Making Effective Use of Departmental Synergies

Katerina Charalambous, a member of the Executive Committee of Eurobank Cyprus and Head of Organisation & Methods and Centralised Operations, analyses the crucial role of the Organisation & Methods department and explains how Operations have been restructured to align with the Bank’s recent transformation.

What is the goal of Organisation & Methods within a Bank?

Organisation & Methods is the backbone of any Banking Institution. It ensures compliance with all Laws and Regulations issued by the Central Bank of Cyprus or any other competent authority, while at the same time making sure that the procedures of the Bank are aligned with them. Our Organisation & Methods department ensures that all the internal processes and procedures of the Bank are robust and as easy as possible for employees to follow and clients to use.

At Eurobank Cyprus, we perform systematic reviews of our procedures to determine if they are effective or if we need to re-design some areas to enhance the client experience, increase efficiency and mitigate risk. Additionally, the department leads innovative projects within the Bank to make sure that Eurobank Cyprus remains one step ahead of the competition. In effect, our job never ends as we always have to adapt to new requirements, seize new opportunities and apply novel ideas that will help us fully take advantage of innovation and technological advancements.

Is it correct to assume that your job as Head of Organisation & Methods is a diverse one?

Each day, the Head of a department like Organisation & Methods faces new challenges. These can arise in the form of requests from other departments that face difficulties when performing their tasks, client inquiries, new offerings by our competitors, new regulations or even available new technology. Any one thing can trigger a review, which can lead to either new offerings or a re-design of existing ones.

What about the Centralised Operations department? How is this structured within Eurobank Cyprus?

At Eurobank Cyprus, we have successfully transformed our operations to ensure increased capacity, efficient service to customers and cost-effective practices. The Centralised Operations Department consists of several units that are very important to our client service. Their services can often overlap and this has proven to be very efficient for the Bank, as resources can interchange according to prevailing needs. Cards, Digital Banking and Cheques are some of the areas included and these must operate effectively at all times, as our clients depend on an uninterrupted and fast response.

The Cards department provides clients with their choice of card (Debit or Credit, Business or Individual) and various other options tailored to their needs. Our cards have been designed to operate in the safest manner, so as to ensure that our clients do not fall victim to fraud. In terms of our new Digital Banking platform, our department ensures fast and seamless access for clients and we are there, not only to help but also to ensure that we communicate their new requests and needs to the Technical department.

The same applies for the other areas within Digital Banking, including payroll and mass payments. In terms of cheques, and despite the fact that there are several better ways to perform payments, clients in Cyprus still heavily use them. Therefore, our department ensures the correct and fast clearing of their cheques. However, we are trying to train our clients to use other forms of payment, which are faster and safer via Digital Banking. Our belief is that, in the near future, and especially with the upcoming introduction of Instant Payments, the use of cheques will be reduced to a minimum.

Finally, the Bank’s Call Centre is also under Centralised Operations, due to the direct synergies, as most clients use the Call Centre for card- and Digital Banking-related support. Our agents are very well trained to address any issue, including technical questions and troubleshooting. Eurobank Cyprus took a conscious decision to keep our Call Centre within the Bank and our agents are employees of the Bank, so they always receive the best training and information about our services and products.

How do you juggle two departments with such different responsibilities?

In fact, there are many synergies between these two departments. If Organisation & Methods is the backbone of the Bank, Centralised Operations is the Bank’s secret weapon. Any offering to clients is optimised at the front-line via correct design and it cannot be completed without an efficient operations department. Overall, Eurobank Cyprus makes sure to operate productive and flawless back-office departments like Centralised Operations and Organisation & Methods, to make sure that our clients receive the best service along with innovative products and efficient and effective processing.

(Photo by Taspho)

(This article first appeared in the 2024 edition of The Cyprus Journal of Wealth Management, commissioned by Eurobank Cyprus and published by IMH. Click here to view the article. Click here to view the entire magazine online.)