Providian Trust delivers financial and fiduciary services to clients across 216 branches. In an industry built on servicing clients, many of Providian Trust’s trust officers had 20-30 years of experience with the company and managed clients at a personal level. The trust officers had total control over what was sent to the client, including generation of financial statements. Control of the financial statements often resulted in a 2-3 month lag in statement delivery, a slower turnaround time compared to competitors. Additionally, trust officers often discounted or waived client fees for late or inaccurate statements, costing the company an estimated $2 - $5 million dollars per year. The institutional custody business was becoming technology intensive, and from the client’s perspective, Providian Trust had outdated reporting systems. In response to client demand, Providian Trust embarked on an initiative to upgrade their systems and change the way they serviced their clients.
Initiative Objectives/Benefits
To better serve their clients, Providian Trust started a large information technology project within the trust division. The objective of the project was to convert their outdated information system into a more efficient, trust and custody management system. Initiative leader, Michael LeBlanc, also wanted to address issues between the back office and front office, issues Providian Trust experienced for years. He convinced the Providian Trust board that the new software (Access Plus) would support a redesign of business processes. After board approval, the project scope included a system implementation and business process redesign. Providian Trust expected annual savings of approximately $9.2 million from this project. In addition to the estimated annual savings, the initiative expected the following benefits:
Change | Expected Benefit | Improve computerized trust system | * Enables management to