Racing into a digitised evolutionary environment, experts urge banks to take things slow and focus on BPA
The ongoing pandemic has put tremendous pressure on banks worldwide to embrace creativity and innovation. Over 50 per cent of the Middle East population currently do banking on their mobile phones, while banks are on edge to drive their customer experience (CX) with Artificial Intelligence-enabled automation
An Automation Anywhere report predicts that Intelligent Automation could increase Saudi Arabia’s economy up to $1.6 trillion by 2030. Although banks are taking the effort to include AI into banking for better CX, experts recommend they excel at Business Process Automation (BPA) first. With promises of real-time insights and faster processes, efficient BPA can strengthen the bank-customer relationship before embarking on an efficient Intelligent Automation journey.
There are over 300 processes in retail banks that can be significantly improved with BPA. Some experts believe that the banking industry is not utilising the automation process to its full potential. A frequent and common mistake is for the C suite to convert their manual workflow processes into digital ones. What they do not realise is that this transition might not always work. Often, old manual processes need to be discarded and a new process put in motion.
Unsuccessful BPAs and incomplete business processes can lead to a direct loss of revenue and business inefficiency. High expectations from automating legacy systems without analysing their potential and requirement can also call for bad decisions and customer dissatisfaction.
Providing a closer view of any company scenario, BPA is proven to enhance work models and business processes. Experts reckon there are three essential banking purposes for which BPA is a perfect alternative.
Called smart rules-driven automation, banks can make decisions based on the iterated regulations for tasks that include file saving and data allocating. Second, BPA provides real-time analytics in a pre-timed function or with just a click of the button when required. It will be able to keep the bank ahead of its competitors by a smidge. Finally, it allows an open collaboration with human decisions. When faced with complications, the rules recommend the executives keep an eye on the progress of automation and adjust the working parameters for better results.
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Despite possible complications, BPA offers benefits, such as maximum profit and limited operating expenses. The BPA can adapt itself to any modification, unlike a change in human management. After scanning, accessing, and determining possible and best practice operations, the BPA can help enhance customer understanding with good data insights. The longer the BPA is in motion, the more sustainable are the results, making actions and decisions easier to execute. As a result, catering to customer demands and needs become simpler and consistent.
Taking a Hyper Step
When customers’ demands are consistently fulfilled, they begin to expect better engagement and instant fintech solutions. Only in such cases, experts recommend banks adopt hyper-automation, a name coined by Gartner, two years ago.
With its advanced ecosystem and digital solutions, hyper-automation possesses the ability to fulfil scalability, reduce costs, and provide better IT infrastructure. A particularly beneficial use case lies with lending. For instance, getting mortgage approvals has been a tedious task for bankers and a patience-testing process for customers. A manual and slow process, that consists of several credit check blocks and employment verification, can be accelerated by the combination of automation and blockchain.
There are several SaaS platforms and other companies that offer automation tools and services. For instance, with visibility and control, Bill Identity’s Utility Bill Management can process thousands of bills in 60 seconds and DocoPhase, with its document management software, acquired Clearwater Payments for a cloud-based payment solution provider.
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The post-pandemic chaos demands banks to put customer satisfaction in their digital business strategy. While Intelligent automation marks the future of banking, experts urge banks to excel in BPA. Meanwhile, research and analysis for a holistic AI-driven banking future can be underway. Recently, The Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre (FCSC) has recorded UAE to be in the list of top 10 countries that have succeeded in banking and fiscal policies. The Middle East seems to be on the right track.
