PROBLEM Commercial lending is complex, involving multiple systems and actors. Risk managers and account managers aren’t on the same page: one has the goal of increasing revenue and the other has the goal of preventing losses. The decision-making process and the time to pay are littered with pitfalls that lead to costly delays. APPROACH BusinessBANKER is an all-in-one platform that helps institutions process their business loans from initiation to closing. Everyone is on the same page and clearly sees what needs to be accomplished. BusinessBANKER makes users more productive because it reflects the way bankers think.  This advantage was accomplished using a unique cognitive engineering approach.   RESULTS Increases productivity and customer service by 75% Decreases costs by 30% 2.5 x ...

PROBLEM There was great pressure to improve the user experience as the competition in Canada and elsewhere was fierce. Ratings by analysts were unfavourable. Even though many design firms claim to have expertise, most emphasize visual rather than functional design. In brokerage, the main factor is to ensure that the content and organization of information is compatible with the task. This challenge is heightened because there are many investor profiles with potentially different needs. For example day traders, buy and hold, those looking for dividend securities, others who trade options, etc  APPROACH The president of direct brokerage who had already done business with us at Desjardins called on our services. We first did cognitive task analysis with the main users. ...

PROBLEM TD Insurance, a leading online insurance provider, has exceptional traffic on its website. However the company was not happy with its closing ratio. Only 25% of visitors who began the online quotation process followed it through to the end.  APPROACH Using large quantities of user interaction data, we identified where users dropped out. We then did user research to understand why users were dropping out and proposed redesign of the UI to prevent abandonment.  We predicted a 20% increase in sales. RESULTS The completion rate increased by 20% after six months. This increase translated into a recurring multi-million dollars in increased sales. The payback period on the initial investment was less than six months. EXPERTISE USED  DATA SCIENCE  USER ...

PROBLEM National Bank of Economic Development of Senegal (BNDE) needed a complete end-to-end review to allow them to develop an internal risk rating and loan origination solution.  APPROACH It was recommended that BNDE adopt Cognitive Group’s Business Banker application.  Business Banker was originally designed for RBC. The challenge was to find how to adapt it to the West African context. Business Banker is designed the way bankers think. It is user-friendly and incorporates functions that are normally distributed over several applications. This synergy makes it possible to integrate information between credit applications, risk rating and securities. For example, the debt service is calculated automatically from the entries on the credit facilities and automatically generates the debt service coverage ratio, etc. ...

SITUATION In Senegal and many other countries, it is difficult for small businesses to obtain financing because they have no reliable financial information. This impacts the overall economy of the country because only established companies, most of them multinational, have the capacity to execute projects. SOLUTION Cognitive provides a Business Banker portal where a three parties: the “Bank”, “Large Enterprise” (LE) and “Small  and Medium Enterprise” (SME) share and collaborate on projects. The banks adjudicate the SME and LE relationships where sales over the coming year and limits are established. On an ongoing basis, banks fund invoices and purchase order and collect payments. RESULT The Business Banker Portal is becoming the major source of financing for small business and an ...