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NatWest Group - Watson

 Taking the pain out of purchasing a home
NatWest Group takes on digital transformation to make home buying easier
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For many, owning a home is a dream come true. A bank-issued mortgage is usually an essential ingredient in realizing that dream.

But as regulations, products and processes evolve, issuing and obtaining a mortgage can be complicated. Banks are tasked with being able to access and apply accurate policy information to each customer’s unique needs in real time, throughout the home buying process.

Together with IBM®, NatWest Group is solving that problem with a plan for digital mortgage support.

Increased customer loyalty


Since implementing the digital mortgage support tool, NatWest has seen a 20% improvement in customer loyalty

Time savings


Call duration has decreased by 10% due to the digital mortgage support tool
In the mortgage industry, change is constant. Regulation changes, products change, processes change. It’s imperative that the customer has the support and the information they need to allow them to focus on their home buying journey. MaryAnn Fleming Head of Homebuying Services NatWest Group
A smart platform that gets smarter every day

IBM Consulting™ and NatWest have co-created an AI-powered, cloud-based platform that empowers mortgage call center employees with real-time digital mortgage support for home buyers.

The platform, built with IBM watsonx Assistant technology on IBM Cloud®, is called “Marge”—and is a valuable new asset to NatWest’s digital transformation.

Marge is intentionally personified as a member of the NatWest team and has her own evolving personality. Marge was built directly on the cloud, embedded in NatWest’s existing data structures, and has access to new data added every minute through content updates and customer interactions. For NatWest mortgage call center employees, she is one single point of access for digital mortgage support for their cognitive enterprise.
Our colleagues have a level of confidence that they never had before, which, in turn, gives customers confidence in the decisions that they’re making for their future. MaryAnn Fleming Head of Homebuying Services NatWest Group
Humans + technology = happy customers

While on the phone with a customer, NatWest employees get quick digital mortgage support from Marge by typing keywords into a console. With cognitive enterprise technology at their fingertips, they are able to support new and existing home buying customers.

Since implementing the digital mortgage support tool, NatWest has seen a 20% improvement in customer Net Promoter Score (NPS)—a key customer loyalty metric—and a 10% decrease in call duration.

As Marge evolves, NatWest employees will be empowered to do great work during the digital transformation and the bank will continue on its journey to becoming a Cognitive Enterprise (PDF), IBM’s vision for the next-gen business model.
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About NatWest Group

NatWest is a leading banking and financial services company based in the UK. The company serves approximately 19 million people, families and businesses throughout the UK and Ireland. Headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, the group had net income of more than GBP 3.8 billion in 2019.

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Produced in the United States of America, January 2021.

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