How a digital bank rebuilt its operations for the next decade of growth

As organisations grow, regulatory and operational demands increase with them. To keep pace, internal functions must evolve and adapt as the organisation scales.

This was increasingly evident at a market leading digital bank which had experienced rapid expansion in recent years. Despite its growth and success, the banks' operations function was showing signs of strain. Teams were struggling with fragmented ownership, uneven standards and inefficient operations. Regulatory requirements were rising and the bank’s current operating model was no longer fit for the scale it was targeting. 

Baringa partnered with the bank to design a target operating model and phased implementation roadmap. Together, we addressed their growing pains, building the end‑to‑end ownership, capacity and consistency the bank needed to grow and helping the bank improve its customer service ratio by 40%. 

When growth outpaces the operating model 

Growth created complexity that held the organisation back. Servicing requests moved between teams with limited end-to-end ownership and visibility, and low levels of automation. Specialist silos made demand forecasting difficult, limited flexibility and tied up capacity in low‑value manual work. At the same time, the bank needed to raise its standards around financial crime to meet growing regulatory expectations. 

The bank’s ambition was clear. It sought a new operating model that delivered immediate performance improvements while preparing it for long-term growth. This would improve customer outcomes, build resilience during demand spikes and unlock capacity for the future. 

Rebuilding from the ground up 

Working closely with stakeholders across customer service, financial crime, payments and onboarding, Baringa built a whole‑of‑operations view that cut across silos and revealed the real drivers of friction. From this foundation, Baringa applied its Adaptive Organisations methodology to design a simpler, more scalable target operating model. Through a structured process of diagnosis, design, piloting and transition planning, we created flatter, empowered teams organised around end-to-end value, with clearer decision rights and the flexibility to respond as customer needs, demand and priorities change.

The target operating model included clear role and accountability definitions, a reference design for pod‑based working, and a blueprint for a shared‑services layer. A phased roadmap set out how the model would be piloted, refined and scaled. 

Designing for clarity and resilience 

The new operating model centred on three interconnected elements: 

• Cross‑skilled pods with end‑to‑end ownership of customer cohorts, reducing handoffs 
• A shared‑services layer to provide consistent, common capabilities across operations
• Role frameworks that give teams clearer accountability and career paths.

Putting the right people in charge of the right work

Baringa worked with the bank to design pod structures capable of handling queries from complete customer cohorts from start to finish. We defined how each pod and operations team would operate day‑to‑day, including scope, interfaces and escalation routes. We also clarified what support the pods would receive from the shared‑services layer. This included defining: 

• Consistent playbooks to standardise how teams are structured and work gets done
• Clear roles and responsibilities to set expectations and track performance
• Enabling technology to reduce manual effort and drive better decision-making.

Cross‑skilling pathways reduced single‑threaded dependencies, helping colleagues develop broader capabilities and enabling the bank to absorb demand spikes without compromising service. By making continuous learning and clearer career pathways part of the operating model, the bank could build the skills needed for the future while creating more flexible opportunities for its people. At the same time, the shared‑service layer created economies of scale and raised the standard of practice across the operations function. 

Baringa also ran a structured automation and AI diagnostic, assessing processes by risk impact and time‑to‑value. This analysis identified a potential 25% uplift in capacity, giving the bank a prioritised view of where technology investment could deliver the greatest impact. 

We rounded out our work by building a transition plan and delivery roadmap for rolling out the target operating model across the bank’s operations function.

Ready for the next phase of growth

Our work delivered the improvements in service efficiency required to support growth ambitions. Structural redesign across specialist teams targeted 10-15% capacity creation, and pod‑based ownership aimed for a 30% improvement in first‑contact resolution. Together, these changes supported the bank’s strategic goal to improve its service ratio by around 40%. 

The organisation now has a target operating model it can grow with, and a practical roadmap to implement it. Teams have clearer roles, improved visibility of career paths and stronger control over customer outcomes. Workflows have been redesigned to reduce hand‑offs and drive faster decision‑making, while stronger controls around conduct and operational risk management protect the customer experience as the bank continues to grow. With the capacity and resilience it’s created, the bank is ready to scale on its own terms.

Ready to adapt your operating model with confidence? 

Talk to us about how we can support your growth ambitions. Contact our experts in financial services.