Banking Sector Automation!

Introduction to Banking Automation

Banking automation is any task that was once performed by an in-person teller, and which is now fully automated. At its most basic level, banking automation can look like an automatic coin counter, which functions to quickly and accurately count large amounts of coins without human intervention

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Why are financial institutions looking to automation?

At United Delta, we believe that the economy, and the banking sector along with it, are moving quickly toward a technology-focused model. The automation in banking industry standards is becoming more proliferate and more efficient every year. Institutions that embrace this change have an excellent chance to succeed, while those who insist on remaining in the analog age will be left behind.

New exclusively online banks, FinTech companies, and other technology companies that offer financial services and products are taking up market shares of traditional banks and upending the banking landscape as we know it. This trend is by no means the end of legacy banks. Instead, they must adapt and push ahead of their competition.

While declining market shares are indeed driving some of the technological transition, banks should also remember that automation has massive implications for improving their customers’ experiences while improving cost efficiency. The transition to tech is not random. It is a function of a societal understanding that the best business models for both company and client include automation.

?Personalize the customer experience

Automation allows for a higher degree of personalization than could ever be provided by in-person models. Automated systems can easily send out surveys to collect as much data as possible about customers’ satisfaction with their banking experience. These systems can also collate and analyze the data, allowing decision-makers to make informed plans to improve the customer experience.

?Data-driven decision making

Financial institutions are also looking towards automation to make more informed, rigorous marketing decisions. Banks can use algorithms to track hidden client spending patterns, specific needs, and interests. They can then use this information to create and deliver effective marketing campaigns at precisely the right time. They can achieve faster results on test campaigns through automated data collection, allowing for a quicker and more efficient marketing strategy.

Automated tools can detect patterns that humans might have missed and implement these results faster than humans can, giving marketing teams the free time to create the most innovative campaigns possible. These automation strategies work. In fact, data-driven marketing may be able to increase return on investment by 15-20% through personalization and efficiency improvements.

Reinforce cybersecurity and identity protection protocols

Another significant benefit offered by automation services is enhanced cybersecurity with minimal extra investment. Cybersecurity is an essential part of today’s financial discourse, and the banks with leading cybersecurity measures will have a massive edge over the competition. Automation helps reinforce cybersecurity and identity protection protocols that are already in place while adding extra steps when necessary.

Automated banks can freeze compromised accounts in seconds and fast-track manual steps to streamline fraud investigations, among other abilities. Cloud computing makes it easier than ever before to identify and analyze risks and offers a higher degree of scalability. This capability means that you can start with a small, priority group of clients and scale outwards as the cybersecurity landscape changes.

Empower their workforce

There is a scarcity of digital, data, and cyber skills available in the market. Knowing this, companies need to make re-skilling an imperative. Re-skilling employees instead of recruiting new ones can deliver immediate value. It also enhances employee satisfaction through perceived job security. When you empower employees to take on additional high-skill roles instead of mundane tasks, employee satisfaction will increase, and their customer interactions will improve. Re-skilling your labour force is a sure-fire way to improve customer satisfaction with in-person interactions while creating a skilled, passionate workforce.

In addition to reducing costs and capturing efficiencies, augmentation and automation can free up time to refocus on high-value work such as innovation, customer relationships, and offering development. Newly re-skilled employees, especially ones who know the company inside and out through years of employment, can drive sustainable improvements in your bank from the inside.

How is banking automation transforming the financial services industry?

Financial services institutions could augment 48% of tasks with technology by 2025. This number means substantial economic gains for many different players in the financial sector. If banks, insurers, and capital marketing firms automate only 7-10% of tasks, they will generate additional cost savings of US $12 billion, US$7 billion, and Us$4 billion, respectively. Further automation could help banks, insurers, and capital markets companies generate gains of US$59 billion, US$37 billion, and US$21 billion, respectively.

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What challenges are banks still facing?

Many legacy banks have been around for a long time. Structures and workflows exist in these banks built to optimize efficiency in an analog system, which do not lend themselves easily to digital change. These structures present challenges, but the banking automation process also offers a unique opportunity to rethink and restructure internal operations, cut out inefficiencies, and optimize systems to deal with future technology.

Furthermore, banks face a unique challenge in that one internal process can touch multiple lines of business. It is essential to implement automation solutions when the process connects different business systems, units, and tools. In this way, you can be sure to streamline instead of segment processes through automation.

Another critical challenge to consider is customer satisfaction. While automation can improve banking efficiency, provide on-demand answers to questions, and convenient mobile help, many customers will be averse to change. Furthermore, as with any significant restructuring, there are bound to be some growing pains wherein unexpected friction points appear. As teams redesign the banking process, they must have clear goals and avenues to receive and implement customer feedback to minimize friction points.

Banks may also find that as they automate more processes, employee satisfaction may decline with their perceived job security. Banks must make it clear to their employees from the start that automation does not necessarily mean decreased hiring. Instead, automation takes care of the simple, repetitive tasks that employees find the most mundane and empowers them to use all their time to deal with complex, high-profile cases.

Reasons why you need to add automation to your bank

Real-time data processing

Banks are subject to an ever-growing number of regulations, risk management policies, trade monitoring changes, and cash management scrutiny. Even the most highly skilled employees are bound to make errors with this level of data, but regulations leave little room for mistakes. Automation is a phenomenal way to keep track of large amounts of data on contracts, cash flow, trade, and risk management while ensuring your institution complies with all the necessary regulations. Even better, automated systems perform these functions in real-time, so you will never have to rush to meet reporting deadlines.

Greater Efficiency

Automated systems can perform the work of several employees almost instantaneously, and a sound system can complete the job with almost zero errors. A human worker cannot match this fast and effective processing service. Today’s customers want service fast, and they are not patient with human error. That is why automated services will improve customer satisfaction, all while making internal operations more efficient.

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Cost Savings

While making your operations more efficient, automation for banking also saves significant quantities of money. Automated systems perform the work of several human employees and cost a fraction of the price to operate. An initial investment in automation technology and internal restructuring has a high return on investment. Once you set up the technology, the only costs you will incur are tech support and subscription renewal.

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Better Customer Experiences

We know that customers value a fast and efficient banking experience, but banking automation can take the customer experience much further than that.

Automated chatbot technology means that customers can access their branch 24/7 from anywhere in the world to receive a personalized service experience. Banking chatbots can perform a lot of the same functions as human tellers. They can also save all the chat information to personalize and improve the customer experience for the next interaction.

Chatbots reduce wait time in long queues, one of the cornerstones of an excellent modern customer experience. They also reduce time spent transferring from one department to another because they can collect enough data from their automated interaction to transfer the client directly to the person best equipped to solve their problem. Customers also value the ability to interact on their preferred platform, be that a phone call, SMS, email, or social media. Chatbots can save these preferences and perform banking interactions with customers right where they are most comfortable.

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New Working Areas

When banks offload their more straightforward tasks to automated technology, they can use their extra financial and human resources to expand into new working areas. Departments like innovation and marketing can develop ground-breaking new ways to do banking when the institution is not stuck in a rut of routine transactions every day. Your bank can spend more time expanding into other markets, designing more efficient solutions, and running more comprehensive studies on customer experience and how to improve it.

When you can stop focusing on the day-to-day, you can turn to the future instead. This automation model will allow you to become the disruptor instead of the disrupted. Once you can focus entirely on the future, you will find that it is ever easier to operate a sustainable, cost-efficient institution where both customers and employees are satisfied.

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Why automation is important to banking industry

Financial automation allows employees to handle a more manageable workload by eliminating the need to manually match and balance transactions. Having a streamlined financial close process grants accounting personnel more time to focus on the exceptions while complying with strict standards and regulations.

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United Delta’s Banking Customers in the GCC:

● Saudi National Bank (Saudi Arabia, customer since 2013):

The Saudi National Bank (SNB) is the largest financial institution in Saudi Arabia and one of the largest powerhouses in the region. SNB plays a vital role in supporting economic transformation in Saudi Arabia by transforming the local banking sector and catalyzing the delivery of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. Its strategy is closely aligned with the Vision’s programs. SNB also leverages its position as the most significant institutional and specialized financier in the Kingdom to support the Kingdom’s landmark deals and mega projects. Appian usage covers retail products such as personal financing, credit cards, and project financing applications—hundreds of integrations with different internal and external systems.

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● Capital Market Authority, (Saudi Arabia, Customer since 2015)

CMA’s functions are to regulate and develop the Saudi Arabian Capital Market by issuing required rules and regulations for implementing the provisions of Capital Market Law. The primary objectives are to create an appropriate investment environment, boost confidence, reinforce transparency and disclosure standards in all listed companies, and protect the investors and dealers from illegal acts in the market. They embarked on their digital transformation Journey in 2015 using the United Delta’s low-code platform; today, they have more than 20 production applications that cover their core business functions, including new license registration, IPO, internal budgeting, arbitration, compliance, legal operations, financial evaluation, etc.

● Bank of Fujairah (UAE, Customer since 2016)

National Bank of Fujairah is a full-service corporate bank that offers corporate and commercial banking, treasury and trade finance services, personal banking options, and Shari’a-compliant services. Full digitization of all the bank applications on Appian, applications that cover internal operations and staff management, and several banking products related to project financing, personal loans, collections, remittance, compliance, customer onboarding, KYC, Retail, and Corporate loans.

● Etihad Bank (the Levant, Customer since 2016)

Etihad bank is one of the few banks in the region that is 100% digitized. They have built more than 30 mission-critical applications on our low-code platform. Etihad bank has been enjoying total agility and resilience. Using technology and its ease of use, they have managed to attract thousands of new customers. Their digitization exceeded all expectations. Using the United Delta’s low-code platform, Etihad bank built eKYC, Ledger, Payments, transfers, Identity management, Fraud prevention, CRM for banks, Lending, Cards, Document authentications and storage system, Customer onboarding, and Trade finance Investment.

● Zend Bank (UAE, Customer Since 2020)

The first digital bank in the middle east, the Appian platform, is used for all the bank functions and products. In addition, they are currently working on Bank as a service; product where clients will enjoy mobility and agility in their banking needs.

● Bank Misr (Egypt, Customer since 2020)

Banque Misr was established in 1920 by the pioneer economist and financial expert Mohamed Talaat Harb Pasha, who spearheaded the concept of investing in national savings and directing them towards economic and social development. Banque Misr has funded many businesses spanning multiple domestic sectors, such as textiles, insurance, transportation, aviation, entertainment, and filmmaking. Currently, BM owns shares in 157 companies across different fields ranging from finance, tourism, housing, agriculture and food, and communication and information technology. Appian is new in Misr Bank. Currently, they are digitizing many internal services and several banking products, with customers facing services and integrations.

● Quds Bank (Palestine, Customer since 2020)

Established in Ramallah in 1995, Quds Bank has been a trusted partner for individuals and businesses in Palestine, helping drive their financial success and personal well-being by offering proficient and reliable banking services. Over the years, Quds Bank has redefined the essence of banking through its four key pillars:

Relationship building, Simplicity, Efficiency, and Convenience. Aligning with Quds Bank objective in becoming the first digital bank in Palestine, they built 10 Core Applications on the Appian platform in less than ten months. Currently, they have CRM, Board Management, Internal Correspondent System, eKYC, Customer’s Certifications applications on top of the Appian platform.

● Abdul Latif Jameel (Saudi Arabia, Customer since 2017) Abdul Latif Jamil comprises diversified businesses with deep roots in the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey (MENAT region). They established an extensive operations infrastructure, built the most prominent vehicle distribution network in Saudi Arabia, and accumulated comprehensive automotive expertise. ALJ is one of the pioneers in adopting digital transformation across all its business domains. Their digital transformation journey and Appian started in 2016 and have deployed 35 applications and counting across Finance, Sales, After Sales, HR, Legal, Insurance, IT, Compliance and Risk Management & Associate Care. Appian is at the core of their digital tech-stack, integrates with all their systems, and orchestrates data and workflows.