Société Générale: Customer Satisfaction in Global Trade Finance and Cash Management, From Accelerator to Implementation
One of the world's largest banks invited thousands of startups to solve their CX challenge in trade finance. Ultimately, SurveyGauge was selected - and went from accelerator to strategic implementation in six months.
Thousands of startups applied. SurveyGauge was selected. When a bank with access to every solution on the market chooses you, that's the strongest validation there is
Indeed, trade finance is banking's most complex product area - letters of credit, guarantees, documentary collections. Standard surveys don't work here
From proof-of-concept to strategic rollout in six months. That's fast for a global bank
Moreover, feedback integrated into quarterly business reviews - not just a dashboard, but part of the governance structure
Selected among thousands
Société Générale, one of the world's largest banks, launched their Payment & Transaction Banking Accelerator in 2022. The brief: find the technology that can solve our CX challenge in trade finance. Thousands of startups from around the world applied.
SurveyGauge was selected.
It's worth pausing on what that means. In other words, a bank with access to every technology provider in the world assessed that SurveyGauge could deliver something the others couldn't. The selection happened in three rounds: screening by the bank's innovation team, evaluation by business units in Trade Finance and Cash Management, and final approval by senior leadership.
Six months of accelerator access gave us direct contact with the bank's business units, clients, and expertise. That's the kind of access that normally takes a year to negotiate. We went from proof-of-concept to strategic rollout.
Why trade finance is different
Trade finance is banking's most complex product area. Letters of credit, bank guarantees, documentary collections, supply chain finance. A single transaction can involve five countries, three currencies, and twelve weeks of processing.
As a result, standard customer satisfaction measurement doesn't work here. You can't send the same survey to a treasury manager in Tokyo and a compliance officer in Paris and expect meaningful results. Additionally, timing matters - ask too early, the transaction isn't complete. Ask too late, the client doesn't remember the details.
Furthermore, feedback was fragmented. Relationship managers had their impressions. However, there was no systematic data that could be aggregated across products, regions, and client segments. In an industry where competition for large corporate clients is fierce, that was a blind spot.
What we built
Transactional CSAT for Trade Finance. Short, targeted survey after transaction completion. Measures speed, accuracy, communication, and overall experience. Designed with respect for the fact that recipients are busy treasury professionals - not a 20-minute questionnaire, but precise questions that take under two minutes.
Relational measurement for Cash Management. Periodic measurement capturing overall satisfaction with platform, support, and advisory. Here it's not about the individual transaction, but about the long-term relationship.
Global reporting with local depth. Leadership gets an overview across regions and product areas - but can drill into specific markets and client segments.
Integration into the governance structure. Crucially, feedback is now included in quarterly business reviews. It's not a separate dashboard you can ignore - it's part of the existing decision-making process. Low scores trigger concrete follow-up. Positive feedback is shared with the teams that delivered.
Results
- Enterprise validation - implemented in one of the world's most regulated organisations. Proves the platform meets stringent requirements for data security, compliance, and operational stability
- Systematic customer insight in transaction banking - for the first time, the division has access to the client perspective across Trade Finance and Cash Management
- Action, not just data - feedback is actively used by client-facing teams to improve daily service
- Model for scaling - the implementation serves as a blueprint for rollout to other business units across the bank
What we learned
Global banking is a world of compliance, governance, and approval processes. Inevitably, everything takes longer than you expect. Specifically, the biggest challenge wasn't technical - it was navigating the bank's internal processes for data handling and client outreach. Our advice to others working with enterprise banking: invest time understanding the governance structure before you design the solution. It saves months.
Key Points:
- Selected among thousands of startups in Société Générale's P&T BAX accelerator
- Voice of Customer implemented for Trade Finance and Cash Management globally
- Transactional CSAT and relational NPS tailored to corporate banking
- Global reporting with regional granularity
- Feedback integrated into the bank's governance and review processes
Frequently Asked Questions
A single trade finance transaction can involve five countries, three currencies, and twelve weeks of processing. Who do you ask? When? And about what? For example, the treasury manager who initiated the case has a different perspective than the compliance department that approved it. Therefore, we designed a model that captures both perspectives without burdening busy professionals with lengthy surveys.
Six months of direct access to Société Générale's business units, clients, and expertise. That's the kind of access that normally takes a year to negotiate. In short, the accelerator compressed the entire process, from understanding the bank's context to delivering a working proof-of-concept. Consequently, that made it possible to go straight to strategic rollout.
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