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Financial services

Refocusing a regional bank on its most profitable customers

A cost-to-serve overhaul that lifted return on equity without cutting the front line.

+3.4 pts
Return on equity
−6 pts
Cost-to-income
2 quarters
Time to impact

The challenge

Years of incremental product launches had left the bank serving everyone, profitably serving no one. Return on equity trailed peers and the cost base kept climbing.

Our approach

We rebuilt the customer economics from the ground up, identified the three segments that drove the vast majority of value, and redesigned the operating model and branch network around them.

The outcome

Within four quarters the bank had exited two unprofitable product lines, simplified its operating model and reinvested in its highest-value relationships.

Representative engagement — anonymised and illustrative. Outcomes reflect the type and scale of results achieved in similar engagements.

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