ABN AMRO Hypothekengroep (AAHG) - comprising the labels ABN Internet, Florius, MNF Bank and MoneYou - is one of the largest specialised mortgage providers in the Netherlands. In the past, the business units within AAHG were each responsible for the development and exploitation of the software solutions. In terms of functionality, these systems had a significant amount of overlap. It was almost impossible to re-use the software components, however, because in the past little thought had been given to software development from a coordination point of view. Therefore, the costs of development and management/maintenance were relatively high. At the same time, there was a great need for the software architecture and ICT function within AAHG to be taken to a new level and for further professionalisation.

 

To realise a state-of-the-art, web-based, multi-label/multi-channel platform named eChannels, with a high degree STP. This is used to request and process applications for mortgage and insurance quotations for the various labels and channels. Almost all of the old applications are being rebuilt onto the new platform. Everest manages and maintains seven applications that have been realised primarily using Microsoft technology. In short iteration steps, frequent new releases are developed and taken into production.

 

The first phase of the project focused on developing a generically applicable basic system. Using the basic system, a solution was realised with which requests for mortgage quotations for MoneYou can be entered and validated. These are sent to an external mid-office system via the HDN network. At the mid-office, the request is checked and a quotation is produced. The quotation is then sent back to eChannels. The quotations and status information (Tracking & Tracing) regarding the mortgage process are presented to the agent in his integrated eChannels environment.
In the second project phase, the functionality was further expanded and enhanced. For the Florius Adviseurs Netwerk (FAN), solutions are being realised for the ABM AMRO intermediaries and for the ABN AMRO and MoneYou consumer channel.

 

Results achieved

• Reduced time-to-market.
• Through the control and validation of the message exchange, eChannels can help to achieve a high degree of STP. In many cases, the mortgage quotation is sent back to the agent's eChannels environment within 10 minutes.
• On the first day FAN went live, more than 600 intermediaries registered and the first quotations were processed directly using STP.
• The multi-label/multi-channel architecture means that the re-usability of the eChannels solution realised to date has been extremely high compared to the other labels (at least 80%).
• ABN AMRO asked an external agency to perform a software audit on the system put in place. This agency awarded the system a score of 8.5 out of 10.
• The architecture of eChannels is based entirely on the Aquima platform.