RPA in banking and finance

Do you want to know what RPA or process automation in banking is?

RPA or Robotic Process Automation when used in financial institutions or banks, fulfills the function of automating all those processes that are done manually, in order to streamline work and get companies to make their way towards business digitization, achieving position itself in this competitive market. The implementation of RPA in Banks and Financial Institutions manage to see a positive ROI in a few weeks from its activation 

RPA in banking and finance favors the number of processes carried out by financial institutions and also the speed of response, in addition to the concrete results of the actions carried out with software robots. 

Banking and finance companies have had to modify and update their procedures given the profound boom that has been experienced regarding cryptocurrencies, automated payments, customer services and obtaining instant information through technological platforms. Modernization has had to appear quickly in the face of business and commercial needs. All businesses are implementing new technologies to gain competitive advantage. RPA technology is a priority for the digital transformation of the world.

Digitizing data to computer systems is undoubtedly one of the repetitive tasks par excellence, where RPAs can make use of their powers to be able to read, copy, select and manage to form new documents, send emails and thus deliver both agile how accurate information to customer services, back office workflows and wherever it is needed.

SEE SUCCESSFUL CASES IN BANKING AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

RPA and banking automation 

RPA lays the groundwork for process automation, and to take it further, banks have already started arming themselves with new automation technologies. Automation through RPA has enabled banks to significantly increase their performance in banking processes. Here we show how automation works in the banking sector.

• Thanks to Process Automation, banks can manage complex, slow and repetitive processes.
• These processes typically involve the use of structured and unstructured data.
• Using RPA, you can perform tasks that were previously performed by humans, but now you can rely on a digital workforce to classify, recognize, and manage the information you need.  
• Some work processes that previously required human intervention can now be fully automated.

RPA provides the building blocks needed to automate processes. To further improve RPA, banks are beginning to implement Artificial Intelligence (AI). This kind of digital intelligence can enhance the RPA experience, taking it to new levels. In this way, the Automation industry has been able to massively scale up business process automations within banks. 

• RPA enables banks to automate complex processes from start to finish.
• These processes typically involve the use of structured and unstructured data.
• Thanks to RPA and machine learning (ML), systems are able to communicate with each other, using human languages, classifying and recognizing constant patterns in processes.
• This understanding of the language allows RPA to operate in a fully automated way, even being able to give way to the workflow that previously required human intervention.

Main benefits of robotics in banking

Banks that implement RPA can elevate their customer experience while improving service quality and lowering costs. It is not uncommon for a bank to start seeing a positive return on investment in just a few weeks.

Here are some examples of how banks benefit from RPA:

No new IT infrastructure needed

With traditional IT projects, new infrastructure is often needed before the project can begin. However, implementing RPA in banking requires almost no new infrastructure. Banks can leverage existing IT infrastructure to start reaping the benefits. A unique feature of RPA is that it can leverage the native user interfaces of existing legacy systems to perform its automated tasks, making it a low-intrusive solution that relies on existing infrastructure.

Save of time and money

Due to COVID-19, cost-saving initiatives are a significant focus for banks to be competitive and provide better services. How does implementing RPA save banks time and money? The implementation of RPA in various operations and departments makes it possible for banks to execute processes faster. Research indicates that banks can save up to 75% on specific operational processes while improving productivity and the quality of their services. While some RPA projects lead to downsizing, many banks see an opportunity to use RPA to help their existing employees be more effective than before.

Improve processes

The digitization of data has allowed banks to reduce paperwork. RPA can quickly scan relevant information and gain strategic analytics. Several RPA tools provide drag & drop technology to automate processes with little or no development. In addition, bots continue to work 24/7 to handle data entry, payroll, and other mundane tasks, freeing humans to focus on more strategic or creative work.

Augment human workers with a digital workforce

The “digital workforce” concept is emerging these days due to the advancement of digital technologies. Robots take care of data entry, payroll, and other data processing tasks, while humans parse reports to gather useful insights. In addition, workers can have their banking robots help them quickly collect information and process data so that humans can complete their work more efficiently.

Installation and updating of banking processes can take as little as a week. In addition, robots can be tested in short-cycle interactions, making it easy for banks to “test and learn” how humans and robots can work together.

Better regulatory compliance

Banks and other financial institutions have to comply with many legal regulations. According to a recent report, more than 70% of compliance officers believe automation tools like RPA could significantly improve resource usage. RPA is available 24/7 and has shown great accuracy in driving the quality of fulfillment processes.

Through natural language processing (NLP), staff can use RPA tools to collect information and analyze various transactions against specific validation rules through natural language processing. If the RPA bots find a suspicious transaction, they can quickly flag it and contact their compliance officers to handle the case. This automated proactive surveillance can help prevent financial institutions from facing financial losses and legal problems.

Debts to pay

Managing accounts payable is a time-consuming process. It requires staff to digitize supplier invoices and then validate the information in each field before processing it. Using Intelligent Automation, including Optical Character Recognition (OCR), you can automate these repetitive processes by automatically reading invoices and crediting payments after correcting errors and validating data.

Credit card processing

Banks can take weeks to validate a credit card application. Slow processing times lead to unhappy customers, many of whom were even frustrated enough to cancel their requests. Now, the use of RPA has allowed banks to review credit card applications and send them quickly. It only takes a few hours for RPA software to analyze credit card applications, customer documents, customer history, to determine if a customer is eligible to receive a card. Credit card processing is now perfectly streamlined with the help of RPA software.

Mortgage processing

The processing of mortgages requires a lot of work, both for the clients and for the banks. Most US banks take 50-55 days to originate and complete a mortgage loan. Banks have to go through numerous steps like credit check, employment verification and inspection before approving the loan. Even a small mistake on the part of the bank or the customer could drastically slow down the processing of a mortgage loan.

However, RPA has speeded up the process for banks. It goes through established rules and eliminates potential bottlenecks, speeding up mortgage processing. For many banks, mortgage loan times can be reduced by up to 80%.

Fraud detection

The advancement of technology has caused an increase in fraud cases. It is now impossible for banks to thoroughly check each transaction manually and identify fraudulent patterns.

RPA uses algorithms to identify fraudulent transactions, flag them, and pass them on to the appropriate departments. Meanwhile, the suspicious account can be automatically put on hold to prevent any further illegal activity.

Know Your Customer Process

Banks are responsible for collecting information from their customers. RPA enables banks to collect, examine and validate customer information automatically. As a result, banks can complete this process faster and for less money while reducing the potential for human error.

Ledger

Banks deal with vast amounts of data every day, constantly collecting and updating essential information such as income, liabilities, and expenses. Banks use this information to prepare financial statements. The public media and other interested parties review the resulting financial reports to determine whether the relevant organizations are performing as expected. It is a challenge for banks to handle so much data and compile it into financial statements without any errors. With the help of RPA, banks can collect, update and validate large amounts of information from different systems faster and with less chance of mistakes.

Report automation

All actors in the banking sector must prepare financial documents on different processes to present to management and shareholders. Banks need to explain their performance and their challenges based on these reports. It is imperative that financial institutions do not make mistakes in their financial statements. Banks house huge volumes of data and RPA can make data management an easier process. Using RPA can help banks prepare reports with accurate data. You can collect information from various sources and organize it in an understandable format.

Account Closing Process

Each month, many customers can submit account closure requests to banks. Also, banks sometimes have to close customer accounts if they do not provide proof of funds. With the help of RPA, banks can send automatic reminders if customers have not submitted the required proofs. The RPA is also capable of queuing and processing account closure requests based on specific rules.