3.3 Evolution and Digital Transformation | Memoria Ficohsa

3.3 Evolution and
Digital Transformation

(GRI 203-1; FS13)

At GF, we continue to work to provide solutions that transform lives, innovating in the digital age through the oering of digital products and services designed to meet customer needs, facilitating fast, secure, and convenient access.

Along with the constant connectivity facilitated by mobile networks and devices, another major change behind digital transformation is the increase in capabilities and the necessary conditions to process the exponentially increasing volume of operations in the digital environment. This oers greater eficiency, flexibility, and scalability than traditional centralized systems.

As part of the digital evolution and to stay ahead of the curve, this year SARA incorporated artificial intelligence into its virtual channel to enhance easy and rapid communication with customers.

Achievements

Digital penetration of 64% of personal banking customers was achieved, maintaining digitalization across channels.

The virtual assistant SARA managed to exceed the digital sales goal for extra-financing by 9%.

To implement and reinforce the security of digital transactions, a security mechanism was implemented that allows online transactions to be secured from anywhere, requiring users to register their device as secure.

    3.3.1 Digital Factory

    Innovation is the answer to the sometimes unspoken demands of users. Following this strategy has allowed us to serve, attract, and retain customers. During 2024, the Ficohsa Digital team continued working on its objective, focusing on strengthening the digital products launched to achieve greater transformation in these products: savings accounts, personal loans, and credit cards.

    Similarly, it launched a hybrid insurance acquisition flow and made a major commitment to developing analytics models to support decisions across different areas.

    Achievements in digital products
    for personal banking

    A pilot program for selling digital accounts in branches was implemented, reducing customer service time to just 4 minutes and facilitating the opening of traditional accounts.

    The assignment of assistants to branches was automated in internal banking systems, facilitating sales tracking at each branch and paving the way for the introduction of other digital products to this service channel.

    Focusing on following up with digital customers who were unable to complete their account opening, reaching out over the phone to provide assistance.

    Several improvements were made to the digital account opening workflow, such as:

    – Improvements in customer service across different job categories.

    – Include the option to make a first deposit without having to log in to online banking for customers with other existing Ficohsa accounts.

    – Improve several steps of the flow, especially biometrics.

    Work has been done to offer Disfruta Más accounts as a second digital product, which will be available in 2025. This account oers the best interest rate on the market and accumulates points for purchases made with your debit card.

    Placement through digital channels was doubled, while the cost of acquisition was halved.

    Optimizations were made to the personal loan flow to mitigate customer friction and improve their experience. Customers are directed to a simpliffed landing page that allows them to learn about the product features and quickly begin the flow.

    The number of screens a customer must complete to receive an offer has been reduced from 3 to 1.

    A 100% digital workflow was developed for the extra-financing product, which will allow us to continue serving existing customers through new channels and maximize the profitability of our existing offering.

    A short workflow is maintained for pre-approved customers, eliminating steps that lengthen the experience to significantly improve their interaction.

    The flow rate went from being
    completed in 15 minutes to 7 minutes.

    The existing credit card flow for pre-approved Honduran customers was simpliffed by creating a new, dedicated landing page to provide targeted offers for specific products, eliminating biometrics, shortening some screens, and including pre-filling personal/work information.

    These changes improved the experience, reducing screen time by up to 60% for existing customers.

    An automated lead recovery process was implemented through communication campaigns targeting customers who dropped out of the credit card flow after biometrics. For these customers, biometrics were omitted for their return to complete the process, reducing friction and facilitating the return process and completing their card application.

    Security in digital workflows continues to be improved. The new cross-functional OTP component is being integrated, which connects with the banking platform to verify that the contact number entered by the customer is the same as the one stored as transactional data. Constantly committed to complying with bank regulations, adjustments to the customer file architecture continue to be made to automate the process of keeping them organized and complete.

    In December 2024, the hybrid minor medical expense insurance flow was launched, providing fast and secure access to insurance purchases for existing Ficohsa customers. The flow offers an eficient and customer-centric experience. Within three minutes, customers can purchase their insurance online and then receive a phone call to confirm their purchase. Digitizing the product has increased operational eficiency, potentially leading to greater productivity and lower transaction costs.

    Analytical models

    Analytical models are mathematical and statistical representations that allow information to be processed to help organizations make better decisions and make predictions about the future.

    Ficohsa Group made the important decision to implement teams of advanced analytics experts under an agile operating model to develop the predictive risk scoring models required by the institution at a more advanced level of development.

    These teams were formed with experts in data science, data engineering, development, and security. Likewise, cloud-based technology implementation was improved to ensure the development of these models with the latest technologies and cutting-edge methodologies required by best practices.

    In this way, Ficohsa created teams responsible for building new analytical models to better inform decisions related to credit origination and collection processes.

    Credit origination

    The focus was on improving models to optimize the accuracy of the origination score, which would minimize credit risk at this stage of the customer journey and increase loan viability.

    The use of improved machine learning algorithms and monitoring and maintenance practices for these models is what makes the dierence.

    The ongoing optimization of the scoring model also aims to drive greater efficiency, reduce the time and costs associated with the origination process, minimize exposure to customers at high risk of default, and improve the customer experience by providing faster response times to requests.

    Collections

    The Collections Analytics team was also created based on the same algorithm optimization guidelines, best practices, and improvements in the development and deployment of risk scores. It implemented a predictive model for portfolio management at all stages, thereby reducing the group’s credit losses.