Evitec Solutions delivered as promised – State Treasury’s collateral management now real-time
The State Treasury’s decision to revamp its collateral management system was first initiated by user needs and processes. The previous system was decades old and included old programming languages. One of the State Treasury’s goals for the coming years is to enhance business processes and risk management which partly set the starting point for the reform work.
— With the new system, we have a solution at our disposal that truly serves the processes and routines of daily work, says Sanna Pälsi, Deputy Director of Lending Services at the State Treasury.
The development efforts spanned over a year, with a strong emphasis on user-centric design.
— Users have been at the center throughout the project. We started by crafting user stories, which served as the project’s foundation, i.e. what we want to do with the system. These three fundamental pillars are seamless collateral establishment, flexible modification and updates, and streamlined decision-making, continues project manager Virpi Narushima.
Up-to-date information always available
Project execution and implementation were based on the defined user stories. The outcome is a system that delivers real-time information and significantly enhances the calculation of collateral values.
— The integration with the National Land Survey of Finland is great. We see the “life of mortgage deed” in real time and know immediately if the property has been foreclosed , for example. Beyond mortgage details, our system incorporates a geospatial view of collateral deposits and their respective valuations, says Narushima.
— In addition to the real-time connection, I would also emphasize that the system knows how to organize priority arrangements for encumbrance certificates and calculates the collateral values of mortgage deeds, continues Pälsi.
In the near future, additional features are planned: reporting will be expanded to cover collateral value reporting for interest subsidy loans.
Remote collaboration and exotic collaterals
The project presented several challenges, including migrating the existing collateral database to the new system, a task complicated by the up to 40-year history of legacy loans. The migration was handled well with the right tools. In addition, the broad spectrum of the State Treasury’s product and loan groups needed serious thinking from Evitec Solutions’ development team.
— For example, we have joint pledges, and we sometimes gave Evitec’s project manager, Janne Takala, quite a few nuts to crack. Janne and the team not only grasped our specifications but also fine-tuned solutions to meet our requirements, says Narushima.
The project adopted agile development methods, in two-week sprints. The cooperation with Evitec Solutions has been excellent during the remote work period and the end result is praised.
— Evitec’s expertise was already evident in the initial technical dialogues. We probably didn’t even at first understand what the new system was capable of. Now we have correct and up-to-date information, which can be used in different ways. We got the solution we were promised, within the agreed budget and schedule. The entire process exceeded our expectations, concludes Pälsi.
— Yes, this is a diamond, adds Narushima.
Evitec Solutions implemented a collateral management system for the State Treasury. The system manages collateral for loans and interest subsidies granted by the state, as well as state guarantees. The project started in the fall of 2019, and it lasted a year in total. Evitec was selected as a supplier through a bidding process.
The State Treasury is an agency operating under the Ministry of Finance (VM). It serves central government, citizens, the municipal sector, communities and companies. The agency was founded in 1876. It employs approximately 300 people.
Evitec Solutions Power Lending is a modern lending system, based on standard .NET Core, React and SQL technologies. API based microarchitecture allows separate product modules to be included in each solution case, depending on the customer need.
