM design patterns. Service-based architectural components were designed with reusability in mind and placed in themed libraries to promote re-use on other projects.
The Results
The new system serves both the Client and its 13 subsidiaries across the globe by providing accurate customer risk ratings, with ‘near real time’ updates as information changes for either the Client or the stability of their residing regions. During a recent post-project meeting, the Client indicated that the solution provided by Apex Process Consultants far exceeded their expectations. The Client foresees that Apex’s product will remain with the company for a considerable portion of the foreseeable future.
Apex’s solution achieved the following benefits for the Client:
- Eliminated manual data updates
- Increased reliability of data
- Provided for standardized customer risk ratings
- Enabled the company to allocate resources to risk mitigation
Apex revamped the Client’s data system and increased reliability, mitigating customer risk. Protect your customers and transform your data systems. Talk to Apex about BPM!
