First Citizens Bank Transforms Community Association Banking

The Business Issue

First Citizens Bank's Community Association Banking division, serving 1,500+ management companies and 42,000 associations nationwide, faced significant challenges after rapid growth during the pandemic. Three bank acquisitions in four years left them with complex legacy systems, manual processes, burnt-out associates, and frustrated clients. They had lost their reputation as the industry leader and needed to regain their position while scaling operations to match unprecedented growth in the association banking sector.

The Solution

First Citizens Bank implemented a comprehensive Pega-powered transformation called "Client Connect" - an end-to-end customer journey platform spanning both internal operations and external client portals. As the first bank to go live on Pega Cloud, they built 65+ complex workflows for internal operations and created an innovative external portal serving 25,000+ users. The solution provides 360-degree customer views, self-service capabilities, real-time reporting, and seamless integration between front-end client interactions and back-office operations.

The Results

The transformation delivered remarkable improvements in both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Account opening times dropped from 19 days to 3 days with a goal of real-time processing, while associate workload backlogs decreased by 80%. The platform successfully supports external client access at unprecedented scale for Pega implementations, with plans for AI-powered automation that will enable clients to handle complex transactions through simple prompts. Client and associate morale improved dramatically, restoring First Citizens' reputation as the industry leader.