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Digitization and Modernizing using Intelligent Automation

Digitization and Modernizing using Intelligent Automation

  • Pawan Jadhav
  • July 15, 2021
Category: Robotic Process Automation, Intelligent Automation, Banking, AI

Moving the banking industry toward digital transformation is not a new endeavor; yet, post-2020, the focus has changed. While banks and financial institutions have explored and invested in the digitization and modernization of systems using Intelligent Automation (IA), the focus was largely on how to improve customer service. Following the tumultuous COVID pandemic, financial institutions have a renewed focus on automation and the operations side of their business, given the unexpected influx of loan applications (via the Paycheck Protection Program) and subsequent forgiveness processes.

Still, change is hard. The focus has changed, yet legacy systems continue to be the mainstay in the banking industry. While manual efforts are arduous and inefficient, much of the workforce is accustomed to performing these tasks and adoption of IA seems daunting. What you may not know is there are many IA technologies, including workflow orchestration, that Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can help create a layer of modernization using the same legacy infrastructure but provide a better customer experience and overcome data silos. Examples of these include email case management, self-service, contact center AI and many more.

As per a leading publication and research:

  • 60% of customer dissatisfaction sources originate in the back office.
  • 10-20% of contact center volumes are a result of execution issues in the back office.
  • Only 30% of banking executives feel that their operational processes can adapt quickly to external changes.

RPA

Modernizing or digitizing banking legacy systems and applications can be done via three key methods:

  1. Build a Modern Application Layer: This implies that you put your systems in the backend and let a layer of automation provide the user interfaces and workflow to interact with the age-old systems. You can do this using low-code citizen developer friendly technologies like Microsoft Power Platform. For instance, you can do this for loan verification, approval, onboarding and even servicing.
  2. Automate Connectivity: You can use APIs, where possible, or Robotic Process Automation where it is expensive and/or impossible to use APIs and this will help you automate or streamline transfer of data from one system to another. Technologies like Blue Prism, UiPath or Automation Anywhere can help. For example, you can use this for connecting your CRM to the loan origination system or even origination to servicing or core platforms.
  3. Provide Visibility and Increase Self -Service: Use analytics and dashboard to provide insights into operational metrics. Or you can also use interactive portals, Contact Center AI, chatbots etc. to provide modern layer/connectivity to provide self service capabilities to your commercial or retail borrowers.

The Business Impact of RPA and Intelligent Automation (a Case Study): Value In, Value Out

At Lateetud, we’ve walked clients through this process, once they’ve identified operations inefficiencies – particularly in their loan onboarding and servicing processes, which include slow-downs in opportunity assessment, pre-closing, and servicing stages of the loans. Holding on to manual processes in these areas have consequences; banks experience longer cycle times, higher error rate and longer service maintenance times. In one case, Lateetud helped Citizen’s Bank create ease and efficiency for teams with RPA, ultimately providing rapid, measurable value.

RPA

The process was phased: first, we helped them choose the right RPA technology and identify the first set of pilot processes for automation and then conducted structured, comprehensive process assessments to create a roadmap based on the value delivered. Next, we moved Citizens Bank to extend the capabilities of RPA even further by incorporating Business Process Management/Digital Workflow and Intelligent Data Extraction into their operations. Today, Citizens Bank enjoys the following improvements:

  • The commercial loan closing and onboarding cycle time reduced from 60 days to under 10 days.
  • Manual labor hours for loan onboarding and servicing were reduced by 32 FTEs.
  • Email review is now managed by 2 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) resources, vs. a previous 8.
  • Instead of entering data during loan processing with millions of keystrokes, 90% of the process is now automated for 15 million keystrokes.
  • The business banking loan onboarding process cycle time was reduced from 25 minutes to 8 minutes.
  • They experienced a 50% faster release of collateral for closed loans.
  • They experienced a 50-80% reduction in service and maintenance time, depending on the complexity of the loan.

Modernizing using IA Means Future-Proofing Your Business

More and more, you’ll find economic experts and financial analysts who advocate for anticipating unexpected events that can shake up business as usual. If we learned anything from the COVID pandemic, it’s that the only constant is change and preparation is the best prevention. As digital transformation charges on, touching processes and systems in multiple industries and sectors, the competitive future of financial institutions may rest on its willingness to embrace automation and its impact on inefficiencies – in both customer service and operations.

Yet, as with any investment in technology, banks will inevitably experience cultural change with digitization. Most important is not only enthusiastic and supportive buy-in from management but seamless adoption from users. It’s important to remember that digital transformation is just that – transformative. While this clearly connotes positive change in many ways, financial institutions need the right partner to walk them through the process and adapt to end-to-end solutions in a way that clearly outlines their value for the organization. Reach out to us and let us help. Visit: https://www.lateetud.com/contact-us