Tirana Bank, founded in 1996, is Albania's first privately owned financial institution and has been a key player in shaping the country's financial landscape. As a proud member of the Balfin Group, the bank combines local knowledge with global best practices to offer a comprehensive suite of services, including retail and corporate banking, loans, deposits, and innovative digital solutions. With a strong commitment to driving financial inclusion, Tirana Bank sought cutting-edge technology to enhance its customer-centric approach further and adapt to evolving market demands.
The Albanian financial institution turned to Facilization, Creatio’s trusted partner, for a comprehensive solution to streamline its loan origination processes. Facilization suggested Creatio, an AI-powered automation platform, with an intuitive user interface and no-code customization to fit the bank’s evolving needs. With Facilization expertise and Creatio’s powerful features, the bank successfully implemented the new cloud-based system, which completely transformed its loan origination processes. Facilization helped Tirana Bank adjust Creatio’s platform and automate its lending process, offering a complete digital experience for their customers.
Challenges
slowed loan processing and
reduced operational efficiency.
ability to streamline operations
effectively.
difficult to maintain clear visibility
and accountability across all stages.
due to the lack of standardized
and automated workflows.
Key Deliverables
AI-Powered Business Process Automation:
Streamlined lending workflows, including operational risk management.
Seamless Integration:
Real-time connection with the core banking system, internet banking, and the Bank of Albania Credit Registry.
End-to-End Process Visibility:
Fully transparent visibility with analyzed data on-hand for better decision-making.
Standardized & Automated Workflows:
Reduced inconsistencies and operational risks, ensuring smooth and predictable loan origination.
Scalability & Security:
Cloud-based, security powered by no-code composable architecture.
Addressing the Challenges
To align with its digital transformation strategy and the imperative to modernize loan origination, Tirana Bank faced several technological challenges.
At the heart of the issue were manual operations, that dominated the loan origination process, creating bottlenecks and significantly reducing overall efficiency. The bank’s lacked the necessary agility to keep up with the rapidly changing market, hindering its ability to scale efficiently.
With its legacy systems in place, Tirana Bank was unable to effectively streamline these operations, making it difficult to manage the growing demand for loans. Previous attempts to address issues through partial automation proved unsuccessful. The solutions initially considered failed to meet the bank’s needs for flexibility, scalability, and, most importantly, integration capabilities. As a result, they could not connect with the core banking system, preventing a fully digital experience for customers.
Implementing Creatio has been a game-changer for us. With the platform customized by Facilization to serve as our new Loan Origination System, we have streamlined our lending process, eliminated inefficiencies, and significantly enhanced the customer experience. This marks a major milestone in our journey toward becoming a modern, digital-first bank.
AI-Powered Automation and Streamlined Workflows
With the implementation of Creatio’s platform, Tirana Bank achieved a significant breakthrough in automating and streamlining its loan origination process. With business process automation in place, the bank eliminated manual intervention in key areas, reducing processing times and increasing overall efficiency. Standardized workflows eliminated inconsistencies, creating a smoother, more predictable loan origination process.
As a result, tasks that were once time-consuming and prone to human error are now executed automatically, significantly reducing operational risks and enhancing overall productivity. This move towards automation not only sped up loan approval times but also allowed employees to prioritize other higher-value tasks, improving their overall effectiveness.
From Automation to Loan Origination, One Platform for All
Tirana Bank needed more than just automation—it required a flexible, scalable solution that could be tailored to its specific needs. By leveraging Creatio’s flexibility, Facilization customized it to serve as a comprehensive Loan Origination System, fully integrated and scalable. This adaptability allowed the bank to go beyond workflow automation and create a fully connected, intelligent lending ecosystem. This tailored approach included:
Using Creatio’s platform, we transformed Tirana Bank’s lending operations from manual-heavy to automation-driven. This upgrade not only accelerated loan approvals but also improved efficiency by removing bottlenecks and enabling employees to focus on high-value tasks. The result is a faster, smarter, and more agile banking experience for both customers and staff.
Enhancing Efficiency and Customer Experience
Drawing on Facilization's proficiency and the flexibility of Creatio's no-code platform, Tirana Bank customized a solution that brought automation and seamless integration across both consumer lending and credit card services. This adaptation enabled the bank to optimize operations, eliminate inefficiencies, and offer a fully digital, frictionless experience for its customers.
With improved visibility, decision-making became more data-driven, accountability across teams strengthened, and the risk of errors and delays was minimized. For customers, this meant faster loan approvals, better-informed interactions, and ultimately, higher client satisfaction. With all processes interconnected and visible, Tirana Bank has been able to provide a more seamless, reliable and customer-centric experience.
Future-Proof Growth and Scalability
Creatio’s platform, designed with scalability in mind, allowed Tirana Bank to easily manage the growing volume of loan applications. The system's flexibility ensured that it could scale seamlessly alongside the bank’s business expansion, addressing the inefficiencies that had previously hindered its growth and operational capacity. As demand for digital banking services increased, Creatio’s cloud-based infrastructure enabled Tirana Bank to handle a higher volume of transactions without compromising performance.
Looking Ahead
As one of the first banks in Albania to implement a cloud-based LOS, Tirana Bank has established itself as a pioneer in digital innovation. The platform’s agility and scalability enable the bank to meet future demands and deliver faster, more efficient service, thus maintaining a competitive edge in the market.
Building on this success, Tirana Bank plans to expand its loan origination system with advanced digital features such as instant loan approvals and extend its offerings to a broader range of lending products. By continuing its collaboration with Facilization and leveraging Creatio’s platform, the bank is poised to achieve its vision of becoming a customer-centric, digital-first leading institution.
About Facilization
Founded in 2009 in Tirana, Albania, Facilization has delivered IT services and software solutions for banks and financial institutions. A Creatio partner, it has implemented, migrated, customized, and integrated core and digital banking systems across seven European countries. The company continues to enhance its offerings, currently used by 11 banks across Europe.
