Customer story

MuniFin accelerated loan processing in collaboration with Evitec Solutions

MuniFin’s Development Manager, Noora Huhtio

MuniFin, one of Finland’s largest credit institutions and the only credit institution in Finland that specialises in financing the public sector, has taken major steps in its digitalization journey in recent years. Evitec Solutions, specializing in financial software solutions, has supported MuniFin’s journey with software solutions and expert services; After digitalizing credit decisions and collateral management, the loan pledging process between MuniFin and the Bank of Finland, along with related monitoring reporting, were renewed.

Agile Digital Service Path

Customer experience is at the core of MuniFin. They want to offer services that are fast and transparent. System renewals always require some changes in working methods and thinking. MuniFin’s Development Manager Noora Huhtio explains:

— We are developing customer-centricity in our processes; it guides us in designing all digital services and the service path architecture.

In the municipal sector and social housing production, customers will soon be able to conduct business digitally, which will speed up the processing time of individual loan applications. As part of this service path, MuniFin renewed the origination phases of lending and leasing products together with Evitec’s development team. Developed solution handles tender, proposal and contract phases, guides users through the financing process, from request for quotation to financing agreement. The application was seamlessly integrated with MuniFin’s existing information systems.

At the start of the project, the most important aspects were carefully defined through solution conceptualization. The aim was to identify the most crucial elements for business operations. To support this, architectural solutions were chosen for each use case that would best serve their purpose while keeping future development in mind. One of the most important aspects in the project was refining internal workflows, such as loan application processing and credit decision-making, to ensure the customer experiences the process as smooth.

Lasting and agile solutions succeed when built with a skilled partner who understands not only technical expertise but also comprehensively understands the financial sector business. The application was implemented by Evitec’s agile development team in close collaboration with MuniFin’s team.

Evitec’s Project Manager Marko Autio explains:

— The project has extensively utilized MuniFin’s own document generation and management systems. The application that handles tender, proposal and contract phases creates necessary quotation and contract documents through interfaces and archives process-related attachments. Users can view documents directly through the interface.

— Seeking feedback from end-users from the specification phase through testing, and the agile development model were effective choices. We achieved concrete results with developers in every sprint on a quick cycle, says Huhtio.

Trust and Collaboration Enhance Development

At Evitec, projects are above all about cooperation and communication between people: from person to person, expert to expert. The cornerstone of everything is understanding the business and the client organization’s operating environment.

— Collaboration with Evitec has been particularly smooth thanks to their deep industry knowledge. We understand each other mutually, and they immediately grasp what is essential for us, Huhtio appreciates.

Eemeli Vainio from Evitec, who was involved in developing the application states:

— We always prefer to ask rather than assume. We want to make it as easy as possible to work with us.

Evitec Solutions shares MuniFin’s aim to operate in their projects with a customer-centric approach, listening and emphasizing shared success.

— In Evitec’s team, professional pride and desire to produce quality work is evident; they genuinely want to create solutions that help us do our work more smoothly. Team spirit is strong, and communication is effortless across organizational boundaries. It feels like we’re working as one team, Huhtio says.

Vainio describes his team’s way of working:

— When we’re doing work for our customer, we don’t think so much about the customer-supplier division, but rather about genuine collaboration and being able to ask questions and discuss things with as low a threshold as possible on both sides. We’ve noticed that this is an effective and meaningful way to operate, and it enables necessary information to flow quickly. The results speak for themselves.

Noora Huhtio from MuniFin and Evitec’s team: Santeri Kangas, Marko Autio, Eemeli Vainio and Jaakko Kallio.

MuniFin is one of Finland’s largest credit institutions. Municipality Finance secures the operational capability of Finnish society and strengthens sustainable development. Municipality Finance’s mission is to ensure affordable financing for municipal and welfare sector investments as well as state-subsidized housing production in all market conditions and social situations – even during exceptional times. Municipality Finance was established in 1989 and is owned by municipalities, Keva, and the Finnish state. As of December 2023, Municipality Finance employed 185 people.

Evitec Solutions is a Nordic developer of financial sector software solutions, provider of consulting services, and a bold innovator in the industry. Additionally, their offering includes analytics and data management services for various industries. Evitec Solutions holds Microsoft Solutions Partner recognition in the fields of data and AI as well as digital and application innovation. The company is ISO27001 certified. Evitec Solutions has been awarded the Silver Medal by Ecovadis for its sustainability work.