The project
A leading banking client engaged us to design a practical and interactive way for relationship managers to understand how real credit assessments are performed. While many relationship managers understood the credit process conceptually, they lacked hands-on experience applying financial analysis, interpreting management behaviour, and evaluating shifting risk profiles as businesses evolve.
Traditional classroom training often relied on static, theoretical examples that did not reflect the complexity of real lending decisions. It also failed to demonstrate how credit risk changes over time – from early-stage growth through expansion and increased leverage. The bank needed a scalable, realistic training solution that would allow relationship managers to practise assessing businesses in a safe, risk-free environment, without exposing the institution to actual lending risk.
They required an interactive credit simulation that mirrored real-world scenarios and accelerated practical capability development.
The solution
We created a credit assessment simulation based around a pizza company – a fully immersive, one-day digital banking simulation built around the real financial statements of a fast-growing restaurant chain.
Designed as an end-to-end lifecycle credit experience, the simulation enables participants to calculate financial ratios, conduct structured financial analysis, and assess credit risk across multiple stages of a company’s development.
The experience begins with the company’s early financials, where participants build foundational ratio analysis skills and understand the basics of credit assessment. As the business enters a rapid growth phase, participants reassess its financial position, applying structured analysis to identify emerging risks and evolving credit dynamics.
In the final stage, the company undertakes international expansion. Participants sensitise forecasts, interpret real news reports, watch simulated management briefings, and analyse updated financial statements. They complete a simplified digital credit assessment, conducting structured red-flag and green-flag reviews before proposing an appropriate lending structure with covenants and conditions.
All decisions feed into a performance dashboard that illustrates the overall credit profile and lending outcome, providing immediate, data-driven feedback.
By combining real financials, multi-stage scenarios, digital media, and a credit decision engine, the simulation provides a hands-on learning environment that builds confidence and capability far beyond traditional training formats.
The impact
The simulation enabled the bank to deliver consistent, scalable, and highly practical credit training to its relationship managers. Participants developed stronger, more practical credit analysis capability, gaining confidence in interpreting financial statements, analysing trends, and identifying repayment risk.
They built fluency in applying key financial ratios and indicators that underpin sound credit decision-making. Importantly, the lifecycle structure of the simulation helped participants understand how credit profiles evolve as businesses mature – strengthening real-world judgement and risk awareness.
Relationship managers also gained deeper insight into how lending products, covenants, and facility structures can be designed to balance customer needs with prudent risk management. By completing a structured digital credit assessment, participants reinforced analysis-based recommendations and strengthened their confidence in real credit discussions.
The result was a more capable and commercially aware relationship management population, better equipped to structure facilities, assess risk dynamically, and make well-reasoned lending decisions in live client environments.
Trusted by leading financial institutions…
