CCA Europe.pl

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

ING is a global bank with a strong European background. It offers payment services, savings, investment and credit and mortgage products for private and corporate clients. The bank works in the agile model, implementing customer-, employee- and partner-friendly solutions. I am the IT Area Lead for Core Banking within ING Tech Romania, which provides services to several entities part of ING.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire CCA Europe.pl?

The ING Group in Europe comprises 11 banks in 11 countries. Development projects, operations and day-to-day customer service-related tickets are handled in the Shared Services Center for IT in Bucharest, Romania.

The challenge that CCA Europe.pl faced was to implement integrated solutions based on FIS PROFILE in several countries, while maintaining standards and flow of service in the remote work model.

What were your goals for this project?

Besides the day to day activities and changes, our main program was Model Bank which aimed at introducing improvements to payment and customer service processes in several countries with the goal to unify our product offer.

We wanted to make a top-quality service model available in all our branches, that would be easily scalable and also aimed at reducing costs. Working mainly remotely from Wrocław, the CCA Europe.pl team supported ING Group’s IT SSC in 5 implementation projects, carried out for 4 different countries that supports this program.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

CCA Europe.pl were recommended to us, to be included in the procurement process. From there on, CCA Europe.pl passed a highly structured procurement procedure, including verification of the certification process, confirming their skills and development specialization. Following a price negotiation, we started one project, and later the cooperation was extended into further projects.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The collaboration was preceded by a fits & gaps analysis of the existing banking model, aimed at estimating the project costs, followed by the implementation of the integrated FIS PROFILE solution. Developers of CCA Europe.pl provided technical support to the ING team both in terms of technical expertise of the FIS PROFILE system and its integration with external applications. All projects were carried out remotely, from Wrocław

What was the team composition?

The project team include teams of 20 people, supported by 2-3 members from CCA Europe.pl. The teams are responsible for one bank, e.g. ING Italy or ING France. The contingent from CCA Europe.pl most often acts as business consultants, but also developers or testers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

In the first year of cooperation between ING and CCA Europe.pl, the group completed one project, and in the second, it grew to the number of five. By acquiring CCA Europe.pl as a trusted partner for long-term cooperation, ING's SSC has secured the flexibility needed to implement projects based on such a demanding technology as PROFILE.

Effective cooperation in a distributed model has enabled the implementation of IT projects for ING banks all over Europe - no matter the distance or location. ING has leveraged the added value of knowledge synergy and rich experience of the entire CCA Europe.pl team

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was handled by ING following the agile methodology, keeping in contact with CCA. The team regularly complied with deadlines and always communicated impediments in due time. The representatives of CCA Europe.pl have proven very flexible and open to negotiations.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We believe CCA Europe.pl demonstrated flexibility and high levels of business and technical knowledge of Fis Profile, which allowed them to transfer project requirements into functionalities of the system. Cultural proximity and adaptability allowed the team to blend in seamlessly, practically with no onboarding period required.

In fact, they seemed like a part of the team ever since. Members of CCA Europe.pl are known for their responsiveness and responsibility. They always deliver on time, and the occasional overtime was never a problem.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I do not have specific areas of improvement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Crédit Agricole Bank Polska is part of the Crédit Agricole Group, one of the largest and most stable financial groups in the world. The Crédit Agricole Group has been operating in Poland since 2001 when it acquired 75% of shares in LUKAS Bank. The company employs over 4,500 people. I am the Managing Director of the Proximity Banking Transformation at Crédit Agricole Bank Polska S.A. (I covered the role of Program Director, responsible for the business transformation within the project and co-responsibility for delivery the project on time, with fix budget and KPI of quality ).

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire CCA Europe.pl?

The project CCA Europe.pl realized for Credit Agricole comprised modernization of IT architecture supporting credit card payments. The task was to migrate the module from an external application to the central system. Another element of the project was to develop an application to support a new commission and promotion model for credit cards and a new module for direct debits.

What were your goals for this project?

We sought a supplier who would develop an entirely new credit card system, to be a module of the central banking system based on PROFILE. The project also included the migration of all data from the legacy application to the central banking system.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We have worked with CCA Europe.pl before, but never on such a large scale. We have known them as a supplier from previous, smaller projects, with us. The company had a lot of experience with the PROFILE system and excellent references from foreign clients. Additionally, what caught our attention was their innovative idea on how to approach this part of our transformation program.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The project consisted of providing tailor-made software, which was supposed to execute 100% of the legacy card system functionality. Additionally, we assumed that some of the new system’s functionalities would be added, removed or changed in the future. The project started with analytical workshops, to prepare project documentation. During the implementation phase, CCA Europe.pl delivered functionalities such as credit card account management, commission management, plastic card life cycle management, payment management, and card instalments service. The team also provided a management portal for reconciling commissions with our business partners.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of 20 people: 1 project manager, 7 analysts and 12 developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Replacing the legacy credit card system with familiar technology, and having the resources to manage it allowed us to develop our business further. It also reduced the costs generated by the need to maintain the old system. Introducing the new commission management module let us take a completely new approach to credit card promotions.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The program Copernicus was much more than replacing the card payment system. There was a multitude of activities to perform in a stringent time frame, so we hired change management specialists with the Boston Consulting Group. Every project stakeholder had to adapt their management and reporting to the framework of the entire program. The project communication tool was MS Projects. The CCA Europe team followed deadlines and always delivered updates well in advance. Analytical and development work was carried out accordingly, to fit into the framework of the program. The number of tasks was enormous, but CCA Europe.pl managed to queue and complete them on time.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

In order to streamline the implementation of the project, CCA Europe.pl moved the company's location to the building where our headquarters were located. This allowed individual team members to discuss the course of work on an ongoing basis and overcome bottlenecks together. We also appreciate the team’s approach to managing change requests in the course of the project. In negotiation situations, we always had a sense of partnership, with open communication and a sense of mutual understanding. Their in-depth understanding of the banking areas of operation deserves an accolade.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is very little they could improve. My only suggestion for the inexperienced is to document as much as possible before brainstorming. Validating your project requirements will be much easier with thoughts already articulated.