At CCG Catalyst, we specialize in delivering comprehensive project management services tailored to the unique needs of financial institutions undergoing complex transformations. Whether you’re converting to a new core banking system, implementing digital payment solutions, modernizing lending platforms, or integrating a variety of other bank systems, our proven methodologies and experienced team ensure a seamless, efficient, and successful transformation. Our approach is designed to align with your organization’s strategic goals while minimizing risk and maximizing value. Below, we outline our key services and methodologies, accompanied by examples to demonstrate how we’ve helped banks and credit unions achieve their transformation objectives.

Defining the Project Charter

Every successful project begins with a clear roadmap. CCG Catalyst works closely with your team to define the Project Charter, a critical document that establishes the foundation for your transformation initiative. This involves outlining boundaries, governance, purpose, objectives, deliverables, resources, timescales, and structure.

Client Engagement: For a mid-sized regional bank transitioning to a new core banking system, CCG Catalyst collaborated with the bank’s leadership to define a Project Charter that outlined the scope of migrating 550,000 customer accounts within 12 months. We identified key deliverables, such as data migration and staff training, and allocated resources, including a dedicated team of 8 specialists. This charter became the guiding framework, ensuring alignment across all stakeholders and setting the project up for success.

Appointment of the Project Team

Collaboration is key to a successful transformation. CCG Catalyst partners with your institution to appoint a dedicated project team and establish a Conversion Project Management Office (PMO). This office serves as the central hub for coordination, communication, and decision-making throughout the project lifecycle.

Client Engagement: When working with a multi-state credit union on a digital payment platform integration, CCG Catalyst and the credit union appointed a cross-functional project team, including IT specialists, compliance officers, and customer service leads. We established a Conversion PMO that met weekly to review progress, address issues, and ensure alignment with the credit union’s goal of enabling real-time payments for 100,000 members within six months.

Creation of Project Governance and Methodologies

Effective governance is the backbone of any transformation. CCG Catalyst either creates or advises on the creation of your conversion team’s organizational structure, project governance framework, and methodologies. Our matrix approach ensures effective management at both the institutional and functional levels.

Client Engagement: For a community bank undergoing a lending system upgrade, CCG Catalyst implemented a matrix governance structure that included a steering committee of bank executives and functional leads from lending, IT, and risk management. This structure facilitated rapid decision-making, such as approving a new loan origination workflow in just two weeks, ensuring the project stayed on track for a six-month completion.

Providing Conversion Management Artifacts

To streamline the conversion process, CCG Catalyst provides a comprehensive set of artifacts, including the Project Charter, Communications Plan, Regulatory Plan, Project Definition Document, Issues and Risk Plans, and detailed Project Plans.

Client Engagement: During a core conversion for a large urban bank, CCG Catalyst provided a Risk Plan that identified potential data migration errors as a key risk. By proactively developing mitigation strategies—such as pre-conversion data validation checks—we reduced errors by 99.9% during the live migration, ensuring a smooth transition for 500,000 customer accounts.

Proven Project Governance Methodologies

Our project governance methodologies are designed to deliver consistent, repeatable results while addressing the unique challenges of banking system conversions. These include:

• Single or Multi-Bank Delivery Model: Supporting localized decisions while providing enterprise-wide customer transactional access.
  Client Engagement: For a bank holding company with three subsidiaries, CCG Catalyst implemented a multi-bank delivery model that allowed each subsidiary to customize its digital banking interface while maintaining enterprise-wide access to transaction data, improving customer satisfaction by 20%.
• Shared Services Processing Environment: Establishing a consistent and efficient processing framework across your enterprise.
  Client Engagement: A national bank leveraged our shared services model to consolidate its payment processing across 50 branches, reducing transaction processing times by 30% and cutting operational costs by 15%.
• Enterprise Data Processing Services Platforms: Implementing core platforms and companion products to support your transformation.
  Client Engagement: During a core platform upgrade for a regional bank, CCG Catalyst installed a new data processing platform and integrated companion products for fraud detection, enabling the bank to reduce fraudulent transactions by 25% within the first year.
• Consistent Policies and Practices: Developing and enforcing standardized policies to ensure operational consistency.
  Client Engagement: For a credit union expanding into new markets, CCG Catalyst developed standardized loan approval policies, reducing approval times from 10 days to 3 days across all branches.
• Triple Constraints Management: Balancing scope/quality, time, and cost constraints as approved by executive management.
  Client Engagement: When a scope change added two months to a core conversion timeline for a community bank, CCG Catalyst adjusted resource allocation to stay within budget, delivering the project on time without compromising quality.
• Conversion Risk Management: Mitigating risks to an acceptable level through proactive planning and monitoring.
  Client Engagement: During a digital payment rollout, CCG Catalyst identified cybersecurity risks and implemented additional encryption protocols, preventing potential breaches during the go-live phase.
• Conversion Timeframes: Completing conversions within agreed-upon timelines to minimize disruption.
  Client Engagement: For a small bank converting to a new core system, CCG Catalyst adhered to a six-month timeline, with a part-time program manager.
• Repeatable Process Creation: Building a scalable, repeatable process for future bank integrations.
  Client Engagement: After completing a core conversion for a regional bank, CCG Catalyst documented a repeatable process that the bank later used to integrate two acquired institutions, saving 40% in consulting costs.

These methodologies ensure that your project aligns with your organization’s strategic objectives while delivering measurable results.

Stakeholder Engagement

Successful transformations require buy-in at every level. CCG Catalyst ensures that executive sponsors from both your institution and our team are visibly engaged and supportive throughout the program.

Client Engagement: During a lending system overhaul for a regional bank, CCG Catalyst facilitated bi-weekly meetings between the bank’s CEO and our executive sponsor, ensuring alignment on budget adjustments that saved $200,000 while meeting all regulatory requirements.

Program Management

The CCG Catalyst Program Manager oversees the successful delivery of all deliverables, working in tandem with your institution’s program manager to ensure effective communication and proactive risk management.

Client Engagement: For a digital payment implementation across 30 branches, our Program Manager coordinated with the bank’s team to resolve a critical API integration issue in just 48 hours, keeping the project on schedule for a three-month launch.

Testing Coordination

A rigorous testing process is critical to success. CCG Catalyst appoints a dedicated Test Manager to coordinate testing across the entire solution.

Client Engagement: During a core conversion for a regional bank, our Test Manager oversaw end-to-end testing across 10 systems, identifying and resolving a transaction processing bug before launch, ensuring zero downtime for customers during the go-live phase.