Digital transformation and maximum efficiency through partnership

"The evolution in the market, partly driven by stricter regulations, means that public data sources alone are no longer sufficient," Thomas picks up. "Organisations need an integrated approach, combining data from multiple sources. Orchestrating all those stakeholders is a huge challenge, but that's where Harmoney comes in with its expertise in automation and process optimisation."

Speed as key to success

New laws and regulations follow each other in rapid succession, while the market and the customer have ever-increasing demands. It requires a system that not only reacts quickly but that is also able to implement changes in a phased and controlled manner. Thomas agrees.

"It is one of the biggest frustrations within organisations. One is only just in order with regulation A or regulation B already follows. That means organisations must adapt to new processes again. Together with GraydonCreditsafe, we can connect to that process that the organisation has mapped out internally. We take a phased approach to move towards a fully compliant process."

Here, Thomas advocates the golden mean. Services should be opened to as many people as possible, but in the right balance so that financial crime is avoided.

"To prevent financial crime, high thresholds are raised, which is pernicious for organisations with good intentions. So, those thresholds have to come down. A difficult balance, but one that is possible if you facilitate the combination of data, insights and processes."

"Data, insights, processes as well as speed form one whole in the digitalisation projects every company is working on," Peter adds. "I sincerely believe we can do our bit there. Not only to meet current expectations, but also to be ready for the future. A company has a choice: follow the expectations of the market or be extinct within five years."

The 'holy grail' element: process optimisation and (community) data

In addition to data and insights, GraydonCreditsafe is increasingly betting on community data and processes. Peter has a clear vision in this area.

"By sharing data with companies or governments, we can feed insights even more. And to anonymise that community data, we partnered with Datavillage, which specialises in this. With Harmoney, we can then configure the process to suit the customer."

"So, we can guarantee data anonymisation, we can configure the process flexibly and we can combine our data and insights. That's our 'holy grail' and so I think we can still increase our strategic value for businesses and governments very much."

Thomas and Harmoney, who are overseeing the process side of the collaboration, then clashed over data quality shortcomings. So, on that front, the two parties complement each other perfectly.

"The quality of data determines the success of innovation, especially now that companies want to deploy AI. Our collaboration ensures that organisations can immediately start working with the best data, leading to significant efficiency gains."

Challenges and the road to sustainable growth

Automating decisions and processes often evokes resistance within organisations. It will be a challenge for GraydonCreditsafe and Harmoney to gain a foothold.

"Simply put, our insights always lead to signals like green ('continue'), red ('stop') and orange ('further analysis required'). Eighty percent of the decisions we make every day can be traced back to red or green and are therefore perfectly automatable. Only an orange result requires an employee to intervene."

"But indeed, not everyone is always on board with the need for change and further optimisation. Because some things are at first sight a threat to those people themselves. In that respect, nothing new under the sun, only that comes out more acutely during 'the process'. That is why it is important that C-level gets involved and that changes are implemented step by step. Both companies and governments can still make gigantic efficiency gains in an environment where money and manpower are scarce. There is no money and there are no people. Well, what are you going to do then?"

Thomas stresses the importance of a phased approach by automating the simplest, repetitive tasks first. This gives teams more room for strategic work and ensures a smooth transition to a fully digitised process.

"People sometimes think they need extra people to handle all the tasks, but often this is not the case. Let the people you have focus on the things where they are really needed and solve other things by automating them. The change then goes much more gingerly."

The drive for innovation: from 'have to' to 'want to'

Do companies still have a choice? Regulations are forcing them to digitise. Although both Peter and Thomas see it somewhat differently.

"I strongly believe in the concept of 'wanting' rather than 'needing'," says Peter. "Dare to open up the thought processes. This often yields positive strategic consequences. Questioning existing processes and reinventing them in a data-driven way not only delivers efficiency but also creates a future-proof business."

"Green Deal, sustainability, ESG, KYC, ... It is translated into all kinds of rules, which Europe does not make concrete. Nevertheless, it is all very close, because in the end you want to know with whom you are doing business!"

"It's a typical European thing, where the impulse often only comes after a regulatory authority has set the tone," Thomas adds. "Yes, okay, you 'need' to know your customer, but you still 'want' to know them to serve them in the best possible way."

How does this partnership benefit customers?

To demonstrate the fruits of the partnership, Thomas refers, by way of example, to the onboarding process at banks.

"To open an account, I have to fill in and submit numerous documents. But 60-80 per cent of that information is publicly available and can be filled out in advance. Personally, that is the least I expect today, because basically we are all a bit lazy. Laziness is a typical human trait, but not necessarily negative. Because being lazy makes me look for more efficient ways to tackle something and that is what we want to achieve. Collecting and processing data in advance leads to a significant reduction in administrative burden and a smoother customer experience."