September 2020
Increased opportunities for business registrations.
Every major bank working with small- and medium-sized businesses sooner or later, in order to retain or attract new customers, comes to create its own in-house services or micro-services.
VTB Bank also faced such a challenge, creating a remote process for registering a business and then opening an account. Providing digital services for businesses through alternative banking channels. Introducing technology as part of government initiatives in relation to business registration procedures.
The goals of this task were also ambitious: Creating an in-house solution for business registration followed by account opening in web and mobile channels; The implementation on the basis of a service for obtaining digital public services for business (Online licenses, permits, etc.); Implementation of EDM (Electronic Document Management) with the Federal Tax Service with account opening; Establishment of own CA (Certification Authority) with subsequent issuance of EQES (Enhanced Qualified Electronic Signature) for legal entities; Development of technology for business registration using biometrics; Integration with the State portal «Gosuslugi».
Work on an enhanced version of VTB Start, the showcase product for business interaction with the government, referred to as the VTB in-house solution, was carried out in parallel with other tasks for the department.
Metrics from the showcase version confirmed the hypotheses and suggestions for improvement in functionality, so the question of re-implementation of scenarios was not even raised.
The research and refinements in the service have helped to achieve admirable results for different metrics and at different stages of registration.
More specifically, we've had an impact on: An increase in organic traffic by a factor of 2; Reducing the number of steps in the questionnaire (for a Limited Liability Company from 18 to 6, for an Individual Entrepreneur from 10 to 5); Reduction of time for filling in the questionnaire (for LLC almost 5 times to 6-8 minutes, for IE almost 8 times to 3-5 minutes); Increase of complete (Questionnaire + Manager + Tax) online registrations (for LLC completed 4 times more often, ~5.3k/month, for IE completed 6 times more often, ~14k/month); Decrease in incomplete (Questionnaire) online registrations (for LLCs 1.5 times less often to ~2.1k/month, for IEs 2 times less often to ~2.3k/month); 5-fold increase of VTB Bank accounts opening.
We conducted in-depth interviews and usability tests on both products, but in different formats (Production, Stage and Prototypes) together with McKinsey & Company, which provided the team, tools and respondents.
Most of the features or gaps in communication with the client found during the interviews with the in-house solution prototypes did not go into the VTB Start implementation due to limited team resources and exclusivity.
These included: Conversational headlines and appeals; Round-the-clock technical support; Choice of SCE (Settlement and Cash Equipment) and free entry tariff; Non-banking services; Bonuses and gifts from partners; Simplified format for selecting GCEA (General Classifier of Economic Activities); Minimum simplified questionnaires for registration of LLC (Limited Liability Company) and IE (Individual Entrepreneur); Confirmation of data and editing without returning to previous steps; Provision of a temporary current account immediately after registration; Possibility to register a business using a foreign passport; Possibility of online registration to offline service office for issuance of QES (Qualified Electronic Signature); Possibility of online identification for issuance of QES (Qualified Electronic Signature); Possibility of online current account opening; Tax calculator.
In addition to new features, there are new requirements for the service, or rather business schemes from architects-analysts, design-system from the bank and proposals from marketing.
The inconsistencies in scenarios and automation were solved and fixed at once, so as not to drag on with the implementation, as every new field or error was throwing a spanner in the wheel.
So, the main business processes were updated, reassembled and harmonised: Authentication in personal account; Preparation of package of documents for business registration of IE and LLC (simplified and extended versions); Application for business registration; Business registration (via service office or biometrics); Interaction with the Federal Tax Service; Preparation and submission of documents for reservation and account opening (issuance of qualified electronic signature for current account); Addition of editing data of a physical person; Registration of additional non-banking product.
Apart from business schemes, each process included own requirements laid down by the bank and constraints of the Federal Tax Service (for fields, forms and documents), so we had a separate time for detailed checking each word and each function for compliance with regulations.
Although the client part was the main part of the product, it was not the only part, the service included an admin panel and an AWS (Automated Workstation) for service offices, back offices and field service with coordinators.
The main task of the AWS was to check, confirm or send for revision the questionnaires ready for state registration, submission of documents to the tax office and issuance of the QES.
We also updated the product page, based on new business requirements and system design components, thereby refreshing and filling it with new information.
The internal office has received small improvements, but has remained mostly unchanged, so as not to cause difficulties in navigation for the group of users who started the registration process with the previous version of the product.
The registration process for LLCs and IEs in the mobile and desktop version has been seriously updated. More detail has been added, both in graphics and copywriting, so that it takes less time for customers to understand what they are required to complete in order to proceed.
To issue a QES, we developed a separate point in the customer identification after registering the application, where they could select the centre nearest to them and the date.
You can see all the screens and flows that our team has developed in the Figma preview or by clicking on this link. The screens were developed before the design team switched to Auto-Layouts, which were added to Figma in November 2020.
The list of persons reflects those who provided support and cooperation in the process of developing the feature and the article. Also the list indicates all those who are responsible for the content of the article.
