Highlights
500 branches in 30 countries
$151 billion revenue
established in 1930
15% increase in productivity
50% of ABAL’s employees using new system
Arab Bank Australia Limited
The solution has increased productivity by 15%, improved response times and centralised data
The Challenge
Arab Bank Australia Limited (ABAL) had relied on a Microsoft® Excel-based system for budgeting and reporting. The system was prone to errors, required highlevel expertise to use, and was unreliable and inefficient in meeting the bank’s dynamic needs in an increasingly unpredictable and unstable global environment.
To support the bank’s growth, ABAL realised it needed a solution that enabled it to produce accurate information to make timely and high quality decisions at both the customer and business level. ABAL conducted a business research study to select a vendor that could provide a robust, user-friendly system to deliver in-depth and integrated information, simplified reporting and long-term budgeting.
The Solution
ABAL identified TechnologyOne as a preferred vendor for the Enterprise Intelligence Platform, and in 2010 implemented its Enterprise Budgeting and Business Intelligence solutions. Within the bank, this is referred to as the Budgeting and Reporting System (BARS).
The new software integrated easily with ABAL’s existing systems, allowing data to be extracted straight from its current data warehouse into TechnologyOne’s simplified, central information portal.
“Regular reporting is now a simple, standardised process, and we can delve into in-depth analysis of industry segments and customer-based information”
Farrukh Khan
Manager of Business Planning and Reporting
The Outcome
Almost 50 per cent of ABAL’s employees are now using BARS, which exceeded the bank’s initial expectations. ABAL has reported a 15 per cent increase in productivity and efficiency, which it expects to double in the future.
Since implementation, ABAL has improved its response time to market conditions, and employees are able to generate a variety of reports to management at the click of a button.
“TechnologyOne is capable of providing a range of integrated solutions that can be implemented to meet ABAL’s future requirements. The TechnologyOne enterprise suite is continually improved and supported.”
Farrukh Khan
Manager of Business Planning and Reporting
Information integral to decision making
ABAL Manager of Business Planning and Reporting Farrukh Khan said the new system allowed the bank to make important decisions quickly.
“There were numerous limitations with the previous system, such as not being able to drill down on customer revenue data—it couldn’t produce rolling forecasts and only specific users with expert knowledge of Excel and Visual Basic Applications (VBA) were able to use it,” Mr Khan said.
TechnologyOne’s Business Intelligence solution allows ABAL to deliver accurate and up-to-date information and gives an integrated view of business performance across market segments and customer bases.
“Rapid analysis can now be made, and with the integration of a budgeting tool, employees and management can make strategic short and long-term decisions quickly from one source,” Mr Khan said.
TechnologyOne’s solution supports the production of all ABAL management reports, which are produced on an annual, monthly and weekly basis. The system integrates information from the general ledger, ABAL data warehouse (which is updated from the BANCS retail banking platform) and statistical information such as the RBA cash rate.
Mr Khan added that the Business Intelligence dashboards were an extremely useful reporting tool. “The dashboards give users a snapshot of real-time information and allow more rapid production of critical financial and nonfinancial information. For example, employees can quickly and regularly check profits against budgets,” he said.
Information integral to decision making
The replacement of ABAL’s Microsoft® Excel-based system has provided the company with several important benefits.
“The new budgeting and reporting system is an integral tool in assisting management with ABAL’s expansion, customer retention and cross selling strategy,” he said.
Strategically, ABAL requires the customer, product, market segment and risk views of their loans and deposits, and income and expenses. TechnologyOne’s solution provides one central source of data ensuring consistency of information across the organisation, as opposed to disparate spreadsheets.
“Regular reporting is now a simple, standardised process, and we can delve into in-depth analysis of industry segments and customer-based information,” Mr Khan said.
ABAL is also now much better equipped to respond to changes in market conditions, with accurate and flexible forecasts easily produced for short-term and long-term periods. Multiple ‘what if’ scenarios can be analysed, providing an extremely useful tool for making strategic decisions.
“TechnologyOne is capable of providing a range of integrated solutions that can be implemented to meet ABAL’s future requirements. The TechnologyOne enterprise suite is continually improved and supported.
“ABAL is looking forward to a long standing working relationship with TechnologyOne, which we believe will assist us in growing our business, enhancing customer relationships, and meeting future strategic goals,” Mr Kahn concluded.
Arab Bank Australia Limited (ABAL) is part of the largest Arab banking network in the world with more than 500 branches across 30 countries.
The parent bank, Arab Bank plc, offers retail, corporate and investment banking services, as well as private banking, wealth management, treasury operations and trade finance.
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