Success Story: how RNDpoint Remastered Loan Origination Solution for the Bank

When you deal with software development for banks, you know that there are certain processes, procedures, and operations banks have to follow. A lot of actions should be documented and stored in centralized archives — physical or electronic.

Our client — a leading retail Bank in the EEU — encountered a necessity to automate its loan origination workflow. A vendor for the system implementation was found. But something went wrong and the implemented loan origination software was dead before it got live. Read the success story to understand how RNDpoint streamlined the Bank’s Loan origination process.

“WE HAVE THE SITUATION “FRANKENSTEIN” HERE”: REANIMATION TEAM IS NEEDED

The Loan Origination Solution (LOS) was developed and implemented by a well-known vendor according to the Bank’s requirements. But it didn’t work because multiple pitfalls have made the newly installed system dead before it started to breathe.

Sergey Efimenko — the Head of Business Development in the banking domain at RNDpoint — agreed to comment on the subject.

When the Bank’s management got in touch with us, they asked if we could help them with the issue and revitalize the system. A group of RNDpoint’s experts was sent to the Bank for consultations. Some time later we understood: we have the situation “Frankenstein” here.

The analysis showed that the loan origination system implemented by the initial vendor suffered a number of crucial drawbacks:

• inconvenient and counterintuitive user interface (UI);
• low system performance;
• low speed;
• poor integration into other Bank’s subsystems;
• weak scalability of the system.

“When our team saw the initial system in action, even experts with no technical skills saw how limp and user-unfriendly was the solution”

“ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS”: WHY RNDPOINT WAS CHOSEN BY THE BANK

One can say, there are a lot of vendors capable of developing commercial loan origination software. Why did the Bank choose RNDpoint? Well, actions speak louder than words. Our team has successfully developed the Early Warning System (EWS) for the Bank before. EWS demonstrated impressive results. That’s why RNDpoint was not a complete stranger.

There were several conditions which influenced the Bank’s management decision to choose us for the project:

• RNDpoint’s positive image due to previous fruitful cooperation;
• our large and in-depth experience in the banking domain;
• our detailed knowledge of the Bank’s infrastructure;

brief, pin-point accurate, and comprehensible architecture of a new commercial loan origination software.

“WELL BEGUN IS HALF DONE”: CORRECT REQUIREMENTS IS THE FIRST STEP TO SUCCESS

The initial study of the requirements of the RFP (Request for Proposal) revealed multiple cases when the tasks were not clearly outlined by the stakeholders. The initial vendor accepted them blindly without critical evaluation and recommendations. That’s why consumer loan origination software was designed without considering hidden pitfalls and traps.

We had to start our work from the very first point — technical requirements. And it took us 2 months to do that right considering all loan origination process steps.

Though the Bank allowed our team to use the installed system and its components, we decided to build a completely new solution. Designing a new Loan origination solution from scratch was the only option. But all had to be started from correct technical requirements drafting to avoid the previous loan origination solution’s fate.

A good beginning makes a good ending. And well-compiled technical requirements make half of the successful software solution development.

“SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT IS A GAME OF TWO PARTIES”: EFFECTIVE TEAM — EFFECTIVE RESULT

As I have mentioned above, one of the causes of initial project failure was flawed and not precise technical requirements. But there were other reasons as well. Vendors’ staff turnover was one of them. It greatly impacted the loan origination system development process. Imagine that a picture is painted by artists of different styles. The final painting will hardly be a masterpiece.

That’s why the Bank demanded that RNDpoint’s team should not change in the process of new system development. We fully agreed with that because software development is a game of two parties — a customer and a vendor — who work in close cooperation to achieve necessary results.

Software development is a game of two parties — a customer and a vendor — who work in close cooperation to achieve necessary results.

Teamwork is crucial at all stages of software development. Customers and a vendor see the future product from different angles. A combination of these points of view allowed RNDpoint’s team to realize the LOS functional that the Bank needed. And Bank’s open-minded approach to RNDpoint development team’s offers helped to avoid potential bottlenecks and achieve the product’s high performance and effectiveness.

CONCLUSION, OR “NOT A BRAND WINS, BUT PEOPLE BEHIND IT”

A business should listen to what a developer proposes. Developers see and analyze the system from inside. In its turn, a vendor should warn a business about potential flaws and bottlenecks and offer an optimal way out while maintaining the necessary functionality. Blindfolded policy in technical requirements fulfillment is not the way RNDpoint’s team goes.

It is not a brand that wins, but people behind it.

RNDpoint’s success in Loan origination solution (LOS) development and implementation is achieved due to teamwork.

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