Permanent TSB, formed following the acquisition of TSB Bank in 2001, is the retail banking operation of Irish Life & Permanent plc. and is the leading provider of residential mortgage finance in Ireland. It offers a full range of personal banking services in the Irish market through a multi-channel distribution network of branches, intermediaries, agencies, retail outlets and internet.
Efficient communications channels between banks and their network of brokers is essential in the sale of a wide range of financial services. Recent regulatory changes in the industry also demand that all communications between banks and brokers are highly secure. Permanent TSB approached MediaOne to evaluate the feasibility of implementing a web based portal for the banks brokers.
Our Strategy Team worked closely with a Broker Portal Team in the bank to create the business case for the Broker Portal and set out the vision for what the portal would mean for both the bank and its brokers. The Business Case set out a clear implementation plan for the broker portal which would see initial phases concentrate on getting the infrastructure in place and getting brokers on board with key high volume business processes.
Our Design Team worked with the bank to take the business case and transform it into a fully operational prototype application with brokers conducting acceptance tests at each phase to ensure the application allowed brokers to complete key portal tasks with ease.
Our Technology Team worked with the banks IT department to create a highly secure, scalable and robust technical architecture which was subject to intensive penetration and security testing to ensure stringent security standards were met.
The scope of the project was considerable as it involved seamless integration with a number of mission-critical internal business systems within the bank which would remove the need for tedious paper/fax based tasks within the bank. It was essential for both brokers and bank staff to be closely involved in all aspects of the project to ensure that the project was a success from the day of launch.
The Broker Portal launched in mid 2009 and has been very well received by both the bank and brokers. The business objectives for the first phase of the project have met and exceeded and we look forward to continuing to work with the bank on the implementation of the next phases of the Broker portal.
