Barbara Stam

Corporate Banking

Future Credit Domain: architects of tomorrow's lending

Barbara Stam is Theme Owner of Future Credit Domain, the innovation programme with which we prepare ABN AMRO's lending for the future. It is her team's task to adapt this core service of the bank for future generations. Because customers need it, because pressure on the sector demands it and because data technology creates new opportunities. No small task, says Barbara: ‘Simplifying something properly can be incredibly complicated.’

Time-consuming process

Private customers of ABN AMRO don't know any better: you arrange transfers, savings or insurance directly via your telephone. Take out a loan? No problem, the bank can check in two minutes how much you can borrow responsibly. Sign your offer and the amount is on your account within a single business day.

A world of difference from business lending. ‘That looks more like a plate of spaghetti,’ says Barbara. The lines and flows of information criss-cross each other. Of course, business loans are often a lot more complicated than private ones. Employees have to go through different departments to retrieve and process all kinds of data. ‘They do that very well, but it is time-consuming. The process behind the scenes should be much faster.’

What is Future Credit Domain?

ABN AMRO launched Future Credit Domain 1.5 years ago. The aim of the programme is a complete change in business lending – one of the bank's main activities. No more 45-day stretches, dozens of hours of work and constant phone calls; instead, you get an immediate insight into the risks, regulations and the customer's financial situation. That way, the bank can immediately tell how much someone can borrow. This saves work and time, which in turn leads to better service.

Automating with a pencil

‘You could say that we are now in the drawing phase,’ says Barbara. ‘I mean that literally: as architects, we draw in detail what the lending process will look like, throughout all departments and systems. If you look at this blueprint, you will see a structure that is largely digitised and automated. Obtaining figures from other departments, placing them within the correct legal framework and then determining the risks, needs and price – all this will soon be done automatically. Communication with customers is also partly digital, although personal contact remains important.’

High-quality lending in the future

Why is such a drastic change necessary? ‘It touches on the mission of the bank,' says Barbara. ‘Banking for better, for generations to come. We want to make our customers' dreams and plans possible, from a mortgage to a new factory or some bold innovation. That is what we want today, but also tomorrow.’ 

The next generation of technology is indispensable for this. ‘The environment in which we operate as a bank has changed completely through innovation. We can do infinitely more now with data than we could a few years ago.’ To meet market demand, ABN AMRO must therefore develop at a rapid pace. But other motives are equally important, such as increased legislation and regulation. Since the economic crisis of about 10 years ago, thousands of pages of regulations on lending have been added. Those who do not automate can no longer work efficiently.

Working in the spotlight

While Barbara and her team are at the drawing board of Future Credit Domain, the first components are being applied. ‘We're already coding. But the biggest part of the job is still ahead of us.' This requires a great deal of expertise, both in terms of data and technology and in organisational, operational and commercial terms. Future Credit Domain is still growing on all sides, while the real change is about to begin in earnest.

All this knowledge and experience should contribute to the 'credit of tomorrow'. A wonderful challenge, Barbara believes, in which almost all parts of the bank are involved in one way or another. ‘It's all very instructive and exciting. We make the difference.’

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