The Co-operative Bank renews outsourcing contract with Capita
Professional services firm Capita has announced that it has renewed its contract with The Co-operative Bank to run its mortgage servicing operation in the UK. The move will also see Capita continue to support the bank’s digitally enabled transformation aimed at strengthening its customer focus.
Founded in 1872, The Co-operative Bank provides personal banking services including current accounts, credit cards, online and mobile banking, personal loans and savings services to customers across the world. Headquartered in Manchester, the financial institution has endured significant hardship of late, and like many in the sector, has increasingly turned to digitalisation to improve its performance in recent years.
This has seen Co-op commit to extending an outsourcing agreement with Capita, the professional services firm currently at the heart of its modernisation efforts. Capita is a consulting, digital services and software business, operating across six markets: customer management; government services; IT and networks; people solutions; software and specialist services.
Capita’s existing contract with the bank for its mortgage servicing operation was signed in August 2015 and was due to conclude in 2020. The renewed contract includes Capita continuing to run a full range of mortgage services – from initial enquiry and application, all the way through to mortgage maturity. Alongside this, there will also be renewed focus on redesigning and simplifying processes and systems to enhance the end customer’s experience, increase productivity and reduce costs.
Andrew Bester, Chief Executive Officer of The Co-operative Bank, said, “Our mortgage business continues to thrive and is central to our future plans for The Co-operative Bank. The service Capita provides our customers is a key element of our success in a competitive market, and we are delighted to be renewing our partnership.”
A key element of the updated contract is the collaborative approach Capita and the Co-op are taking to transformation. Capita will also be working alongside a third party implementing an IT platform. The agreement will be worth up to £141 million over six years for Capita, of which £107 million is incremental to Capita’s current contract with the bank, and begins at the start of November 2019.
Jon Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of Capita, stated, “I am delighted that The Co-operative Bank has chosen to renew our partnership. This is testament to a new Capita, which is working more collaboratively with its clients, and is strongly aligned to the Bank’s values as a responsible business. We look forward to offering an even better mortgage service to The Co-operative Bank’s customers which will make the process of securing a mortgage much faster and smoother.”