Regional banks must combine high-quality customer service with efficient processes, regulatory compliance and increasing digitalization. The end-to-end credit process is particularly demanding because several organizational units contribute to the processing of financing requests. This study examines the credit process of a regional Swiss bank from a Business Process Management perspective and analyzes how organizational structures, interfaces and responsibilities influence process performance.

The current end-to-end credit process was documented and visualized using Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN). Semi-structured interviews with employees involved in the credit process were complemented by interviews with representatives of selected peer banks and an analysis of process documentation. The empirical material was evaluated using qualitative content analysis according to Mayring and interpreted based on established Business Process Management concepts.

The analysis shows that the existing credit process provides a strong operational foundation and is professionally executed. The greatest potential for further development lies primarily in organizational rather than technical factors. In particular, the allocation of responsibilities and decision-making authority, standardized handovers, cross-functional collaboration and harmonized working procedures represent relevant areas for further process development. The peer comparison demonstrates that regional banks can pursue different organizational approaches despite operating under comparable regulatory and technological conditions. Based on these findings, five areas for further development were identified: roles and responsibilities, organizational interfaces and communication, differentiated approval competencies, process standardization and continuous process management. Together, they provide a structured framework for the sustainable development of end-to-end credit processes in regional banking.