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Bank Deposits: A Black Belt Case Study

In early 2000, dot-coms were all the rage. Any idea even remotely related to the ability to transact online was immediately funded. Consequently, many decisions were made quickly and without supporting data. And many of these decisions were made in error -- but could Six Sigma have made a difference? This case study will review how a Black Belt entered a dot-com transactional business, reviewed a process, and came to his own conclusions about process performance.

Case Study: Online Banking
The Black Belt began working at online bank, and his first project involved the process of how deposits were made to this bank. Since it was an "online" bank, there were no branches for customers to use. Instead, deposits were mailed using the United States Postal Service (USPS). Savings resulting from the lack of branches and tellers were passed along to the customer in the form of higher rates, free services, etc.

Customer focus groups and surveys indicated that the process of making a deposit is of critical importance to a customer. The process from the customer's viewpoint is very straightforward -- they sign a check, fill out a deposit slip, and mail both to the bank. Deposits were the second largest driver of inquiries to the customer call center (13% of all calls). Customers expressed frustration in mailing delays and couldn't understand why their checks took so long to post to their account.

The Deposit Process
The bank's mission was to receive the deposits as quickly as possible and begin the deposit and check clearing cycle. When the bank originally set up the processes, a decision was made to establish 'local' deposit locations around the United States. These local deposit locations received the deposits and overnight express reshipped them to a central processing location daily.

This local receipt and express reshipment to a central location was done for two main reasons:

1. A deposit being mailed to a local location would take less time than mailing to a centralized, national location.
2. Customer input indicated that mailing within a state or to a neighboring state would make customers more comfortable than mailing to a centralized, national location somewhere across the United States.

The DMAIC Project
The Black Belt hit the ground running. A project charter was created identifying exactly what the process entailed. The business case was written, the problem statement crafted and the scope clearly identified. The team was formed and quickly moved into the measurement phase. Data surrounding the deposits was collected and the analyze phase began to yield some alarming results.

Next Page > Bank Deposits: Case Study Results