Cheshire Building Society pioneers cutting-edge
e-Commerce technology

“We selected CGI because of its extensive experience within the financial services market, its proven e-commerce frameworks and its willingness to adopt an innovative approach to the project.”

Colin Whittle, CEO - Cheshire Building Society

The Client
Established in 1870, Cheshire Building Society has long enjoyed a reputation for high quality products and customer service.

Under the leadership of the CEO Colin Whittle, the Society has been through a period of rapid change and dramatic growth. The Cheshire is now one of the largest UK building societies, employing over 900 staff and its assets in recent years have increased to over £3.6bn.

The Cheshire values personalised, world-class customer service and sees it as the principal cornerstone of its success. To this end, the Society has developed some impressive financial sector firsts in the use of technology.

The Challenge
In an ever increasingly competitive marketplace, the key to success is to deliver improved levels of personal service and quality of product whilst continuing to reduce costs. Colin Whittle, aware of the potential benefits of Internet technology, was keen for the Cheshire to leverage its use.

Colin Whittle explains: “Our aim was to replace our mainframe based solutions with the latest technology platforms to provide superior e-business services. High on our list of priorities was e-mortgage applications. This would enable us to create a new distribution channel and allow the organisation to reach beyond its traditional base, providing mortgage services to customers countrywide, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

The Strategy
Following an indepth evaluation process, the Society chose to work with leading IT services provider CGI.

Colin Whittle comments: “We selected CGI because of its extensive experience within the financial services market, its proven e-commerce frameworks and its willingness to adopt an innovative approach to the project.”

Gavin Chapman, managing director, CGI Group (Europe) Ltd. says: “We have had a successful relationship with the Cheshire for over a decade now. We were therefore delighted when they asked CGI to build its new-e-commerce mortgage application. This strategy has allowed the Society to re-use components from our earlier developments to deliver a true multi-channel capability.”

The Solution
In very rapid timescales, CGI delivered the application from the ground up. Applicants can now receive detailed and accurate personalised quotations online - see www.thecheshire.co.uk. They can also receive a decision in principle in real-time and complete the application immediately, or opt to complete the process in stages.

All applicant data is retained and applicants never have to input the same data twice. In addition, strong validation checks ensure the accuracy of data to the extent it can be automatically transferred to the Society’s administration systems.

Due to Cheshire Building Society’s ambitious e-business plans, the site was thoroughly stress tested and proven to be capable of processing substantial mortgage volumes.

Colin Whittle adds: “The Cheshire is extremely pleased with the CGI framework and we are now using its technology to develop other Internet systems in-house. It delivers excellent developer productivity and allows us to build applications that really scale.”

The Technology

• Is built using the Microsoft platform version of CGI’s XML based e-commerce framework – eBIC. This provides an industrial strength, scalable platform for XML based e-commerce initiatives.
• Is standards based and makes extensive use of XML technologies.
• Is based upon the Microsoft DNA Architecture model and is hosted on clustered Windows 2000 servers.
• Seamlessly integrates with the Cheshire’s administration systems – an important benefit in terms of time-savings.
• Utilises CGI’s Rules Processor technology to apply the Cheshire’s business rules to the mortgage applications.

The Results
The Cheshire’s new mortgage applications grew by 70 per cent in 2002 and the new e-commerce
channel achieved all its business plan targets. The Society is now one of the few UK lenders offering a comprehensive online mortgage service to the public and intermediaries.

Chapman comments: “Cheshire customers looking to buy a house or switch their loan can apply online giving the Society wider geographical reach achieved through a lowcost delivery method.”

Colin Whittle, CEO at Cheshire Building Society, concludes: “We are all proud of what we have achieved at The Cheshire in recent years. Our new ecommerce channel has been a key part of our overall strategy and it has clearly delivered a positive return on investment. CGI people and their technology have continued to prove their value to us. The relationship between our companies grows ever stronger and we look forward to working with them as we extend the services we provide to our customers.”