Financial Services Innovation Case Studies

How ING Built an Innovation Scout Network Across Europe - Spain + EU

ING was determined to stay competitive in a changing market, and they wanted a faster, more reliable way to generate strong ideas and test them cost-effectively, without getting dragged into slow, cross-department decision loops.

Over 3 months in Madrid, we embedded with six cross-functional squads spanning product, marketing, CX, data, design, engineering, compliance and ops. Most had not collaborated end-to-end before, and none were using Lean Startup or consumer psychology methods in a consistent, repeatable way. These are often the missing ingredients inside large corporations, not because people are not capable, but because the organisation lacks a shared system for learning fast and making decisions based on evidence.

We built the programme around a loop teams could actually run under pressure:

Research → Reflect → Experiment.

The goal was not to introduce more frameworks. It was to curate the right ones and make them usable. The deliverables were bespoke and adapted to ING’s existing processes, so teams could adopt them without a reinvention programme. We combined that with our own IP, including frameworks like GRAMS and NOREX, which helped teams access higher-quality data in less time and turn it into decision-grade insight.

We created a situational flow so teams could choose the right tools depending on context, then supported it with discovery templates, decoding frameworks, and decision templates that made the work repeatable. We coached teams live, on real ING projects, so capability was built while outcomes were delivered.

The impact showed up where it matters: decisions. A flagship savings product had performance issues that needed addressing, and the teams needed a clearer way to uncover what was driving customer behaviour and turn that into action. Once squads learned how to ask the right questions, identify the right data, and translate insights into next steps, they made targeted changes to comms and ad strategy and the product gained traction. More importantly, teams could move from idea to decision and test inside three months, faster than the typical 6–12 month cycle you often see in large institutions.

Then we made it scale. Everyone trained became an innovation “scout”. People kept their day job, but now had specialist capability and could be called on whenever more innovation was needed. It created internal leverage and reinforced a clear message: ING invests in capability, not just ideas. Squads also presented outcomes back to leadership, which made the work visible and helped normalise a faster, evidence-led way of innovating.

The output was practical and reusable: a playbook teams could run without us, templates that made discovery and decoding consistent, and a repeatable loop that turns “we should innovate” into “we tested it, learned fast, and now we know what to do next.”

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Turning Enterprise Customer Insight into

an Executable Roadmap (NATWEST) - UK

NatWest had no shortage of ideas. That was the problem. Too many initiatives, too many opinions, and prioritisation slowed down the upgrade of their B2B digital experience. When everything feels important, decision-making becomes a negotiation, and teams waste time building confidence instead of building the right thing.

Over 12 months, we worked with the Head of Digital and embedded as a “do it with you” team. UK-based delivery, supported by our team across Europe, combining hands-on discovery with capability building so the organisation could keep moving after we left.

The focus was simple: turn prioritisation into something evidence-led and hard to argue with. We ran customer discovery, mapped the end-to-end service (not just screens), and tested prototypes with existing enterprise customers. That work fed directly into a sequenced roadmap tied to customer journeys, pain points, and service dependencies, so the bank could prioritise what mattered and stop carrying everything at once.

Alongside delivery, we coached middle management in service design and innovation strategy. We brought in our IP (including GRAMS), advanced interviewing techniques, and agile ways of working. These are often the missing ingredients in larger organisations. Not because people are not smart, but because they do not have a consistent method for turning customer conversations into decision-grade insight, fast.

A Professional presenting prioritisaion with evidece

The outcomes were practical. Prototypes were tested with existing enterprise customers, and validated concepts and features were ready to move into build. Leadership adopted the prioritisation framework, which meant the work did not stay as a one-off project. It became a repeatable way to make roadmap decisions, align teams, and reduce the drag caused by constant re-prioritisation.

If you want B2B digital transformation to move faster, you cannot just collect more ideas. You need a system that tells you what to do next, what to deprioritise, and why the decision is defensible.

How AmEx (American Express) Protected Relevance as the Market Got Noisier - Mexico

American Express in Mexico was not trying to “catch up”. They were determined to stay ahead, especially as copycat competitors entered the market and started imitating benefits without understanding what actually drives cardholder choice and loyalty.

Over 3 months, we embedded with a cross-functional team and ran 40 interviews with Gold, Platinum, and Black cardholders. The goal was simple: understand what each tier truly values (beyond what people say they value), then turn that into decision-grade prioritisation.

We built behavioural personas and mapped value drivers using our IP, including GRAMS, NOREX, and behavioural-based persona maps. The output was not a generic research report. It was a combined segment + value map that made trade-offs easier and removed the usual internal guessing.

The impact was direct. Tier benefits were reshaped based on what cardholders actually cared about, not what competitors were copying and not what internal teams assumed. It gave American Express a clearer path to value creation by tier, and a more defensible way to stay relevant as the market got noisier.