Why has the average time to approve new mPokket account applications increased from 2 hours to 6 hours over the past week?

Introduction

The recent increase in mPokket account application approval time from 2 hours to 6 hours over the past week is a critical issue that demands immediate attention. This significant slowdown in our onboarding process could negatively impact user acquisition, customer satisfaction, and ultimately, our bottom line. I'll approach this problem systematically, focusing on identifying the root cause, validating hypotheses, and developing both short-term fixes and long-term solutions.

Step 1

Clarifying Questions (3 minutes)

• Looking at the timing, I'm thinking there might be a recent change in our approval process. Has there been any update to our approval algorithms or criteria in the past two weeks?

Why it matters: Recent changes could directly correlate with the slowdown. Expected answer: Yes, we updated our risk assessment model. Impact on approach: If confirmed, we'd focus on the new model's performance and potential bugs.

• Considering the scale of the increase, I'm wondering about our current application volume. Has there been a significant spike in new account applications recently?

Why it matters: A surge in applications could overwhelm our current system. Expected answer: Application volume has increased by 30% due to a new marketing campaign. Impact on approach: We'd need to assess our system's scalability and resource allocation.

• Given the consistency of the increase, I'm curious about our approval team's capacity. Have there been any changes in staffing or work hours for the approval team?

Why it matters: Human factors could be contributing to the slowdown. Expected answer: No changes in staffing, but we've implemented a new training program. Impact on approach: We'd investigate the impact of the training on productivity and efficiency.

• Considering potential technical issues, I'm thinking about our system performance. Have we observed any unusual patterns in server load or database response times?

Why it matters: Technical bottlenecks could be causing delays in the approval process. Expected answer: There have been intermittent spikes in database query times. Impact on approach: We'd prioritize investigating and optimizing our database performance.