Background Material

Shinsei Bank and Information Technology

The faculty of IIT Kanpur visited Shinsei Bank in Tokyo for 10 days in June 2008 to study their Information Technology (IT) methodology. The goal of Shinsei Bank is to build and sustain a robust IT platform with versatile functions and features that the businesses can rely on to drive growth. The IT team endeavors to provide businesses of the bank with optimal solutions to deliver the best quality products and services for customers, enabling the bank to offer the best pricing in the marketplace. For Shinsei Bank, technology provides a distinct competitive advantage allowing them to offer unique products and services unmatched in the industry. Some of the salient features of their IT methodology are:


IT Platform Driving Highly Automated Processes

They break down work processes into individual tasks and organize them as structured processes that are backed up by our IT systems, delivering a very high quality automated and paperless work environment. The flexibility and convenience of the IT platform powers the rapid growth of the entire Shinsei Bank Group. They continually review their operations and increase the use of automated processes to ensure the resources to support the growth.


High Degree of Flexibility

Shinsei has built a unique IT platform among banks. It was created to be flexible, enabling the Bank to move quickly to seize opportunities in both the institutional and retail markets and offer new products and services to customers. It is scalable, allowing the Bank to grow rapidly without straining personnel and resources. The modular platform is designed to be continually updated and improved. As a result, building blocks can be added seamlessly to enable the Bank to handle complex transactions effortlessly. The design allows Shinsei to quickly and inexpensively update new technology or software needed to support a new product offering.


Highly Secure

IT platform ensures the safety and security of customers and their transactions. The redundancy built into the system ensures customers' experience, whether online or at a branch, is best in class. The Bank's technology platform has multiple levels of redundancy, with back-up systems located in a number of facilities. Should any of the sites go down, there are several other sites positioned to take over and ensure the customer experience is not interrupted.


Scalable

The system is easy to scale up very rapidly because all systems are made up of discrete components, and components can added as needed. Work is spread out and assembled around various stations and does not occur at a single point. Organized quite literally like a factory, with IT systems deployed as in a factory, this structure is extremely resilient. New machines can be added without stopping business operations that run around the clock.


Empowering Our Customers

The bank is transparent to customers through our processes and technology. Their IT capabilities are designed to be highly visible in order to service the customer.


Bank Is Where Customers are

Everything that can be done in person can be done over the Internet, as it is available through all channels, and this applies for all institutional and retail customers. The objective is to wrap the Bank, as well as the technology, around the customer, whether over the Internet, on the phone or in-person at one of the branches. The focus of the technology is a way that conveys to the customer: "You are the only customer bank has."


Other Background Material

Harvard Cases on Shinsei Bank

a. David Upton, Shinsei Bank, Case Number N9-606-022, April 14, 2006
b. David Upton & Bradley Staats, Radically Different IT, Harvard Business Review, March, 2008