Noria helped Norway’s leading project bank develop, build and maintain a digital, automated and cost-efficient alternative to traditional factoring services. As a truly innovative financial services provider, Pareto Bank wanted to reinvent financing of operations for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Realising that SMEs are often overlooked and underserviced by traditional banks, Pareto Bank proposed a solution that would make it easier for SMEs to obtain financing.

Valuing our team’s combination of banking industry knowledge, IT expertise and project-management skills, Pareto Bank chose Noria to help refine their idea and turn it into a fully digital working capital solution.

The challenge

Although SMEs are a cornerstone of the Norwegian corporate market, they often struggle to meet the strict requirements of larger banking institutions when applying for loans. This means they have to manage with expensive and inefficient factoring solutions to finance their operations.

Pareto Bank came to Noria with an idea for a digital and fully automated solution that could compete with traditional factoring services. We helped Pareto Bank develop the concept into a working prototype and, ultimately, a viable product for SMEs

Noria’s approach

The idea: Pareto Bank aimed to create and go to market with a product that could provide SMEs with a flexible credit limit based on their accounts receivable at any given time.

The bank wanted a cloud-based solution that could be integrated with third-party accounting systems via an automated and paperless application process. To achieve this, we helped the bank transform their idea into a viable product through two primary phases.

NORIA’S TWO-PHASE APPROACH:

First, we initiated a concept development phase to transform Pareto Bank’s idea and high-level requirements into a detailed requirement specification and a working prototype. Working iteratively, we:

• Mapped the complexity of the required functionality.
• Made sure that all potential risks were identified and managed.
• Successfully integrated a working prototype with a select number of third-party accounting systems.

Even during the concept development phase, Pareto Bank was able to extract value by demonstrating a working prototype to potential partners

Secondly, after the successful concept development phase, Noria took on the role of project management for the development phase of the project. This involved:

• Transforming the high-level functional requirements into detailed user stories.
• Establishing a collaborative working environment between the development team, the project-management team and Pareto Bank.

Noria also worked closely with third-party financial data vendors to build a scoring model that helped ensure the application process for SMEs would be fully automated.

Benefits

Noria acted as a full-stack provider for Pareto Bank by providing consultancy services, developing the system, and taking care of the system operation.

Erik Skarbøvig, head of corporate banking at Pareto Bank, says Noria was instrumental in driving the project forward. “So many great ideas in fintech never get off the ground, but with Noria’s help the digital working capital solution for SMEs is now a reality”,. “From concept development all the way through to product launch, Noria worked iteratively and collaboratively to ensure the project was a success.”

Pareto Bank now offers SMEs a brand-new cloud solution for financing of operations– a cheaper, fully digitalized and more efficient alternative to traditional factoring services.

Benefits include a paperless and straightforward application process which allows customers to retain their existing banking connections. The solution also offers flexibility because the credit limit is a result of outstanding claims at any given time. Pareto Bank’s solution is cost-efficient for SMEs because they only use and pay interest rates on the credit they need.

Get in touch

Noria delivers high-impact digital transformation for financial services. If you are looking to launch a new digital banking product, we enable you to do this fast, simply and efficiently. Contact us today to find out more.