A thesis by Wells Fargo analysts predicts that “the biggest headcount reduction in U.S. banking history” is underway due to Intelligent Process Automation. The study concludes that developers may be our new bankers. Thousands of organizations have decided to opt for Intelligent Process Automation in order to increase their operational efficiency and return on investment.

The study undertaken by WBR Insights: “Letting Go of Legacy IT Systems In 2021: The Accelerating Speed of Automation for Post-pandemic Capital Markets Firms” reported that approximately 70% of firms included in the report have increased their reliance on tech solutions, whilst 40% of firms included in the report expect an increase in Machine Learning investment. One report by Citigroup showed that the financial services industry is the biggest spender on Artificial Intelligence (AI) services. Automation can make operations safer, more efficient and improve employee morale. By removing repetitive tasks from an employee’s workload, Automation is contributing to a balance in work and social life, meaning that employees are more likely to have higher morale, which has been proven to increase ROI and efficiency.

There are three main areas that Automation has revolutionized within the financial industry.

1. CUSTOMER SERVICE

Banking hours are now a thing of the past. By introducing chatbots, customers can be assisted with general questions and instructions outside of human working hours. It also reduces the number of repetitive questions that can be answered quite quickly coming through to humans, allowing humans to dedicate more time to work on complex issues with customers. Automation also means that the organization can operate on quicker turnaround times, which is a great contributor to customer satisfaction. 24/7 attention to customers results in higher customer satisfaction, which equals higher customer retention.

2. COMPLIANCE CHECKS

Studies conducted by Oliver Wyman and Thomas Reuters found that in the case of banks, the average onboarding time for corporate banking customers took 90 to 120 days, with an average spend of $40m. With the use of Automation, compliance checks can be conducted 24/7, with a 100% accuracy rate – meaning that organizations are not at risk of fines, sanctions or potential closures due to non-compliance with AML and KYC regulations. Digital Worker can also be programmed to identify patterns of fraud from enormous amounts of data and to alert these to the relevant authorities, reducing the impact of these occurrences on customers and organizations.

3. LOAN AND MORTGAGE PROCESSING

Digital Workers are able to go through vast amounts of data and identify checks required for loan processing. Instead of relying on manual verification which can lead to human error and slow turnaround times, Digital Workers can carry out the checks required for loan processing and through AI and ML to formulate quotes in accordance with organization standards.

There are several checks required when processing a loan, as well as different documents that must be provided by the customer. The Digital Worker can be programmed to automatically request documents from a customer that it requires in order to carry out fraud and credit checks. Generally, when utilizing manual processes, loans go through a variety of individuals i.e. compliance officers and underwriters. Automation eliminates the requirement for cross-checking, which means that fewer individuals are required for just one task.

There are numerous use cases for Automation in the financial services industry. If you are interested in reducing process time and boosting customer satisfaction, then please get in touch with one of our experts.