Private Wealth Lending
Modernize and streamline the high-net worth borrowing experience while creating efficiencies in support of the business.
My Role
Senior Manager, Experience Design
As the Experience Design Lead, I not only drove the vision of the end-to-end client workflow, but was responsible for user research. This included both in-person and phone interviews and 2 full-day one-site workshops attended by client stakeholders representing various areas of the lending business.
In addition, I was at the center of collaboration across chief client stakeholders, and our internal team.
Client
Top 5 global financial institution
Area of business
Private Wealth Lending
The team
Business Analysts
Engineers
Visual Designer
Client: Senior VPs, Private Banking
Client: Head of Global Banking - Lending
THE OPPORTUNITY
Simplify client experience
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Provide a simple, self-guided borrowing experience supported by existing portfolio data to improve decision-making.
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Promote and reinforce value of transparency through up-to-date tracking of application process.
Support business needs
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Accelerate ability to track and evaluate applications, drastically decreasing approval time from weeks to hours.
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Increase volume of approvals per month, resulting in greater long-term revenue outlook.
Drive efficiencies
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Eliminate manual processes by introducing automation and straight-through approval processing.
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Introduce greater transparency, unifying the experience across all business units.
AN OVERVIEW
Defining success
Automation
of loan approval.
Digitization
of manual processes.
Improve
self-service.
Decrease
loan approval time from weeks to hours.
Key stakeholders and users
-
High-net-worth clients
-
Bankers/Associate Bankers
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Investment Finance Services (Underwriters)
Key user pain points
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Current lending approval process is highly manual, relying on Excel spreadsheets.
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7-10 days turnaround time for credit approval.
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Bankers required to input repetitive loan data across multiple systems.
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Lack of transparency across business units responsible for approval.
Project challenges
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Conflicting opinions among stakeholders around how the approval process should work.
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Fluid requirements
-
I was the only experience design lead (embraced the challenge).
DISCOVERY
Stakeholder interview sessions and workshops
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5, 30-60 minute interview sessions via phone call or in-person; single and multiple participants.
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2 full-day workshops attended by multiple stakeholders across various areas of business; 15-20 participants.
Key findings
Manual entry and process
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Spend 60-70% of time on ‘work we shouldn’t do”
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Manual calculations completed using Excel spreadsheets
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Manually track applications and set reminders
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Manual keying of data across multiple systems
Lack of transparency
-
The worst thing you can tell a client is “I don’t know”.
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Client has no insight into status of application; has to call Banker.
Documentation
-
Lack of version control and standardization of legal documents.
An example of a customer journey map for Private Wealth Lending.
KEY STAKEHOLDERS
Clients
-
Initiate own loan application
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Initiate own loan application
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Select which accounts to use as collateral
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Know the total loanable value
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Understand the loanable value per portfolio
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Inform of my application status
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Ensure Banker knows the status of my application
Bankers
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Quickly structure terms of loan
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360 view of approved and in-progress applications
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Transparency across businesses
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Calculate loanable value upfront
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Understanding where application is delayed
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Notifications of application progress
Underwriters
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Track underwriting process across applications
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360 view of approved and in-progress applications
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Notifications of all exceptions
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Detailed view of exceptions
DESIGN
Client-initiated loan request
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Input desired amount
-
Track loanable value of portfolios
-
Select assets for collateral
Client-initiated loan request screen
Bankers/Underwriting view
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Track progress of credit approval process through several stages
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Expanded view of all checks being performed and their approval/rejected status
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Notifications of exceptions/red flags
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Additional loans currently being drawn
Dashboard view of all pending and approved applications
Client loan status
-
Track progress of credit approval process through several stages
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Summary view of all assets used as collateral
Client view of the status/progress of their application
BUSINESS OUTCOMES
50%
Increase in volume of loans
per month
3-4
Average loan approval time in hours, down from 7-10 days
Banker’s client loan summary
