As technological disruption continues to accelerate, the usage of artificial intelligence (AI) across different industries has become increasingly crucial. This statement applies to the financial services industry too, as it is imperative for banks to adapt these technologies at scale to stay ahead of the curve.
The success of deploying AI and process automation across the organization requires a thorough planning and concrete roadmap. Such holistic transformation must be executed throughout the multiple layers of the organization.
Unfortunately, many banks still lack a clear strategy of AI implementation, or still operate on legacy systems that limit the technology adoption. The following article serves as a guide that can help financial institutions (FI) leaders to develop a clear vision in becoming an AI-first bank.
Why banks should prioritize AI integration and intelligent automation
Banks that leverage on AI capabilities and adopt them in real time have the potential to increase value in four ways. For one, they can gain an edge by creating superior customer experiences with end-to-end automation, leading to stronger customer acquisition. Next, banks can enjoy higher customer lifetime value by continuously strengthening their customer relationships.
With AI and intelligent automation, FIs can also lower their operating costs significantly as many repetitive tasks such as document processing, reviews and decision makings can be automated. Lastly, banks can lower their credit risk by adopting a more sophisticated and detailed screening of their client’s portfolio, detecting early signs of behavioral risks and fraud.
Redefining customer experience with AI and automation
When it comes to implementing AI and intelligent automation, banks need to begin with repeatable, rules-based, and structured tasks. A common first step towards AI automation in banking is to adopt Robotic Process Automation (RPA), as it allows FIs to run repetitive processes such as data entry more efficiently, without overhauling existing systems.
Once the bank can see the value of implementing such technology, AI automation will then continuously be run by scale. The next step is to implement advanced AI automation such as Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning (ML), Neural Network, Computer Vision and natural language processing (NLP). When the banks are comfortable with the early stages of AI adoption, they will then implement process automation around unstructured data such as identity documentation, loan applications, and insurance forms.
With intelligent automation, customer service agents can perform their roles more effectively by automating log-ins or ordering tasks, therefore guaranteeing a more efficient service for the customers. It has the potential to improve the entirety of customer journeys across all touchpoints, as it allows the automation of closing accounts, sending notifications, blocking accounts, delivering security codes and managing transactions.
With end-to-end automation, banks can connect customers with processes, creating a dynamic integration as all systems and information across the organization are interconnected. This radical transparency can help bank employees to formulate better decisions and solve customer issues more efficiently, instead of focusing on repetitive tasks. By leveraging on intelligent automation, as well as aligning it with other layers of AI capabilities, banks can strengthen their competitive positioning and gain new opportunities in several critical areas (see below).
Ultimately, intelligent automation does more than replacing manual, administrative tasks with automated workflows. It also has the potential to help banks transform their business processes to become faster and secure, reducing the risk of human errors and compliance violations.
Leveraging on cognitive data capture for better customer experience
To further increase the success rate of full scale of AI implementation, FIs should employ cognitive data capture in order to automate acquisitions and integrations of information across the organization. This includes the integration of unstructured data in both business documents and emails. By leveraging on cognitive data capture and OCR technologies, FIs can gain the power to accurately process any document with boosted efficiency.
Dive into the future of financial services with INFOPRO
The acceleration of AI technologies and intelligent automation within the financial services industry in offering real-time solutions to customers can no longer be ignored. Such advancement is transforming banking workplaces and reshaping customer experiences, making end-to-end service automation is mission critical.
To learn more on the topic, be sure to attend our upcoming webinar, Driving Automation in Financial Services with AI for deeper insights shared by industry leaders.