Banking success story: WIBank, Seitco & TQ

The Wirtschafts- und Infrastrukturbank Hessen (WIBank), the development bank of the state of Hessen, turned to TechQuartier in March 2020. The assignment – to standardize the diverse and complex processes in the development bank when granting loans and to digitize them.

The most important goals were to significantly reduce the high coordination effort between participants and the quality of specific processes through higher standardization and the use of technological modules. In addition, a standardized process was needed to facilitate price calculation for future product launches and contribute to greater flexibility in the deployment of employees.

COVID brought the product “Hessen Mikroliquidität” into focus – not only for WIBank, but especially for founders who had to apply for funds quickly due to the new conditions. The biggest challenge for this product was the high application volume, which due to the overall situation, was one of the first to be implemented in just six weeks using a digital application and lending process. 

Therefore, WIBank chose this product as a starting point for the development of a standard loan process in a modular format.

Based on the elaborated specifications, the TechQuartier team looked for a specialized partner from within their community.  The young startup SEITCO from the Taunus region had exactly what they were looking for – a FinTech specializing in process optimization and standardization for large financial service providers that advise and implement custom-fit software solutions.

Taking an end-to-end perspective, the analysis included all market and back-office processes, as well as downstream cross-product processes. The potential for standardizing and digitizing the actual processes for each credit product was also evaluated. Based on this, a digital, modular standard process was developed together with SEITCO’s consultants using the example of the urgently-needed COVID aid. In the subsequent project phase, the requirements of all departments of the development bank were discussed for all other loan products, and the specifications for the standard loan process in modular format were developed.

The SEITCO and TechQuartier consulting team developed a blueprint for establishing a uniform standard process in modular format for WIBank’s entire lending division. In doing so, they set the course for less bureaucracy and, consequently, faster decisions plus more flexibility in the use of resources. Funds for startups and projects can then be released quicker in the future. The standard loan process in modular format was completed and handed over to the internal process management team. The expansion of the standard to include grant products is now being driven forward internally at WIBank. 

“The processes for our loans have grown over a long time in order to be able to implement the diverse requirements in the funding business at any time. TechQuartier’s community-based innovation management was very valuable support for us here: the holistic approach of expertise in digital services paired with the successful matching of suitable startups. We are very satisfied with the result!” Thomas Görge, Head of IT & Organization at WIBank said.

“Our large startup network and our good corporate contacts make us a community-based innovation management provider and ecosystem builder. So we created a new connection between two members of our community and brought an innovative startup together with the development bank of the state of Hessen,” said Pascal Valeri, Business Development Manager at TechQuartier.

“On one hand, the WIBank project was a big challenge for us, as WIBank has a very extensive product portfolio and related processes. On the other hand, it was also a really great opportunity to contribute our expertise and design a solution that would actually be used by the customer,” said Dennis Seifert, founder of SEITCO.

As part of the sustainable consulting approach of SEITCO and TechQuartier, the experts will continue to provide support. 

Wirtschafts- und Infrastrukturbank Hessen (WIBank) is the development bank of the State of Hesse and is responsible for the monetary public development business. It is a legally dependent, economically and organizationally independent institution within the Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen. WIBank is a founding partner of TechQuartier. 

The startup SEITCO was founded in 2019 and accompanies financial service providers in their process optimization and software implementation projects. The development of customized software solutions and the integration of innovative technologies into existing system landscapes are the focus here.