PTA’s virtual, digital service relieves the burden on staff
Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen is further expanding its employee service and providing its bank advisors with a video avatar to support them in processing applications. The avatar is based on NEXOVI, the digital video consulting assistant developed and programmed by the Mannheim-based IT consultancy PTA. As a commercial bank under public law, the approximately 6,300 employees serve major customers from all over the world. The granting of bank guarantees and sureties is part of the day-to-day business – a very complex and multi-layered activity. And this is precisely where Hela, as the new video avatar is called, comes into play: it supports the application for guarantees and sureties and helps the Helaba team to process them without errors using clearly defined logic and a dialog-oriented process.
The Helaba Group is made up of around 6300 people at 18 locations in Germany and abroad. Helaba achieves a great deal for its customers, both in Germany and internationally – as a reliable commercial bank, a central bank for the Sparkassen working in partnership with them and a committed development bank. As a commercial bank, the credit institution offers comprehensive financial services to companies, banks, the public sector, commercial real estate and institutional clients and supports them in their domestic and international activities. As the umbrella organization of the Sparkassen, Helaba also provides them with high-quality financial products and services that support them in their socially important tasks. With a demanding and diversified portfolio, a reliable application system is essential, for example when granting guarantees or sureties.
Exploratory talks laid a solid foundation
This context led to several exploratory talks between Helaba’s managers and PTA’s management. “Together, we explored the digitalization options and approaches available to us in these discussions,” says Dr. Tim Walleyo, Managing Director of Mannheim-based PTA IT Consulting, describing the initial situation. “This is how we came up with the very special approach of providing Helaba’s bank employees with a modern, digital service when applying for guarantees and sureties.” This is because issuing bank guarantees and sureties is part of Helaba’s day-to-day business and is complex and multifaceted, especially for major international customers. That’s why the project managers decided to accompany this process throughout with a virtual, digital video assistant.
Hela video avatar reliably guides you through complex application processes
This has now been impressively achieved with the digital advisory assistant Hela. The video avatar is technologically based on NEXOVI, the digital, interactive video consulting assistant from the Mannheim-based IT consultancy PTA. After a short implementation project, Hela guides you through the entire application process in a simple, clear and comprehensible way. One of the biggest challenges of the project was to incorporate all facets of the multi-layered and complex logic that makes this process so special into the service dialog between Hela and the bank employees. For example, Hela uses selection options to inform applicants that mandatory entries or certain checkbox options are required at certain points during processing, without which an application would be incomplete or incorrect.
This means, for example, that text fields that describe and specify a process in more detail can no longer simply be provided with a placeholder; Hela kindly explains at these points that a text entry of at least 250 characters is required. Hela also offers help boxes that provide valuable information and assistance in tricky areas. In short, Hela makes the complex process of applying for sureties and guarantees much easier for Helaba’s employees. “This speeds up our application process and saves us time and money by reducing correction loops,” says Reinhard Wüst, Head of Savings Banks and SMEs South at Helaba. “Hela is accepted and appreciated by our employees due to the user-friendly design of the video avatar.”
You can read more background information on the design and development of the digital video advice assistant Hela in our Success Story.
Outlook: Further fields of application in testing
Videoavatar Hela proves itself in daily use and ensures that applications are processed correctly and, above all, completely. For this reason, Helaba is working with the PTA’s IT experts to find out in which areas of application the use of a digital advisory assistant would also be worthwhile. The focus is also on the fact that the avatar in use will embed all inquiries and applications in an end-to-end process in future. This means that the bank advisors are guided through the individual steps of an application until it is filled out completely and correctly and can be released with an electronic signature. Ideally, the data is automatically entered into Helaba’s system at the end of the process.
The challenges that Helaba faces on the national and international financial markets are constantly increasing. In order to secure and expand its market success, the Landesbank must focus strategically and consistently on the needs of its customers. Any digitalization project with a customer focus must therefore also aim to give Helaba’s sales team more time for strategic customer support. And this is exactly what Hela does: the new video avatar relieves the Helaba team in their daily work by supporting them in the complex application process for sureties and guarantees with a unique service – efficiently, reliably and securely.
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