KPI governance: when a metric becomes a risk in private banking

In a private bank, a KPI is supposed to support decision-making. But when it is not governed, it quickly becomes a source of tension.

This is a real case observed in a Swiss private bank with more than 300 employees: a key indicator — assets under management — existed in nine different versions. The result was a Board under pressure and a growing lack of trust in the numbers.

When a KPI exposes a data governance issue

The issue was neither technical nor related to data availability. It was structural:

• different definitions across teams,
• business rules embedded in silos and rarely documented,
• calculations reproduced in spreadsheets or isolated BI tools.

As a consequence, Board and Executive Committee meetings were spent reconciling figures instead of making decisions.

What was implemented in less than 30 days

The bank adopted a pragmatic, business-first approach with Integraal for Banking.

In less than one month, three key levers were activated:

• deployment of the Integraal for Banking platform,
• harmonisation of key definitions through a shared data catalogue,
• consolidated data feeds available at J-1.

The goal was not to redesign existing systems, but to make business rules explicit, shared and governed.

Immediate and measurable results

The impact was rapid and quantifiable:

• 70% fewer BI tickets on the defined scope,
• a single shared version of the KPI,
• Executive Committee preparation reduced to 45 minutes instead of half a day.

Teams stopped producing and defending numbers and focused again on analysis and decision-making.

Business-first governance: fewer debates, better decisions

This case highlights a key point: KPI governance is not an IT topic — it is a core banking steering issue.

A business-first approach makes it possible to:

• restore trust in indicators,
• align management on shared definitions,
• make financial results, risks and performance visible and actionable.

The ROI becomes visible from the Starter phase.

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