Look Inside to Learn About How BB&T Bank is Transforming the Future of Lending. STRATEGIES FOR C&I LENDING p. 38. An RMA Publication

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1 An RMA Publication n o i ss i M omplished THE JOURNAL OF ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT November 2017 rmahq.org Acc Look Inside to Learn About How BB&T Bank is Transforming the Future of Lending. STRATEGIES FOR C&I LENDING p. 38

2 MANAGINGRISK BB&T Reaches the Mountaintop: Creating the Future of Lending BY T. JOEL HILL, MARC GEETING, AND MELISSA HOFER In a matter of only 48 hours over the July 4 th weekend, while millions of Americans celebrated Independence Day with cookouts and parades, BB&T Bank successfully implemented the foundational stage of its Commercial Lending Improvement Program (CLIP), the project it called its investment in the future. Culminating an extensive planning and execution effort that reorganized its entire commercial credit delivery process, consolidated nine systems and impacted 100 others, BB&T turned the switch on one of the most ambitious and strategic projects in its 145-year history. The future was open for business on Monday, July 3 rd. Kelly King, the Chairman and CEO of BB&T, called the program s implementation a mountain top, and praised the project team s growth mindset in pushing through any obstacles without hesitation or doubt. What the Bank launched that weekend was something extraordinary. For the first time, a leading bank now has in place a fully integrated commercial lending platform that manages every aspect of the credit process, from origination through to servicing and beyond, for any type of loan. Integrated within that platform is a management information capability that spans the Bank-wide range of data across lines of business, markets, products and processes to identify and manage risks, exceptions and accountability, all in real-time and with the built-in potential to operate through any digital or mobile channel. CLIP (Commercial Loan Improvement Program) is an investment in the future for BB&T. But the technology conversion, while itself a remarkable endeavor in scale and scope, and the most visible aspect of the project, is only the beginning of the overall CLIP story. CLIP was a major strategic initiative for BB&T, involving a combination of new technology, workflow processes, organizational changes and job responsibilities. CLIP s end-state goal is a fully automated credit delivery and risk management capability, with all the attendant organizational change management needed to ensure its full potential. The technology implemented on July 3 rd was the enabler that made achievement of the mission and its objectives possible. As Barbara Duck, BB&T s CIO and a member of the project s steering committee, said in a congratulatory , Gone was the idea of an update of a servicing system, and entered the idea of an end-to-end, real-time system that made doing business with BB&T MUCH easier, simpler and faster! The noteworthy story about this first phase of CLIP is the fact that it all came together exactly as planned on target, on time, and on budget. Years in the planning, and surgically precise throughout its months of execution, CLIP Gone was the idea of an update of a servicing system, and entered the idea of an end-to-end, real-time system that made doing business with BB&T MUCH easier, simpler and faster! Barbara Duck, BB&T CIO accomplished, in total, what it set out to do. Not many large projects in any industry can make such a statement, so the BB&T story raises the obvious question how did they make it happen? Operational risk and change management the BB&T way CLIP succeeded because it was well planned, it managed risk well, and it was well supported by executive management. Identifying and coordinating all the interdependent moving parts of this undertaking became obviously a very complex operation, with the corresponding potential for operational risk, and demanded the best in management skills. The fact that so large a project successfully retained its focus and integrity from beginning to end is testament that much more was at work than old-fashioned luck. When it comes right down to it, CLIP succeeded so well because of three fundamental management factors: it was well planned, it managed risk well, and, perhaps most critical, it was well supported by executive management. Planning: the value of clear vision, goals and guiding principles From the very beginning, when plans for what BB&T wanted to accomplish were first being floated, it quickly became consensus that the objectives went well beyond merely replacing a legacy commercial loan system. This project was to be an investment in the Bank s future; it cited larger and more strategic objectives in its list of goals for the project, including

3 enhanced portfolio management and risk data management capabilities, as well as greater agility to respond to fast changing market and regulatory demands, and scalable credit delivery system capabilities to meet future growth opportunities. Project leaders knew they would need a state-of-the-art infrastructure and straight-through processing in order to eliminate manual workarounds in their processes, and industry best practices to drive revenue growth and offer superior customer services. Once the Bank had selected Automated Financial Systems, Inc. (AFS ) and its flagship AFSVision system as the technology centerpiece of their target solution, detailed planning got under way. Sandra Jansky, the Chief Credit Officer and the project s executive sponsor, laid out the clear end-state vision and guiding principles that would remain fixed and consistent for the life of the project. During the vendor evaluation process, another bank had given her some good advice: Even a great system doesn t fix a broken process. She knew therefore that the project needed to be comprehensive including not only a new loan system but also corresponding workflow process and organizational changes in order to accomplish the vision of process standardization and integration, straight-through processing, and organizational alignment and flexibility. In order to coordinate these objectives and to reduce risk, the project would follow a few simple but powerful precepts to embrace change as a positive force, to keep it simple, to configure the base AFSVision system as the preferred alternative to customizing it, and to do it all with maximum collaboration and communication. BB&T called its overall planning approach to the project a reverse Even a great system doesn t fix a broken process. CLIP was literally a transformation of BB&T s entire credit delivery model, including straight-through processing, and potential digital and mobile access. conversion. It was a distinct change to its customary technology approach, which one senior executive at the Bank described as starting with an apple and eventually turning it into an orange. Instead of adapting the new commercial lending model to its existing processes and workflows, as it had customarily done when converting an acquired bank, BB&T made the deliberate decision in advance to adapt itself to the new model, all to accommodate better efficiency, data quality and customer experiences. Execution: business integration, risk management and organizational change One might expect a transformation project of this scale, and one involving so many people and so much interdependent change, to be fraught with potential risk, and it might well have been. But in addition to its comprehensive and foresighted planning, the CLIP project had the benefit of good governance, in that its leaders took pains to build into the project structure a number of mechanisms to anticipate the potential risks and mitigate them beforehand. In effect, the project s objectives were to prevent risk from happening, as opposed to (actually, in addition to) being prepared to mitigate it if and when it did. Its project management structure and controls were both detailed and exacting, and the Bank had the good sense to put skilled leaders in charge and provide them with the right subject matter experts and sufficient resources to fulfill their mandate. Effective risk management was obviously a critical priority, and key risk stakeholders were centrally involved in the project from the beginning. The Bank s senior executive management team was heavily represented on the project s steering committee or otherwise actively engaged, including the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Risk Officer, Chief Credit Officer, Chief Information Officer CLIP Goals Improve regulatory confidence by placing commercial lending portfolio on a platform that allows for enhanced risk data aggregation and advanced portfolio management Enable greater agility to respond to changing (heightened) market and regulatory demands Ensure scalable loan system capabilities to meet future BB&T growth Drive revenue and retain clients through consistent client service and early detection and response to potential loss or reduction in business while identifying additional product opportunities for current clients Position BB&T to leverage the new commercial loan system as a foundational component to implementing straight-through processing Adopt industry-standard best practices and alleviate current process weaknesses and manual work-arounds

4 and Head of the Community Banking line of business. Regular accountability to executive management was built into the permanent structure of project reporting, and the identification of risks and assignments for their mitigation was the core feature of that accountability. Two key features of the project s management approach stand out as success factors. First was the deliberate emphasis on organizing the project s deliverables and their evaluation around meeting the Bank s business objectives. Technical projects at banks are often designed and led by the technology experts, leaving the beneficiary, the line of business, out in the cold. The results and business value in such cases are usually predictable. At BB&T, however, the line of business actually several commercial business lines were actively involved from the very beginning, and firmly in the lead in planning capability needs for the new system, researching organizational options at peer banks, designing roles and responsibilities, and evaluating process workflows. Second, the various project subteams were organized in a matrix fashion, whereby each of the several teams that were dedicated to a specific segment of the credit process (origination, servicing, document preparation, etc.) intersected and collaborated with enabling workstreams that were responsible for technical or organizational activities spanning the implementation cycle, such as infrastructure, information management, conversion and change management. Such a structure ensured that the implementation as a whole was coordinated and conducted consistently across all the project teams. Change management was of course The objectives were to prevent risk, in addition to being prepared to mitigate it if it happened. The lines of business were clearly in the lead planning capability needs, researching organizational options, designing roles and responsibilities, and evaluating process workflows. vital, and for that reason an entire working team from all corners of the Bank was charged with ensuring not only that effective risk and process controls were in place, but also that the organization was sufficiently well informed and trained on the new system and procedures. From senior executives to the newest staff members, attendance at assigned change management sessions project updates, workshops, An entire change management team from all corners of the Bank was charged with ensuring that the organization was ready. training, etc. was mandatory, and only when the enterprise team was satisfied with the relevant state of readiness were goahead decisions made. To help ensure the Bank s readiness, the Change Management team instituted a support infrastructure of resources to help employees throughout the transition. This support infrastructure was supplemented by resources from the Bank s outside consulting partner NTT Data Services. Executive support: commitment, engagement and consistency By any account at BB&T, the factor that more than any other made the CLIP project so successful was the broad, deep and involved support of the Bank s senior executive management. Not only were several C-level executives members of the project s steering committee, but they reinforced and Guiding Objectives Process standardization and automation in BB&T s commercial lending process Eliminate manual workarounds Organizational alignment and flexibility Optimize the commercial lending portfolio & performance management through integrated capabilities Enhanced client service and support Guiding Principles Change is to be expected, embraced, and communicated Focus on system configuration not customization Keep things as simple as possible Follow the 80/20 rule focus on the functions, processes, and tasks that address the majority of the loans Focus on scheduled topics in scope and avoid discussions or topics that relate to out-of-scope items Communicate in an open and candid manner when providing feedback and insight Work collaboratively as a team, yet decisions will not be consensus driven

5 sustained the level of clarity and confidence about the project s objectives; ensured that enough resources (and the right resources) were available for the project teams; and provided project leaders with an ample level of latitude and runway to ensure maximum confidence in preparation. I stopped crossing my fingers, said a project team leader, when I was confident we had the support of top management. This executive support fueled confidence and enthusiasm for the project throughout the organization, and there was never a concern about too little communication. Participation in CLIP was considered a plum assignment by many on the working teams, one important result of which was a very low degree of project turnover among employees and higher executives alike. Personnel consistency remained a valuable success factor in maintaining disciplined focus on the project s scope and objectives. Vendor partnership: They did what they said they would When BB&T selected AFS as its technology vendor and AFSVision as the commercial lending system upon which to build CLIP, they were certainly aware of the company s reputation and track record in the industry for expertise and reliability. I stopped crossing my fingers when I was confident we had the support of top management. Nonetheless, Bank executives and project leaders alike were impressed by the degree of collaboration and partnership they enjoyed with AFS throughout the project, which created another important key to its success. AFS was not just a vendor, one executive said, but a true valueadd partner and trusted advisor. The project leaders from AFS were engaged in all stages of the project, including especially the initial design AFS did what they said they would, when they said they would, and at the cost they said they would. At no point did anyone on the project lose sleep over AFS. and process planning, and continue now very strongly in post-implementation support roles. As stated before, the project was completed on time and on budget; AFS was a principal factor in that. AFS provided not only the technology, but also the expertise and guidance to collaborate and execute the integration with the other necessary Bank systems and data networks. AFS did what they said they would, when they said they would, and at the cost they said they would, said one Bank executive. At no point did anyone on the project lose sleep over AFS. Once and future business value: the fully integrated lending process On its face the CLIP project is a story of a successful system conversion and implementation. Well managed and well controlled, with immediate benefits expected in process efficiency, enhanced regulatory compliance and management information. All that can be directly identified and measured. As the Bank becomes more experienced and accomplished with its full range of capabilities, and as it takes advantage of the growth opportunities it can enable, CLIP s broader and more strategic value will become evident. Risk management, data quality, digital access, global realtime information, and scalability to drive new loan products and revenue growth will all become the hallmarks of commercial lending best practices, and BB&T is leading the field. Is there a finish line? Not according to BB&T executives, who are quick to point out that CLIP still has some postimplementation milestones to reach, such as quarter-end and year-end reconciliation, and that the Bank and AFS are at work already on an 18-month roadmap for future enhancements, which will include a new system release and planning for functionalities that were not included initially, such as Credit Administration, which will automate several key credit servicing functions for middle office staff. But the key success factors that were established at the project s outset standardization, consistency, engagement and change management have held solid and remain in force. Together with the many lessons learned from the core project, they will carry forward to inspire confidence and contribute business value as BB&T grows its commercial lending book of business in the years ahead. Risk management, data quality, digital access, global real-time information, and scalability to drive new loan products and revenue growth will all become the hallmarks of commercial lending best practices, and BB&T is leading the field. T. Joel Hill is Sr. Vice President, Commercial Credit Services, BB&T. He can be reached at tjhill@bbandt.com Marc Geeting is Sr. Vice President, Commercial Credit Administration, BB&T. He can be reached at mgeeting@bbandt.com Melissa Hofer is Managing Director, AFS. She can be reached at mhofer@afsvision.com