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Empowering NSB to Improve Customer Experiences and Stay Competitive
NCINGA worked with one of Sri Lanka’s largest savings banks to update their legacy network
infrastructure. Following the introduction of updated infrastructure, NSB has reduced the total
cost of ownership while enhancing the customer experience.
Industry: Banking
Location: APAC
NCINGA worked with one of Sri Lanka’s largest savings banks to update their legacy network
infrastructure. Following the introduction of updated infrastructure, NSB has reduced the total
cost of ownership while enhancing the customer experience.
Industry: Banking
Location: APAC
Introducing the customer: NSB
National Savings Bank (NSB) originated in the early 1970s. The bank was formed through the
amalgamation of four savings oriented financial institutions that existed at the time. NSB has
grown exponentially over the decades. It is a leading bank in Sri Lanka for savings and
investment solutions today, encouraging individual savings within the country. The bank is one
of the biggest lenders for home ownership and state development projects. NSB’s mission is to
become a visionary national bank that plays a pivotal role in transforming Sri Lanka. At present,
NSB has over 200 branches located throughout the country.
The many problems of legacy network infrastructure
National Savings Bank (NSB) originated in the early 1970s. The bank was formed through the
amalgamation of four savings oriented financial institutions that existed at the time. NSB has
grown exponentially over the decades. It is a leading bank in Sri Lanka for savings and
investment solutions today, encouraging individual savings within the country. The bank is one
of the biggest lenders for home ownership and state development projects. NSB’s mission is to
become a visionary national bank that plays a pivotal role in transforming Sri Lanka. At present,
NSB has over 200 branches located throughout the country.
NSB’s collaboration with NCINGA began because of the bank’s need to serve its customers
better. NSB had already begun their digitalization journey awhile back. However, the bank
encountered a range of problems:
● Banking operations were served by legacy network infrastructure. Switches and routers in several branches lacked support; the internal IT team faced challenges to
maintain service levels of day-to-day bank operations.
● Loss of revenue due to network down times.
● The threat of facing regulatory penalties due to the interruption of their services.
● Poor network security resulted in the risk of data exploitation and exposure.
Goals
NSB and NCINGA identified the following key goals at the start of the project:
● Up-to-date, secure, and agile network infrastructure that drives consistently efficient
operations.
● Improve the customer experience by simplifying operations, in accordance with the NSB ethos.
● Empower the bank’s IT team to run operations with minimal interruptions, equipping
them with the adequate training and support.
Technology implementation
NCINGA used a software defined networks (SDN) approach to modernize the network infrastructure at NSB using Cisco secure SW-WAN technology.
Moreover, the NCINGA team identified two implementation teams in two separate geographical locations in Sri Lanka and trained them to understand the new infrastructure thoroughly. We also completed the site deployment plan according to the geographic location of each branch to speed up the implementation process and save costs.
Following the implementation of the new infrastructure, NCINGA automated bank network operations thereby reducing the occurrences of human errors. Connectivity speed between the branch and head office networks improved, so that NSB can update customers faster, securely, and more reliably.
The NCINGA team is also piloting new technology to further improve and automate WAN connectivity by introducing ubiquity, increased bandwidth, more cost reductions, improved application performance, and next generation cybersecurity consumption models to continue supporting NSB’s digitalization efforts.
Better customer experiences, cost efficiency, and competitiveness for future growth
The updated network infrastructure at NSB has provided the bank with multifold benefits.
● Better infrastructure means improved operations and customer experience. Software defined approach have enabled NSB to introduce new products and services faster to market. This has been especially helpful to attract younger, digital-native customers.
● The new infrastructure was designed with cost savings in mind. Bandwidth costs have reduced considerably, resulting in a lower cost of ownership for NSB.
● A more secure network has reduced risks for NSB. There are fewer instances of system downtimes and lower risks of data exposure and regulatory penalties.
● Any issues of system malfunctions are resolved faster by NSB’s IT team, with minimal impact on the bank’s day-to-day operations.
● The new network infrastructure was the bedrock of providing services to customers during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, always ensuring connectivity at a time where online banking functions peaked. With updated network infrastructure, NSB can now look forward to staying abreast with the competition in a fast-evolving digital banking ecosystem that introduces an increasing number of online services.
NSB thoughts about the solution
“With the new SDN ready infrastructure, we can improve customer experiences due to faster, more efficient connectivity and improved network uptime. Cisco SD-WAN technology together with NCINGA’s design, implementation, and migration services helped us to improve our services to our customers with a faster ROI and total cost of ownership.”
Amal Illesinghe, CIO of NSB
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