In cooperation with Mizrahi Bank - Tefahot
After two years of intensive work, the merger project between Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot and Bank Agud has been successfully completed these days.
Over 100,000 private and business customers, and financial assets amounting to billions of shekels, were absorbed into Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank, in a complex and challenging process, which was jointly managed by dedicated teams from both banks.
Along with the customers and the business activity, a large group of Agud employees also moved to Mizrahi-Tefahot, and likewise, 8 branches from Bank Agud, which were converted to Mizrahi-Tefahot branches, were added to the branch network of the merged bank "Downia", for the benefit of the customers.
So how do you integrate the sixth largest bank into the banking system in Israel, into the third largest bank?
How do you transfer all the "assets" of one bank - human and business - into another bank, when there is a fundamental difference in the characteristics of the technological systems on which the two banks are based, and in the nature of the activity of each of the banks?
And above all, how do you create a sense of comfort among Agood customers, which the bank also 'receives'
Will he know how to provide them with the best service and take care of their financial and economic needs, sensitively and wisely?
After all, with all due respect to other areas of life, here we are not talking about a technical transition from Hostel A to Hostel B, but rather a body that will trust the customers' money and help them plan their financial present and future and that of their families.
The issue was thus a double challenge: technological and human.
And this is exactly the reason why the process continues over a long period of about two years: the desire to create an optimal transition experience and a preliminary conversation with each client, in order to explain the process to him and for him to have a complete sense of security that he is in good, loyal and professional hands.
No customer will be lost
Like Mizrahi-Tefahot, which leads the concept of personal and human service in the banking system, Bank Agud has also been careful over the years to treat customers personally, so that it was clear from the beginning that the conversion of customers would not be 'technical', but personal and individual.
And this is exactly the directive issued to the teams dedicated to the issue of the merger: to make the transition as transparent, simple and convenient as possible for Agood customers, so that they can move their account with complete trust, choice and peace of mind.
The action plan defined precisely which branch of Mizrahi-Tefahot each of the union customers would move to, with the receiving branch making contact with the customer and building together with him a relationship of trust and personal and professional service, according to the high standards of Mizrahi-Tefahot.
The goal was clear and unequivocal: all Egod customers, without exception, would see Mizrachi-Tefahot as their new 'financial home'.
In other words: no customer will be lost.
And really - at the end of the process, it can be determined that this task was completed with impressive success, with negligible abandonment rates.
The fact also contributed to this,
operational and technological challenges
Along with the careful attention received by the assigned customers - from the first contact to them by the Bank Agud bankers, through the 'welcome' call from the personal banker at the Kolt branch until the moment when all their activities were successfully transferred to Mizrahi-Tefahot, it was very important to ensure that the operational and technological aspects were also well taken care of most.
And these were certainly weighty challenges, which required time, effort and creative thought in overcoming limitations and also unexpected failures.
It was impossible to forget for a moment that there are still two banks that should function 'as usual', without the merger moves disrupting their current activities: that Bank Agud continues to provide full services to customers who have not yet moved to Mizrachi-Tefahot;
And at the same time, that Mizrahi-Tefahot customers in the 'receiving' branches continue to receive excellent service, without the moves of accepting union customers, changing the service and the attitude towards them in any way.
This double effort rested on the shoulders of many good people in both banks: the managers and employees of the relevant branches,
The members of the dedicated teams and the Control and Control Center (CCC) to carry out the merger, the rear units and the technology people. All of them dealt, at the same time, with extensive and diverse aspects of the move: how to "connect" technological systems that speak different languages and transfer so much information and activity from one to the other ; How to 'convert' different products and services from one bank to another; How to make sure that all the activities of the private and business customers of the association - checking account, standing orders, credit cards, deposits, loans, portfolios of securities and more, will be fully transferred to Mizrahi-Tefahot at the click of a button ', without any breakdowns and disruptions on the way;
And how to provide a quick and immediate response to unexpected problems: for exceptional cases where something nevertheless went wrong, and the customer is 'stuck' without being able to operate the account and/or withdraw money from the safe, using his credit card.
How to "connect" technological systems that speak different languages and transfer so much information and activity from one to the other;
How to 'convert' different products and services from one bank to another;
How do you make sure that all the activities of the private and business customers of the association - current account, standing orders, credit cards, deposits, loans, securities portfolios and more, will be fully transferred to Mizrahi-Tefahot 'at the push of a button', without any breakdowns and disruptions along the way; and how do you provide a quick response And immediately for unexpected problems: for exceptional cases where something nevertheless went wrong, and the customer was 'stuck' without being able to operate the account and/or withdraw money from the safe, using his credit card.
How to "connect" technological systems that speak different languages and transfer so much information and activity from one to the other;
How to 'convert' different products and services from one bank to another;
How do you make sure that all the activities of the private and business customers of the association - current account, standing orders, credit cards, deposits, loans, securities portfolios and more, will be fully transferred to Mizrahi-Tefahot 'at the push of a button', without any breakdowns and disruptions along the way; and how do you provide a quick response And immediately for unexpected problems: for exceptional cases where something nevertheless went wrong, and the customer was 'stuck' without being able to operate the account and/or withdraw money from the safe, using his credit card.
Securities portfolios and more, you will fully transfer to Mizrachi-Tefahot 'at the push of a button', without any breakdowns and disruptions along the way;
And how to provide a quick and immediate response to unexpected problems: for exceptional cases where something nevertheless went wrong, and the customer is 'stuck' without being able to operate the account and/or withdraw money from the safe, using his credit card.
Securities portfolios and more, you will fully transfer to Mizrachi-Tefahot 'at the push of a button', without any breakdowns and disruptions along the way;
And how to provide a quick and immediate response to unexpected problems: for exceptional cases where something nevertheless went wrong, and the customer is 'stuck' without being able to operate the account and/or withdraw money from the safe, using his credit card.
Contact each and every customer
No matter how you spin it, in the end everything 'drains' down to the human challenge.
For every person, moving from bank to bank is accompanied by concerns and a change in routine and habits.
For example, customers who personally knew and trusted the regular banker or banker who provided them with service for decades, or who got used to going to a branch that was close to their home, and even to the digital interface of the application at the previous bank.
In a merger between banks, the fear is even more understandable, because the customers are required to make this transition not because they thought of it and initiated it themselves, but only because their bank is about to close.
In order to 'soften' the matter and for the customers of an association not to feel like an 'object' being moved from place to place, an orderly and friendly process was built, which connected the customers to the event from the beginning.
This activity included making contact with each and every customer, explaining and providing complete information on where the account will go, and making acquaintances with the new branch staff.
As part of the introduction and absorption process, Mizrahi-Tefahot held customer conferences of a particularly pampering standard, with rich refreshments, benefits and VIP treatment.
Preserve the service experience
On the side of Mizrahi-Tefahot employees, they prepared for the challenge with all their strength, all with the aim of enabling a simple and easy process for the transferred customers, while at the same time preserving the service experience of the old customers.
For example, the personnel in the branches will be increased, while flooding and immediately dealing with the problems that have arisen;
A dedicated hotline was set up that dealt only with association customers and answered every small and big question;
Technological systems were developed that made it possible for the customers to go online without having to go to the branch - all of course with personal and human accompaniment, and the layout of the branches was examined in order to allow Union customers to stay in the place closest to the branch they knew.
Accompanying the new customers also included training in using the Mizrahi-Tefahot application, and finding the requested services and ways to contact the personal banker.
All of these were accompanied by regular surveys to measure satisfaction and understanding of the process, in order to address any problem.
In this way, with transparency, in cooperation, and with a lot of sensitivity and patience, Egoed customers moved to Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot, while they continue to enjoy the conditions they had at Egoed Bank with one significant addition: the best personal and human service of Mizrahi-Tefahot.
Agud, for its customers and some of its employees, was assimilated into the Mizrahi-Tefahot group and the purple and the orange merged naturally for them, as if they had always been intertwined.
In cooperation with Mizrahi Bank - Tefahot