Procurement management: consulting for financial service providers
Banks and insurance companies are under pressure to innovate. Our professional procurement experts are not only an expert in demand management in indirect spend, but can also make a decisive contribution to new developments and digitalization projects.
Efficient procurement optimization in the financial sector
Hardly any other industry is as affected by digital upheaval as the financial sector: new players are constantly entering the market, and FinTechs are serious competitors. Keeping up with technological innovations and helping to shape the future of the industry is the biggest challenge for most banks and insurance companies.
Through procurement optimization, financial service providers can not only achieve significant savings that have a direct impact on cash flow and the P&L, but our professional procurement experts are also an important partner in the development and implementation of future strategies and trends, such as in the area of digitalization.
How do we proceed when counseling financial service providers?
The product groups relevant for financial service providers can be classified into four categories: IT and telecommunications, professional services, marketing, and facilities management. Since these commodity groups not part of revenue generation, they are often also listed under the term “indirect spend.” Specifically, these are external expenses for IT programming, hardware and software, marketing, information services, and facility management, among others.
We have proven strategies in each of the categories above to identify and implement savings.
At a macro level, one of the most efficient and effective approaches to to optimize procurement for financial services is zero-based budgeting (ZBB). This approach forces companies to carefully evaluate the need for each cost and to identify opportunities for savings. ZBB also has some potential drawbacks, particularly in large organizations, such as complexity, time commitment, and resistance from management. We look to mitigate this through deploying our proven methodology to accelerate the process, and by building trust between KGM Strategy and client teams.
In addition to developing concepts, we also act as an implementation partner: once potential savings have been identified in the commodity groups, we support you in implementing them and, if necessary, in switching to new suppliers. To ensure sustainability, we establish new processes on request and ensure that contracts with suppliers deliver the savings realized and the required quality standards.
Demand consolidation in the context of large and highly distributed branch networks is often a particular challenge for procurement in banks and insurance companies. We analyze your processes and communication channels, develop new, efficient procurement processes together with you, and implement them in the company with your specialist departments. To practice and consolidate processes, we conduct workshops and process simulations with all employees involved in your branch network. For the corresponding digitalization and anchoring of the new procurement processes throughout the company, we look for suitable IT service providers for you.
The financial industry is developing rapidly. FinTech companies have long been among the major players in the market – and they are constantly changing the market with new technological innovations. Keeping up with these developments and driving innovations is a major challenge for many banks and insurance companies. We support you inthe digitalization of your services and help to drive digital innovations: from launching start-up incubation programs to developing alternative procurement processes to support effective onboarding of FinTechs.
As the banking sector comes under greater scrutiny and regulation, there are several challenges in managing supplier risk throughout the procurement process. The introduction of the EBA’s Guidelines on outsourcing arrangements (SS2/21 by the PRA in the UK) has placed further pressure on the sector to conduct greater due diligence and implement more controls to manage risk. We can support this by developing supplier risk frameworks and processes to mitigate risk.
The procurement function is subject to constant change and with it the requirements for procurement staff. We help you to train your own team to gain the newly required qualifications. Our services range from the analysis of qualification needs to interactive training, either face-to-face or web-based. Training programs are customized for your employees and tailored to your company. Our trainers are experienced in procurement and the specific needs of the financial sector.
Our financial services experts
Our insights from the financial industry
