DCB implements Finacle in 89 days

Development Credit Bank rolled out its core banking system in a record 89 days. CHITRA PADMANABHAN details how the bank did it

RAMAMOORTHY says that following the implementation of Finacle, DCB’s customers can complete transactions such as money transfers through SMS

DEVELOPMENT Credit Bank (DCB) is a fast-growing private sector bank. With a network of 115 ATMs and 67 branches (including extension counters), it is gung-ho about the recent spurt in its retail operations. Now it has become the first to deploy Finacle across its network in just 89 days. In the driver’s seat is Mahesh Rama-moorthy, chief technology officer, who says, “With a quick roll-out of our core banking (CB) product, we are in a position to churn out new products; this has greatly enhanced our competitive position.”

Just a few months after completing the implementation, DCB is already leveraging the power of a CB package. Recently it used its new platform to launch a product called Junior Saver, an investment plan for children below 18 years. “We launched Junior Saver through the centralised Finacle platform in less than 15 days. In a decentralised environment this task would have taken three times as long,” says Ramamoorthy. Through the Finacle solution stack, which covers areas like retail banking, trade finance, financial management and loan origination, the bank has derived benefits such as shorter time to bring new products to market and significant cost savings in terms of infrastructure and personnel.

Banking on main street

Growing competition in the banking space was one of the reasons why DCB deployed a core banking system. The bank functioned in a distributed environment that made it difficult to get up to speed while launching a new product. Without a robust technology infrastructure, it was next to impossible to maintain a competitive edge, and the bank was likely to lose customers to larger private banks.

DCB was looking for a core banking system with a strong track record. “Infosys’ Finacle had a host of success stories in large banks,” recalls Ramamoorthy. The basic goal of the bank was to quickly build infrastructure and make a dent in the retail banking space. Secondly, the bank wanted to move to a CRM model for which a core banking system was a necessary foundation.

A rapid-fire implementation

A rapid implementation of a comprehensive solution such as Finacle calls for meticulous planning. Traditionally, DCB’s IT team was manned by technical personnel with few domain specialists on board. This time around DCB decided to deploy an equal mix of technology and business folk. “The entire month of July 2003 was devoted to data migration. We had data scattered across 64 branches that needed to be mapped to the new system,” explains Ramamoorthy.

Starting in June, the bank spent three months training employees to bring them up to speed with changes that were likely to take place once the new system was in place. This activity happened in parallel with the data migration process. By mid-September the bank had completed a pilot at its Versova branch in Mumbai. This branch was picked on account of its mix of retail, trade finance and corporate transactions to ensure that errors would be minimised in the second phase. October 2003 found DCB converting four more branches to the Finacle platform. During this phase, the bank chose branches with complex trade-related transactions so that issues associated with the roll-out in this specific area got tackled promptly.

The roll-out was tracked week-by-week. “We set aside weekends to execute the process in a sample of six to seven branches,” says Ramamoorthy. Prior to this exercise, the bank carried out a process of data clean-up wherein a team representative was sent to each branch that was scheduled for a roll-out over the weekend. “The representative would set right missing codes and information that were mandatory for Finacle by digging through old records to ensure that the roll-out happened smoothly.” Employees of these branches were put through a ‘steering environment’ the week prior to the roll-out so that they felt comfortable working on the system on Monday morning after the weekend migration.

DCB decided to follow a step-by-step approach rather than move the older system lock, stock and barrel to Finacle. In the beginning the bank was in a dilemma—should it roll out Finacle in the bigger branches or start with the smaller ones. It decided to tackle problems associated with the bigger branches first. “We started with the big branches where high-volume transactions were happening. This built our confidence; halfway through the project we were sure we had covered almost 60-70 percent of the transactions,” says Ramamoorthy. On December 21, the bank completed its entire roll-out process.

Multiple channels but a single window

By implementing Finacle DCB is in a position to offer 24/7 integrated multi-channel banking. The bank has deployed Finacle’s eChannels, a retail banking solution, to offer several channels to account holders. Mobile Banking via SMS is one of the new services launched by the bank. “We began by offering customised alerts and have developed it to offer complete mobile banking using SMS. Customers are able to complete transactions such as funds transfer through SMS,” says Ramamoorthy. The bank recently launched an international debit card in association with Visa. Today, account holders have access to over 65,000 establishments in the country including the Cashnet Network and HDFC Bank’s ATMs.

After implementing Finacle, all DCB products and services are centrally defined and deployed with a uniform look and feel across the branch network. Customers are quickly identified, served from any branch or service outlet, and they have a single service window. In addition, Finacle has helped DCB reduce process cycle time, and reports have been standardised.

chitra@expresscomputeronline.com