How we made client onboarding at Investec faster

Less retyping, fewer emails, faster handovers

2–4 h

less processing time per onboarding

20%

fewer back-and-forths with clients

6×

faster ramp-up for new team members, 30 minutes instead of a 3 hour session

1 day

less queue time per onboarding, at least

Where the time comes from. Each bar is one improvement and the minutes it saves the bank's team on a single onboarding.

015304560 min

Missing data check on forms

Forms filled from CRM data

EAMs fill in the forms

NBF forms per client type

Smart PDF autofill

Form fields match Appway

NBF fields match Appway

Saved by the bankShifted to external asset managersUpper end of a range

All figures are estimates from the final report, to be measured in operation.

Four steps from the as-is process to a working one

Phase 1

As-is analysis

Two workshops with the people who run onboarding
As-is process in BPMN with tasks, roles, documents and systems
Pain points and latent needs

Phase 2

Improvements

14 ideas, each rated on effort and impact
Grouped into quick wins and bigger changes

Phase 3

To-be design

New process in BPMN
Validated with compliance, IT and the wider team
Ideas accepted or dropped

Phase 4

Implementation

Smart forms, automation scripts and SOPs
Pilot runs, training and handover
Continuous improvement with change champions

Start from the process people actually run

Onboarding a new client touched four teams and a lot of paper. The external asset manager sent information, the Swiss banker turned it into application forms, client services keyed it into Appway, and compliance checked it at the end. Each handover was a chance for something to go missing.

We sat down with front office and client services and drew the process exactly as it ran. Not as the manual said. Here is the core of it, before and after.

BeforeManual, with loops

Rounds of emails

One error, back to the start

EAMSends client details by email

Swiss bankerTypes every form by hand

Swiss bankerChases missing data by email

Client servicesCopies data into Appway page by page

Client servicesFinds an error

Case starts again from the top

Rounds of emails for missing data. One error sends the case back to the start.

AfterData entered once

Swiss bankerForms pre-filled from CRM data

EAMCompletes the smart form for the client type

Smart formFlags missing fields before sending

Swiss bankerExports all fields in one click

Client servicesCreates the Appway record

Client servicesSends a mutation list, case keeps moving

New or changed stepWhere time was lost

Illustrative process, simplified from the as-is and to-be BPMN models.

Stay inside today's IT

The brief was clear. No new platform, no long IT project. So we worked with what the bank already had: PDF forms, spreadsheets, Appway and SharePoint.

Smart PDFs. We rebuilt three application forms, around 150 pages in total. Required fields are framed in red, one button checks the whole document, and data formats are enforced. Names entered once on the first page are copied to every page that needs them, across forms of up to 43 pages.

Batch automation. Small scripts, no IT ticket needed. They fill any number of forms from a CRM export in one go, and pull every data point from a batch of finished forms into one table.

Ready for Appway. The exported table is the input for creating Appway records through the API. That last step is prepared and will go live together with the Appway team. We estimate it saves another 1 to 2 hours per onboarding.

Make it stick

A new process only works if people can find it on a busy Tuesday. Every SOP is linked one to one to the step in the BPMN chart it belongs to, all on SharePoint. The Appway manual alone runs to 83 pages, with screenshots for every field.

Change champions. Three people carry the new process into their teams: one overall, one in front office and one in client services. They lead the work sessions with the team, and we support the training.

Faster ramp-up. New team members used to need a three hour session. With the SOPs and templates, they start after a 30 minute introduction.

One onboarding, start to finish

The biggest change is where the work happens. Data is entered once, by the person who has it, in a form that won't let it go out incomplete. After that, it's copied by scripts, not by people.

Errors no longer send a case back to the start. Client services lists what needs fixing, the onboarding keeps moving on everything else, and front office should be held to closing it through KPIs.

An onboarding today

1The asset manager fills in the NBF form for the client type

2Application forms are generated from the CRM export

3The smart form flags anything missing before it's sent

4All fields are exported to one table in a click

5The Appway record is created following the SOP

6Issues go back as a mutation list while the case continues

Where we see the next gains

Appway operations dashboard

One live view of every open onboarding, its stage and its owner, so management sees blockers without asking around.

Automated reporting

Build the recurring onboarding report on top of that dashboard instead of assembling it by hand every time.

Admin workflows, low-code

Move off-system processes such as travel approvals into simple low-code workflows, starting with one proof of concept.

How we made client onboarding at Investec faster without new IT