Case Studies & Testimonials
- Close Brothers
Close Payment Services builds flexible, robust and effective workflow systems with CasePRO for new HIPs financing service
Introduction
Close Brothers, the largest independent merchant bank in the UK, has a long and prosperous history that dates back to 1878 and, over the years, its management teams have taken the company in new and exciting directions. Thirty years ago it launched Close Premium Finance and the same management team have launched a new business to support the funding of the recently introduced Home Information Pack legislation. Close Payment Services (CPS).
Of course, CPS needed to find and implement a technology solution that could support this new venture but that would also integrate with its existing systems for information sharing and workflow flexibility. Already used to great benefit within the Close Mortgages business, CasePRO was identified as the most appropriate system for the company's needs. It offered an outstanding level of flexibility, in terms of initial design and subsequent modifications, and it promised a range of seemingly simple yet powerful features for communicating with customers throughout the workflow processes that would prove vital going forward.
Gavin Worrall, Commercial Development Manager who is responsible for the entire operation, comments, "We were looking for something both powerful and simple. Flexibility and simple change capabilities were essential success factors. After all, we need to prove the viability of new services and nobody could be sure of the long term success and relevance of HIPs. CasePRO offered this opportunity along with a great deal more and it was great value for money. The software is flexible and allows us to customise our system very precisely to fit our business model. We were able to quickly develop a workflow process that exactly matched our business requirements, using in-house technical resources, and then take that to the next level by adding automatic client emails and SMS messaging. Essentially, we took the capabilities of the product and built a stronger system than we could have hoped for using an off-the-shelf package."
How it works
The CPS website has been designed to capture all relevant and required data from the customer. This is fed directly into CasePRO where all subsequent functionality takes place, delivering reminders and managing the workflow process every step of the way. Using this technology, CPS is able to build new functionality whenever it is required in a matter of minutes. This was an important factor in the initial system decision process. After all, the financial services arena is a highly regulated one and CPS must be able to respond to regulatory changes quickly and accurately.
The introduction of HIPs is a fairly recent event and one to which CPS has responded with a range of new payment options for customers, including a deferred funding product. Already the company is turning over in excess of £1million. The process is managed through the CPS website with customer details and all other relevant information posted across into the CasePRO system.
Commenting on the new system, Worrall says, "The beauty of CasePRO is that it gives the control to the agents handling the applications. We have to maintain control in order to manage the risk and CasePRO allows us to do this. The chase mechanism has to operate like clockwork (every three days), with letters and other messages generated automatically by the system and agents informed at every stage. Although this sounds quite straightforward, it isn't, and it is fundamental to the business's long term success."
Key functionality
According to CPS, the letter production feature is key to the usability and efficiency of the HIPs market which is changing regularly. The workflow is a powerful part of the system that CPS relies on to ensure that the work is completed according to very impressive service level agreements. And, with CasePRO, the email and SMS communications can be prepared and delivered across the entire corporate database and tailored for the individual customers. The speed and efficiency of this feature within CasePRO has been a driving factor in the solution's consideration in other parts of CPS.
Also, flexibility and responsiveness are two strong considerations for CPS as the company continues to strive to be brighter, sharper and faster in its delivery of services to customers. The systems must be adaptable to enable CPS to respond to developments within the industry and to allow new services to be introduced quickly and effectively. Being ahead of the competition with fresh approaches to financing is what sets CPS apart from the others.
Moving forward
Leading the way is the aim and CPS is a fast paced business that is constantly adapting its services to reflect the industry's expectations and the market's demands. Because the implementation of CasePRO has been so successful to date, the company is looking to extend its use across other departments, using it as its back office engine.
Currently, CasePRO is integrated with many other systems to enable the workflow processes to operate smoothly and CasePRO engineers are working to extend the product's integration into CPS's financial package. CPS is confident that the final solution will be precisely fit for business because the intelligence will be built specifically for purpose.
Worrall concludes, "CasePRO is a proactive and responsive company that looks for new ways to help us to improve our service offerings. They understand our business needs and they come to us with ideas and to help us to find ways around issues we might have. Together, we have built a strong working relationship, based on producing products that offer real value to us as a company and to our customers. And, the beauty of it all is that the system is extremely flexible and supported by highly skilled engineers. Its solution-oriented approach means that when the market demands or the industry requires we can respond effectively and quickly. We look forward to developing our offerings still further with CasePRO in the future."
