CRIF invited to talk at the Gartner CIO Leadership Forum 2019

Today, banks find themselves in a scenario that is undergoing considerable transformation, and this can be managed through an understanding of exogenous market dynamics while maintaining focus on customer retention. In a strongly competitive market, customer relations and engagement must become absolutely central, in the knowledge that 55% of customers state that they would consider switching banks.

The rules of the market have changed:

• Digital is no longer an option, but rather an essential investment for the sustainability of banking businesses in the medium to long term
• With digital, the customer is inevitably and clearly center stage, and it is the customer that drives the relationship with the bank
• Digital is no longer a tool for action, but an element which has become part of strategic planning

The mandate for digital transformation has therefore been put in place, as a result of which organizations must continuously adapt their business and operating models to keep pace.

How can we be successful in a time of constant change? How can we speed up cultural change within the company?

These are some of the key questions that inspired the speakers at the Gartner CIO Leadership Forum 2019, held in Amsterdam on March 18-20, 2019.

CRIF was one of the speakers asked to explain, as a system operator, how to work with partners-clients with regard to data, process definition and innovative solutions.

In a context where the pace of digital evolution means that organizations must continuously adapt their business and operating models, and CIOs need the awareness and agility to quickly adapt to change, defining the most appropriate strategies and aligning technologies at the same time, CRIF was invited to talk at the “CIO story session” to illustrate how to set up an efficient and structured Data Governance process, starting from a real business success story.

Specifically, David Pieragostini, Executive Director Credit Solutions & International Markets at CRIF, and Fabrizio Arboresi, Director of CRIF, gave a presentation on “FINANCIAL & BANKING DATA GOVERNANCE: from regulation to operation, key driver for digital transformation”.

In CRIF’s opinion, the starting point for dealing with the current challenges of the banking system, such as overcoming the issues of data quality, the unification of CRO-CLO-CFO metrics, the adoption of faster and more in-depth control systems, as well as rapid adaptation to regulatory requirements, is the structuring of an efficient data quality process and the construction of a solid and comprehensive information framework.

However, the speed of transformation is increasingly destined to be the true critical factor of change, and this is determining the need to combine processes and organizational structure, optimizing digital resources in order to be able to reach and help customers and prospects in a new way.

In particular, thanks to the adoption of open source codes, the ability to act on each individual process point will enable the creation of new products based on increasingly customized approaches according to the needs of the individual customer: rules, conditions and strategies will be applied dynamically based on in-depth and historic knowledge in the digital core. On the other hand, a revision of the processes which today characterize the entire credit chain requires direct in-depth knowledge of the customer, with real potential for growth and profitability in the long term, but also the use of new forward-looking assessment methods.

In order to respond to the needs of credit institutions within this context, CRIF decided to act on the fundamentals, revising the ways of using internal and external information and developing a management platform (the CRIF Credit Management Platform) able to cover the entire credit chain, updating the separation criteria between front and back office. At the same time, it defined a solid information framework with an enterprise approach, comprising a formidable accelerator to guarantee the success of the initiative thanks to being completely plug and play and to the significant rationalization of data quality logic.

To conclude, Data Quality together with Governance, Customer Experience and Risk Management will be the essential drivers for future success models. The true asset will in fact be knowing how to use internal and external information in the right way within innovative channels.