What Grainger asked for
TH_NK was appointed to design and develop an FSA (Financial Services Authority) regulated system which would allow financial advisers to log in and process equity release mortgages on behalf of their clients. It was also a requirement that the system would allow Grainger’s internal users, the equity release advisors, to perform their jobs entirely online.
The overall aim was to replace a paper-based system and improve the acquisition and retention of new financial advisers in order to sell Grainger’s financial products.
The system also needed to be delivered in less than four months to achieve go-live before April 4th 2007 and achieve FSA regulation.
What we did
We quickly demonstrated our understanding of the brief and our ability to deliver an intuitive business system which would provide its users with a quick and efficient procedure throughout the equity release application.
The project initially consisted of an information discovery phase where key stakeholders throughout the business and Grainger’s key customers were involved in workshops to gain real insight into the business, understand their user goals, whilst also defining the business mapping for the system following a user-centred design process.
To achieve this, we used an iterative design process and tested our prototypes with the users and the business in mind to ensure it was as efficient as it could be.
The system, which has been branded EQUiP - equity in property – uses an online actuarial calculator to enable financial advisers to produce Key Facts Illustrations for equity release Home Reversion Plans on behalf of their clients.
The project build incorporated the use of Microsoft BizTalk as the core business engine. It was developed using a service-orientated architecture system which is scalable and will allow for further integration with additional Grainger IT systems in the future.
Further work includes a new phase of large-scale development which will see the release of additional features to improve and enhance the system.
The results
The EQUiP system provides financial advisers with a quick and easy way to process equity release mortgages and is continuing to receive industry acclaim as a result of this.
Within Grainger, the efficiencies have seen the Equity Release team process a record number of applications month on month. It was highlighted at the Mortgage Solutions Awards 2007 that financial advisers were particularly impressed with EQUiP, pipping financial-service providers such as Prudential and Norwich Union.
We were extremely impressed with TH_NK’s collaborative approach to work and their forward-thinking nature. EQUiP has already had a significant impact on business both in terms of improved efficiency and the reduction of time.
Angela HaworthOperations Manager, Grainger