Case Study: Customer Hub Development for Finance of America
Problem Statement
Finance of America operated its loan divisions—Commercial, Reverse, Forward, and Home Improvement—as separate entities, resulting in a lack of unified customer visibility for those with products across multiple divisions. This fragmentation hindered cross-selling opportunities, made it difficult to gain a holistic view of customer portfolios, and complicated the management and servicing of loans.
Project Description
To address these challenges, we initiated the development of a centralized Customer Hub. This multi-million-dollar, multi-year project aimed to enable cross-selling, provide a comprehensive view of customer products, and streamline loan servicing in a single system. The solution was designed as a scalable, AWS-based platform leveraging serverless APIs, a React front end, and integration of both structured and unstructured data.
Project Steps
Agile Kickoff and Planning
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Conducted an agile kickoff process to evaluate business needs and define an MVP (Minimum Viable Product).
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Gathered requirements from all divisions and prioritized features.
Team Setup and Organization
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Formed multiple agile teams with a shared Scrum Master and dedicated Product Owners, DevOps engineers, data specialists, and developers.
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Established clear roles and responsibilities to ensure efficient collaboration.
​Architectural Design
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Designed an AWS-based architecture featuring:
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Serverless API strategy for scalability and cost efficiency.
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React front-end for an intuitive user interface.
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Data extraction processes to integrate structured and unstructured data from all divisions into a common format.
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Developed workflows to support business processes from loan origination to servicing.
​Agile Development and Iteration
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Adopted agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and regular check-ins with business stakeholders.
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Demonstrated progress through frequent system reviews to ensure alignment with business expectations.
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Implemented a fail-fast approach to quickly pivot priorities and features based on feedback.
Results and Impact
The Customer Hub project positioned Finance of America to:
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Enhance Cross-Selling: Centralized customer data enabled targeted product recommendations across divisions.
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Improve Customer Insights: Provided a comprehensive view of customer portfolios and loan servicing status.
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Streamline Processes: Unified workflows improved efficiency from loan origination to servicing.
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Adopt Agile Practices: Established a new organizational approach to feature development and project management, enabling adaptability and innovation.
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This project demonstrated the effectiveness of agile methodologies and advanced architecture in delivering transformative business solutions.