Backbase supports Furness Building Society in modernizing its digital member offering
London, 2 October 2024 – Backbase, the creator of the Engagement Banking Platform, announces a new milestone in its partnership with Furness Building Society (FBS). FBS, with £1.3 billion in total assets in 2023, is one of the twenty largest building societies in England. It is launching a new, enhanced digital offering that will provide Furness members with innovative and seamless digital banking journeys powered by the Backbase platform.
Furness recognized the potential to enhance its member experience by replacing its legacy channel solution. While Furness’ previous systems offered a strong foundation, the growing demand for seamless digital banking and self-service journeys inspired Furness to develop the integrated solution.
In the past, members typically had to visit the branch or use the post to benefit from many of Furness’ services. The launch of their new offering is designed to provide members with greater flexibility and convenience, aligning the expectations of today’s savers and strengthening Furness’ position as a Member-focused Building Society. The new engagement platform also supports Furness’ goal of offering services to those who do not live near its branches but still want to be part of a member-driven Society. Thanks to the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform, new products and services can now be introduced quickly, whilst extending the reach of the Society to support continued Member growth.
Using the entire Backbase platform
The Backbase solution selected by Furness is deployed on the Backbase cloud solution and consists
of the following three solutions:
These solutions enable Furness to rapidly develop a digital offering that covers the entire Member lifecycle – from paperless onboarding and everyday savings, to Member service and personalized promotion of other relevant savings products.
In addition to modernizing its digital presence, Furness is also working to revamp its branches and transform them into social hubs within the community. With a new centralized, employee interface based on Backbase Digital Assist, Furness colleagues can now support their Members more effectively, both in person and over the phone. Together with the re-designed branches, Furness maintains its local presence and supports those Members who still prefer traditional face-to-face channels, making sure the needs of the Member remains at the heart of the Society’s activities.
Furness Members now have the option of using services digitally via self-service or obtaining support by phone and in person. Thanks to the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform, Furness can continuously expand and optimize its offering for all areas and thus constantly improve the Member experience.
Members can now open their account completely digitally, through a quick and seamless digital onboarding process. Members can then choose their desired Savings product from the current range of over 20 products and deposit money quickly and securely.
The first transformation in England
Furness is the first Building Society in the UK to deploy the Backbase solution. The platform is also hosted by Backbase as a managed service in Microsoft Azure.
"The needs of our Members always come first," says Chris Harrison, CEO of Furness Building Society. "That's why we chose Backbase, because they put Members first. Together we have driven the digitalisation of our Society whilst integrating it with the first class service provided by our colleagues. We look forward to the next steps in our partnership.”
"We have reached a significant milestone with the go-live," comments Jonathan Stallard, Senior Account Executive for UK and Ireland at Backbase. "This project is particularly exciting as it is Backbase’s first building society in the UK to date and we are seeing keen interest from other Building Societies already. It shows how versatile Backbase's platform is and how flexibly it can be adapted to specific requirements. It also shows that Backbase meets even the most stringent data protection and operational compliance requirements. We look forward to continuing this success story together."
"We are deeply proud of our heritage and our role in supporting our heartland” " explains Simon Broadley, Chief Commercial Officer at Furness Building Society. "However, as member needs change it is essential that we continue to evolve without forgetting our roots. Through our solution with Backbase, we can offer a fantastic member experience that combines the best of digital and our people."