How to Optimize Operational Costs in a Bank Through Business Process Analysis
Operational costs are one of the biggest challenges for financial institutions, especially in large banks and insurance companies, where process complexity can hide enormous savings potential. How can you effectively start analyzing business processes and translate it into real cost reductions—without risking the quality of customer service?
Why do banks need to analyze their processes?
Rising operational costs – pressure from regulators and the market
Financial institutions are under pressure not only from competitors and customers but also from regulators. Increasing requirements regarding compliance, cybersecurity, or ESG translate into ever-greater financial burdens.
Complicated IT environment and duplication of activities
A lack of a coherent view of processes often results in duplicated activities, inefficient use of resources, or the creation of dependencies between systems that generate maintenance costs.
Three example processes that often generate hidden costs:
- Customer complaints handled manually in several systems,
- Circulation of paper documents (e.g., in corporate loans),
- Reporting performed by operational departments instead of automatically.
What does business process analysis involve?
What do we analyze?
Process analysis is not just about listing activities. It includes people, technologies, decisions, and documents. The key is to understand where value is created and where money and resources are wasted.
What tools support the analysis?
- BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) for process modeling,
- Event Storming for workshop identification of flows,
- Process Mining to identify the actual course of processes based on data from systems.
When is it worth investing in an external partner?
You should definitely consider this option when you lack resources or experience. But even when you have them, you might choose such cooperation to gain independence in the analysis. An external perspective often reveals problems faster—ones that are invisible to internal teams.
Where do banks find the biggest savings?
- Document workflow processes – digitization and automation allow you to reduce working time and archiving costs
- Customer service and complaints – a well-designed process shortens response times and relieves consultants
- Internal processes (e.g., HR, onboarding, reporting) – digitizing internal tasks allows for better management of time and administrative costs
From analysis to automation: a step-by-step action plan
- Inventory and map processes
- Identify “bottlenecks” and areas with a high number of errors or delays
- Prioritize actions (e.g., by ROI, number of customers affected, or handling time)
- Design and implement automation (e.g., using BPM or RPA)
- Monitor effectiveness and further optimize
What next? How to start?
- Start with a process audit with a partner who knows the realities of the financial sector.
- Organize a workshop with operational teams to jointly identify key improvement points.
- Choose one pilot process—e.g., complaints or client onboarding.
Do you want to find out how much your bank can save through process analysis?
Contact us—at Finture, you’ll be assisted by a team specializing in process optimization in banking and insurance.
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