If the late 90’s and early 00’s were the best of times for banks; the financial meltdown and resulting recession we are experiencing today, could only be described as the worst of times. And for bureaucracy driven, process paralyzed banks the times are about to get a whole lot tougher thanks the sweeping financial reforms passed on Capital Hill.

But let’s remain optimistic, because beyond the gloom and doom, end of times headlines, there is hope. Recently I had the opportunity to talk with two different financial institutions that are redefining procurement within their organizations. It’s inspiring to hear how they are using Coupa to build smarter savings – and smarter spending – banks.

Berkshire Bank

Berkshire Bank didn’t have long to get their 42 branches on one centralized e-procurement platform – in fact, they just had 6 months. Armed with a list of requirements from the different users and branches, Dee Harrish, purchasing project manager, set out to find a solution that would eliminate their costly, inconsistent manual processes while ensuring efficiency, accuracy and regulatory compliance. Dee landed on Coupa, who could not only meet her rigorous list of requirements, but could also meet her aggressive timeline – and things couldn’t be better.

“Prior to Coupa, our procurement processes were highly manual. Coupa provides greater visibility into, and control over, our spending. Now we have full automation from requisition to invoicing, with tight integration into our back-end financial systems. Employees are using the solution, and the feedback has been universally positive. A key benefit is that Coupa provides audit trails, which track our approvals to ensure that we comply with regulatory requirements. Additionally, Coupa helps us identify savings opportunities by using the tool to effectively analyze our spend.”

Tesco Bank

Tesco Bank faced an entirely different challenge. Though under intense timeline pressures – they were given 3 years to complete their procurement migration – unlike Berkshire Bank, Tesco Bank had a completely clean slate to start. There were no existing processes or platforms in place. This was an opportunity to do it right, from the ground up.

Join Tara Dibble, head of indirect procurement at Tesco Bank, and Coupa on July 29th for a live web event where Tesco Bank will share their incredible story of how they seized the opportunity to create a smarter savings – and smarter spending – bank. Register today.