How Bendura Bank went from paper archives to remote access in four weeks

A growing paper archive with no room left — and no easy fix

For years, Bendura Bank had been working to get its expanding paper archives under control. Space, access, search, deletion, regulatory destruction requirements — none of it could be handled efficiently in its current form. The answer seemed obvious: digitise documents through scanning and dispose of the originals. The legal team pushed back immediately. In banking, destroying documents bearing original signatures is close to taboo.

Still, there was no question that fast access to archived documents was a critical need — and a new building was already in planning, designed to bring the physical and digital archives and their processes together.

Finding the right fit — then COVID accelerated everything

After a series of reference visits and system presentations, Bendura came into contact with Nextway. The solution approach and the way Nextway operated as a company were a strong fit. In a structured comparison, Next emerged as the clear choice. The original plan was to have a complete solution in place by mid-2021, when the new building would be finished. Then COVID changed the timeline. The immediate need for remote access to archive data accelerated the approval process, and the project kicked off on 1 April 2020.

Mapping the archives — from paper files to digital structure

To build a shared understanding of what a digital archive could do, Nextway ran a workshop on system methodology for the project group in Buchs. The team was walked through the functionalities and display options of Next using real examples. In the next step, Nextway consultants inspected Bendura’s physical bank archives to map the scope and varying structures of the paper filing. Once the inventory was complete, the project group defined the different archive types, appointed archive owners for each, and brought them into the team.

Modelling the customer archive around the CRM structure

The customer archive — containing all account-opening and due-diligence documents — required particular attention. The requirements were clear: a structured setup where any account document can be found intuitively and displayed at the press of a button, eliminating trips to the physical archive and the need to leaf through paper files. Equally important was fast, systematic filing of new documents, keeping both processing time and error rates low.

Since employees from multiple departments work with the customer archive, clarity and logical structure had to come first. Bendura chose to mirror the structure of its CRM system — the bank’s master data management system. Working with specialist departments, the team defined document groups, document types, and permission concepts, which were then implemented by Bendura’s IT with support from Nextway. When a new document type needs to be added, IT staff handle it directly.

Built remotely, start to finish

Several factors made the rapid rollout possible.

• Nextway brought best practices from comparable projects, saving time and resources
• The project had high priority, giving the team dedicated time and full focus
• Weekly meetings caught misconfigurations early and kept delivery on track

Beyond the archive — process digitisation is next

In 2020, Bendura Bank made substantial progress in digitisation beyond the archive project. The bank rolled out 120 laptops, enabling 85 percent of employees to carry out their work from home. Customer mailings were outsourced to a professional service provider, and the in-house mailing line was dismantled. The bank now operates fully with minimal on-site staff — only incoming physical mail still requires scanning at the mailroom. The next step is already underway: contracts for process digitisation with Nextway are signed, the development environment is installed, and the first processes are defined.