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.
Video avatar Hela supports Helaba employees in applying for sureties and guarantees
Unique service takes the pressure off advisors
Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen is further expanding its employee service and providing its bank advisors with a video avatar to assist them with complex application processing. 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 day-to-day business and is very complex and multi-layered. And this is exactly where Hela, as the new video avatar is called, comes into play: it supports the application for guarantees and warranties and helps employees to process them without errors with clearly defined logic and a dialog-oriented process.
Company portrait
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. As the central savings bank for Hesse, Thuringia, North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg, Helaba is a strong and reliable partner for 40 percent of Germany’s Sparkassen. With a demanding and diversified portfolio, a reliable application system is essential, for example when granting guarantees or sureties.
Exploratory talks reveal initial solutions
From left to right: Reinhard Wüst (Head of Sales South Savings Banks and SME Sales South, Helaba), Dr. Tim Walleyo (Managing Director, PTA), Bianca Heldmann (Head of Savings Banks and SME Sales Hesse/ Thuringia/ Rhineland-Palatinate/ Saarland, Helaba), Joachim Schütter (Sales Manager, PTA)
Against this background, Helaba’s managers held several exploratory talks with the management of PTA. “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.
The aim was to provide bank advisors with a step-by-step guide with logical sequences that they can consult if necessary in order to complete the application completely and correctly. “In the past, it has sometimes happened that incomplete applications had to be reworked and adjusted or incorrect entries were made,” explains Reinhard Wüst, Head of Savings Banks and SMEs South at Helaba. “We wanted to avoid this in future and make the entire application process more efficient.”
Video avatar Hela guides you through the complex application process
This has now been impressively achieved with the digital advisory assistant Hela. The video avatar is technologically based on NEXOVIthe 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.
Customer testimonial
“Hela is accepted and appreciated by our employees due to the user-friendly design of the video avatar.”
Reinhard Wüst, Head of Savings Banks and SMEs South at Helaba
Further fields of application in testing
Videoavatar Hela proves itself in daily use and ensures that applications are processed correctly and, above all, completely. This is made possible by the differentiated logic that the project managers have placed great emphasis on embedding – because this is precisely what makes Hela a reliable aid that is on hand with help and advice for every question. 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.
Helaba scores with the digitalization of important processes
The challenges that Helaba, as one of Germany’s largest Landesbanks, faces in the national and international financial markets with the right strategies and financial services 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 takes the pressure off advisors in their day-to-day work by providing them with a unique service for the complex application process for sureties and guarantees – efficiently, reliably and securely. The result: applications are created more quickly, incorrect entries are reduced to a minimum and time-consuming reworking of incomplete documents is also a thing of the past. And once the end-to-end process has been established, Helaba has fully exploited its efficiency gains in this area – a project approach that demonstrates how digitalization projects can be successfully established without great effort.
Project ID: 5877
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