Lean Banking: Operational Excellence in the Financial Sector
Featuring a testimonial by Massimo Fieschi, Head of Quality & Processes – Crédit Agricole Italia. Lean Six Sigma has transformed industries worldwide, yet in the financial services sector its potential remains only partially expressed.
Banks operate in environments defined by complexity, regulation, risk, legacy systems and high expectations from both customers and regulators.
In this context, operational excellence becomes not just a goal — but a strategic necessity.
Lean Banking was created precisely to bridge this gap, offering a practical and scientifically grounded approach to rethinking how financial processes work and how banks can generate real, measurable value.
Project Overview
Lean Banking is one of the first books to translate Lean Six Sigma into a structured, concrete methodology for the financial sector.
Based on real improvement projects and decades of experience, the book provides tools, cases and frameworks to help banks improve speed, quality, risk management and customer satisfaction.
It demonstrates how Lean principles — traditionally associated with manufacturing — can be successfully applied to complex service environments such as credit operations, back-office, payment services, customer service and digital processes.
The Challenge: Complexity as a Barrier to Value
Financial institutions face unique challenges:
- fragmented, multi-step processes;
- high operational risk;
- increasing regulatory pressure;
- customer expectations shaped by digital-native competitors;
- high cost-to-income ratios;
legacy IT landscapes that slow down transformation.
Without a structured method, digitalization and efficiency projects risk creating more complexity instead of reducing it. Lean Banking provides the discipline and clarity needed to reverse this trend.
Testimonial – Massimo Fieschi, Crédit Agricole Italia
In Lean Banking, Massimo Fieschi, Head of Quality & Processes at Crédit Agricole Italia, offers a testimonial that reinforces the core message of the book:
“Lean Thinking brings order, clarity and purpose into banking processes. It removes unnecessary complexity and empowers people to improve.”
His perspective grounded in real operational management highlights three key truths:
- Excellence is achieved by people, not tools.
- Banking performance depends on end-to-end process visibility.
- A disciplined method is essential to accelerate digital transformation.
His testimonial strengthens the book’s message: Lean Banking is not theory it is a pragmatic way to transform how banks operate.
