Santander's Contract Automation Revolutionises Supply Chains
The supply chain landscape is experiencing a profound transformation, as numerous industries, including finance, leverage contract automation technology to enhance efficiency and improve service delivery.
Traditionally, procurement departments concentrated on cost-saving efforts and administrative duties, but this has all changed.
The focus is now on using innovative technologies to streamline processes, significantly impacting organisational success.
In today's business environment, supply chain professionals understand the value of technologies like contract automation and AI.
These technologies assist in eliminating manual bottlenecks, thus offering a clear view into operations and unlocking new value sources that extend far beyond traditional cost-saving measures.
This evolution is more than just the adoption of new technology - it's a complete redefinition of procurement's role within the enterprise.
The modern supply chain specialist acts as a strategic advisor, a risk manager and an innovation enabler, all contributing directly to competitive advantage and long-term sustainability.
Digitisation in Supply Chain Processes
One company taking advantage of these technologies is Santander, a leading personal financial services provider in the UK, known for its substantial role in the mortgage and savings sectors.
The bank aimed to improve customer experience by digitising its manual, cumbersome processes.
By implementing Docusign eSignature and contract lifecycle management (CLM), Santander significantly reduced the time for new customers to open accounts and access funds digitally.
What previously required 39 separate PDF forms, resulting in days of delay, was transformed into a single, automated online application process.
This process automation allows for backend checks, such as those for financial crimes and anti-fraud measures, to occur concurrently, thus speeding up account opening.
Consequently, customers can complete onboarding without the traditional delays associated with paperwork.
Efficiency through Collaborative Workflows
Jonathan Holman, during his tenure as the Head of Digital Transformation at Santander Corporate & Commercial, said: "If we remove 30% of the time required to negotiate and execute a loan - through automation, parallel processing and eSignature - that time gets channelled back into customer relationships."
This integrated approach has also allowed the creation of an advanced signing workflow, benefiting companies by facilitating multiple signatures on shared documents from different locations, thereby optimising processes.
Ultimately, this has reduced the time taken for customers to open an account from several days to an average of just two days.
Furthermore, this streamlining improved operational efficiency by removing the need for paper-based manual entries into internal systems, allowing staff to dedicate more attention to customer service rather than documentation.
Integration for Speed and Precision
Santander also leveraged Docusign CLM to digitise and integrate loan contracting processes, with nCino's API being a pivotal component.
This integration allows loan negotiations and contract completions to occur within one unified system.
The digitised terms flow directly into Docusign CLM for real-time contract negotiations between Santander and its clients.
This approach eliminates traditional delays and errors prevalent in data transfers across systems.
Once negotiations are concluded, automated document generation accelerates the finalisation process.
nCino's platform takes over, generating all necessary legal documents, which are then routed for electronic signature via Docusign.
Parallel backend processes, including credit approvals and compliance checks, ensure that every procedural requirement is met swiftly, aligning signed agreements with immediate fund availability.
This integrated, connected platform showcases how financial institutions harness these technologies to deliver faster, more reliable service, revolutionising the supply chain of financial operations.
