For management boards, owners and supervisory boards
Post-merger integration in banks – so that two institutions become one
With the signature, the merger is decided, but far from completed. I lead the integration of organisation, sales and steering so that customers, supervisors and your own people support the transition – and the synergies end up in the figures, not just in the valuation report.
The starting point
The contract is signed. Now the real work begins.
A bank merger is prepared over months: valuation, due diligence, negotiation, board resolutions, approvals. Very few institutions are equally well prepared for the day after. Yet that is exactly where it is decided whether two institutions become one bank or two organisations under a shared logo.
Post-merger integration in a bank rarely fails because of the concept. It loses momentum in three places that recur in almost every institution.
The synergy exists only on paper
In the valuation model, the savings and income targets are neatly recorded. In day-to-day business, nobody is named as responsible for them. The integration then becomes an administrative project, and the synergies quietly evaporate.
Decisions are left pending
Who heads which division, which system stays, which branch closes? As long as that is open, the organisation waits. Every week without a decision costs trust and creates duplicate structures.
The wrong people leave first
Uncertainty hits first the people who are in demand on the market: strong relationship managers, experienced specialists, good managers. With them go customer relationships that appear in no synergy plan.
What is different about banks
A bank merger is not an industrial merger with different numbers
The tools of an M&A integration are similar everywhere: integration management office, target state, 100-day plan, synergy tracking. What sets a bank apart is the framework within which they have to be applied.
Supervision
Operations continue under scrutiny
Approval procedures help determine the timetable, and regulatory reporting, risk management and compliance must not pause for a single day during the integration. Every changeover therefore needs a sequence that the supervisor can follow as well.
Customers and sales
Customers notice the merger first in the advice they receive
New products, new contacts, new processes: what is a work package internally, the customer experiences as a break. Whether he stays depends on the relationship managers. That is why the integration of sales belongs at the beginning, not at the end.
Systems and processes
Two core banking worlds, one target state
The technical migration is a matter for IT. Which processes, authority rules and steering metrics apply afterwards is a leadership decision. If it is not taken in time, you migrate two old worlds into one new system.
Banking group and boards
Independent institutions, common rules
In mergers in the cooperative or savings bank sector, owners, banking group bodies and supervisory boards have a say. There, integration also means putting in order decision paths that previously ran differently in each institution.
The difference
I know integration from inside a bank, not from a textbook
I have experienced an acquisition from the inside: when Banco Santander took over GE Money Bank’s Austrian consumer finance business in 2009, I built the organisation that turned two sales cultures into one. In the Volksbank association, from 2019 to 2022, I coordinated the association-wide transformation topics of nine banks as Strategy and Transition Manager. And with golf-unique.com, I founded, built up and sold a company of my own – so I also know the other side of the table.
Conventional PMI consulting
Organises the integration
- Methodology, project plan, status reports
- Cross-industry templates
- A team that changes after the concept phase
Slotta Consulting
Leads the integration – with your people
- Experience from integrations in banks, from sales to steering
- As interim manager with accountability for results, if you wish
- One person from diagnosis to handover to line management
How it works
Four phases from signing to handover to line management
You can come in at any point, even if the integration is already under way and has stalled. After each phase you know where you stand and what the next step costs.
01
Before closing
Define the integration strategy and target state, assign synergies to names and dates, ensure readiness for day one: who decides what, who tells employees and customers what, and what has to work on the first day.
02
Day one and the first 100 days
Fill the leadership structure, set up integration management, retain key people. The 100-day plan sets a few priorities that show visible impact. That gives the organisation direction before the rumours do.
03
Bringing together
Bring together sales, processes, steering and authorities in a sequence that protects ongoing operations. Managers first, then the teams, with clear standards and a feedback loop instead of a wave of training.
04
Securing the impact
Track synergies until they show in the results, name open points and hand over responsibility to named individuals in line management. Then the integration is complete – and I leave.
From practice
Santander Consumer Bank: two sales cultures turned into one
After the change of ownership, the sales organisation continued to work according to the logic of the previous owner. My mandate from October 2009: build an organisation that takes new standards out across the network – managers first, then the teams, with individual follow-up instead of one-off training.
35branches in the sales organisation
≈ 190employees in the integration
8 weeksuntil the training organisation was up and running
avg. 84%in the knowledge test after the qualification programme
To the Santander Consumer Bank case study · To Programm Adler in the Volksbank association
Period 2009–2010. Details of structure, scope and test results from my own project documents; evidence available on request.
Your way in
Not every integration needs a large mandate straight away
Often the best first step is a clearly limited one. Three routes, depending on where you currently stand.
Before the decision · €500 to €700
Sparring on the integration
90 minutes on the question currently on your mind: sequence, staffing, communication. Confidential and with challenge. More on sparring
Diagnosis · fixed price €19,500 to €38,000
Integration diagnosis
Where does the integration really stand, where is it stuck, what are the next three steps? Two to four weeks, with the price fixed in advance. To the fees
Execution · mandate
Interim integration lead
I take over integration management or one integration workstream, such as sales, with responsibility through to handover. More on interim management
Frequently asked questions
What management boards want to know before a bank merger
When should integration planning begin?
Before closing, ideally already between signing and completion. In this phase, the target state, leadership structure and synergies are defined with named owners, and readiness for day one is established. If you only start planning after closing, you lose the first weeks – exactly the time when employees and customers are watching most closely what happens.
What belongs in a 100-day plan after a bank merger?
A few priorities with visible impact: the leadership structure filled and communicated, a functioning integration management, key people retained, an agreed plan for customer communication and sales, and the first synergy measures with names and dates. A 100-day plan that contains everything sets no priorities.
What belongs on a post-merger integration checklist for banks?
Seven points that should be settled before day one: the target state and the leadership structure; every synergy with an owner, a date and a metric; an integration management office with a fixed decision rhythm; the communication to employees and customers for day one; a plan to retain key people and relationship managers; the sequence of system and process changeovers, coordinated with supervisory requirements; and the handover to line management with named owners. A checklist without names and dates is a wish list.
How do you make sure the synergies actually materialise?
Every synergy is broken down into measures, and every measure gets a responsible person, a date and a metric. Tracking distinguishes between planned, implemented and secured in the results – together with controlling and finance, so that the same figures apply at the end. A synergy is only realised when it shows in the profit and loss account.
How do we retain customers and relationship managers during the integration?
By involving sales early, not only at the system changeover. Relationship managers need clarity before their customers do: about their own role, the products and the processes. Managers are prepared first so that they can answer questions instead of passing on rumours. At Santander Consumer Bank, that is exactly how we started: the regional managers before their teams.
What role does banking supervision play?
An important one for the timetable: approvals must be in place, and regulatory reporting, risk management and compliance continue without interruption during the integration. Integration planning has to take that into account. Legal support for the procedures belongs with your lawyers. I make sure the organisation remains able to act in the meantime.
Do you also take on integration leadership as interim manager?
Yes. I can be responsible for integration management as a whole or for a single workstream such as sales, with a clear mandate, a fixed time frame and a reporting line to the management board or managing directors. This often makes sense when your own managers have to secure day-to-day business at the same time.
What does support for a post-merger integration cost?
A sparring session costs €500 to €700 per conversation; an integration diagnosis is available at a fixed price of €19,500 to €38,000, depending on scope. For an interim mandate in the banking environment, daily rates are €1,700 to €2,500. After the first conversation you receive an offer with scope, duration and price. The first conversation itself is free of charge. Prices for businesses, net plus VAT. All fees and terms: Fees & terms. Errors and omissions excepted; subject to change. Only the written proposal is binding.
Do you also support mergers within a banking group?
Yes. In the Volksbank association I saw how differently legally independent banks work and how much coordination a common structure requires. This experience can be transferred to mergers in the cooperative and savings bank sectors throughout Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
Clear limits
What I do not take on
- No legal or tax advice. Contracts, approval procedures and tax structuring belong with your lawyers and tax advisers, with whom I am glad to work.
- No company valuation and no due diligence. I start where the transaction has been decided and execution begins.
- No technical IT migration. I make sure the business decisions are taken in time. The migration itself remains with your IT and its partners.
Next steps
Three ways to get a clearer picture
Self-assessment · 4 minutes
How robust is your project? 20 statements, instant results, no registration.
Case study
Programm Adler in the Volksbank association
Nine banks, one common structure – and what an association-wide reorganisation demands.
Let’s talk about your integration
In 30 minutes we clarify:
- where your project stands – before signing, before closing or already in the middle of it
- where the biggest bottleneck lies today
- whether I am the right person for it – and if not, who can do it better
Confidential from the start. What you tell me in the first conversation stays between us. On request, I sign a confidentiality agreement in advance. The conversation is free of charge, and there is no obligation.