Robotic Process Automation(RPA) in Banking and Finance

Banking meets RPA

Banking and finance industry is completely process-oriented where every activity goes through a stringent process of completion and is done meticulously to avoid errors in processing. However, considering the repetitive nature of the tasks, the scope for human error increases, which in turn results in losses. Recently, leading financial institutions such as Deutsche Bank and Axis bank have started automating processes that involve high transaction volumes to minimize the errors.

In fact, a report by KPMG states that in the next 15 years, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) will be performing almost 75% of the existing offshore jobs, which could result in saving cost on operations and other factors.

Benefits of implementing RPA in the Banking and Finance industry

Increases the staff’s efficiency level by 35-50% by automating mundane tasks
Enhances customer satisfaction by processing loans at a faster rate
Helps in adhering to the large number of compliance rules
Scales up the processes with minimal errors

Uses of RPA in Banking and Finance Industry

Card activation

The card activation team follows a set of guidelines before activating a card. Sometimes, the large number of requests leads the team to overlook certain guidelines, which eventually leads to negative ramification. There are also incidents of delay in activating the card, as the bank has to coordinate with different departments and enter the customer details manually in case of gaps or errors, which leads to customer dissatisfaction. RPA helps in reducing the human efforts by running the compliance rules and validating the request. In case of an issue, the RPA automatically flags the issue to the concerned department, which leads to faster resolution. The quick turnaround helps in activating the cards at a faster pace and boosts customer satisfaction.

Account Opening

To open a new account, the bank first verifies the details of the customer. It takes a lot of time to validate and open a new account. To reduce the waiting period, RPA helps the team in validating the customer’s identity, their past credit score, and their employee records and address details. It also validates if the customer meets all the compliance rules and informs the validation team in case of any discrepancies. Once the validation is completed, the software automatically creates a new account and shares the details with the customer.

Anti-money laundering

Money laundering is a pressing issue in every financial institution. RPA helps the banks in collecting the transactions and analyzing the quality of the transactions based on certain validation rules. In case of suspicion, the software intimates the compliance department, who then probes into the matter. By flagging the issue on time, RPA can help in reducing crimes and save the financial institutions from reputation damage.

Know Your Customer

Financial institutions have made it mandatory for the customer to fill the Know Your Customer (KYC) form before opening or operating an account. The step was a measure taken to ensure that all the account holders abide by the law and have not earned money through any illegal means. Considering the huge significance that KYC has and the huge volume of customer details to be validated within a short duration, financial institutions have been adopting RPA to validate the customer’s identity by matching to the customer’s previously known records. The bank allows the customer to operate the account only if the RPA approves the validation of all the regulatory requirements. The quick process of validation has enhanced customer experience and has led to improved accuracy in the customer data.

Client onboarding

When a customer fills in an account opening form, their details go through different departments before they are onboard. Considering the time taken by different departments to validate the details, the probability of a delay is inevitable. There is a considerable time lapse when the customer fills the form and when onboard, which leaves the customer with a bad experience. RPA automatically fills all the information related to the customer by considering the previous available data. It validates the customer’s identity by matching it with the previous data and initiates the onboarding process once the validation is complete. The entire process is done at an accelerated pace and with more accuracy, which enables the financial institutions to onboard the customer quickly and thereby improve their experience.