Five stand-out stories of operational excellence at scale

When transactional volumes surge, regulations tighten, and customer expectations rise, even well-run organisations find themselves constrained by legacy workflows. The result is higher costs, slower turnaround times, siloed information, and limited capacity to scale or innovate.

Across retail and commercial banking, wealth management, and insurance, leaders are rethinking how work gets done. Many are adopting managed services, also called Intelligent Business Process Management (iBPM)—an operating model that combines process redesign, intelligent document processing, automation, and managed services to transform document-driven workflows.

These pioneering organisations are already realising the benefits. They are processing retail, commercial, and investment transactions as well as other financial documents with greater cost predictability and workflow efficiency. What’s more, they are doing it in a way that’s sustainable into the future.

Driving efficiency in automotive financing

Automotive lenders have long relied on document-intensive workflows, but rising customer expectations and competitive pressure are forcing change. One Latin American automotive financing company is using AI and automation to speed its process and cut costs for more than 10,000 approvals per month.

Securing loan approval while the customer is still at the dealership is crucial to earning business. To stay competitive in the marketplace, the lender worked with a managed service partner and implemented intelligent document processing.

The new approach reduced manual labor, accelerated loan approvals, lowered the per-transaction cost, and minimised processing errors, improving both operational efficiency and customer experience.

Modernising trade finance

A bold transformation at one of the world’s largest banks relied on document-heavy, manual workflows that slowed processing and created operational complexity. Leaders recognised the need to digitise and automate these processes while maintaining strict security and regulatory compliance.

Working with a managed service partner, the bank modernised its document workflows and processing environment while safeguarding sensitive financial data.

The transformation reduced operational costs by 18–25% within nine months while accelerating trade finance processing and improving client experience. 

Achieving compliance at scale

A European mutual insurance company launched a portfolio-wide initiative to secure and strengthen its alignment with legal and reinsurance regulatory requirements. Many obstacles stood in the way, including workflow complexity, confidentiality, and security risks.

The company worked with a managed service provider to create a standardised process across its 15 entities. It securitised 100% of the portfolio, gathering financial assets such as mortgages and car loans into a single collection. 

Despite the project’s complexity, every investment had to be protected and compliant. Updated addenda were sent to millions of customers. In response, it achieved a 70% signature rate—a record high for the company and a return rate that’s twice the industry average. 

Streamlining payment processing

A US payment management provider needed to scale operations to support a rapidly growing client base and rising transaction volumes.

Through a managed services partnership, the company expanded access to multiple processing centers, increasing capacity while outsourcing the preparation, processing, and storage of millions of transactions and images each month. The approach also strengthened security and compliance protections for sensitive client data. This expanding processing model, according to the company’s president and chief operating officer, enabled the company to “deliver best-in-class payment processing while maintaining the highest standards of security and service.”

Centralising bank operations

A large Latin American bank streamlined processes to achieve cost savings, greater control, and faster access to information—with the ultimate goal of doubling profitability in two years.

After noting inefficiencies, the bank’s leaders knew they had to upgrade from manual to modern workflows. They chose a trusted partner to help centralise operations into a single hub supporting 1,400 branches. The solution resulted in a 24-hour turnaround in document processing and access.

Benefits include improved controls and validation for the customer, as well as closed-loop operation. The bank’s full-circle transparency means they generate accurate reports to support informed, timely decisions.

It’s time to modernise

Across these examples, financial institutions faced similar pressures—from document-heavy workflows to rising regulatory demands and the need to scale operations efficiently. By partnering with Iron Mountain, they modernised these processes while maintaining the security, compliance, and operational control their industries require. Over 95% of Fortune 1000 companies trust Iron Mountain with their information and assets.

Iron Mountain’s managed services include outsourcing business functions, process improvements, and the use of advanced technologies. It empowers banks and financial institutions to:

• Drive more predictable and optimised costs.
• Improve operational efficiency and turnaround times while decreasing error rates.
• Better respond to business opportunities and scale growth.

Consider your organisation’s operational challenges. Which areas of your document-driven workflows feel most constrained? No matter what’s holding you back, Iron Mountain can help.

Learn more about Iron Mountain managed services or book your free demo today.