The financial services landscape is changing rapidly. As more customers move their money to online-only co-ops and invest in cryptocurrency, traditional financial institutions like banks, credit unions, building societies and investment management firms must revolutionise their services or face losing revenue to new digital disruptors.

Financial providers are realising that providing a seamless, personalised customer experience is critical to retaining their tech-savvy customers and attracting new ones. Today’s clients expect their banking experiences to be self-service, digital-first and reflective of their needs.

With global investments in automation growing in double digits, according to an International Data Corporation (IDC) survey, and increasingly strict compliance regulations, companies worldwide are making automation a central part of their business strategies. Compliance is especially important for the financial industry. Automation can mitigate risk by automatically detecting potential fraud cases, documenting client transactions and ensuring workflows adhere to standards.

The IDC survey discovered top priorities for automation in 2023 are:

• Lower operating costs (42%)
• Greater efficiency (41%)
• Improving customer satisfaction (41%)

Automation technologies assist financial institutions in optimising the customer lifecycle, helping them stand out from their competitors by streamlining onboarding, managing accounts and ensuring quick service. Contact centre features like personalisation engines, chatbots and virtual assistants enhance the customer experience by providing fast, accurate and customised support across multiple channels.

Other important benefits of automating key workflows include increasing organisational efficiency, compliance and scalability in an increasingly competitive market. Financial institutions risk falling behind their more technologically advanced peers if they don’t prioritise automation.

Top Benefits of Automating Financial Workflows

(Photo: Automating financial services workflows can provide the best customer experience)

As financial institutions transition from manual processes and physical assets to digital procedures and online banking, they rely increasingly on automation to manage every aspect of their operations. From improving the customer experience to processing sensitive documents, organisations must centre their IT strategies around automation to stay on top of the competition.

1. Efficiency

Financial services often include repetitive tasks, such as authorising payments or monitoring fraud. Automation can manage these processes faster and with less error than humans. By automating workflows, institutions can operate more efficiently, reduce manual errors and free up staff to focus on more complex tasks.

2. Cost Savings

(Photo: Automating financial services workflows can provide the best customer experience)

IDC identified lower operating costs as the top automation priority. With workflow automation, financial service organisations can reduce costs associated with manual labour and free up resources for other important business functions.

3. Compliance

Storing and processing sensitive data in the cloud has led to heightened compliance regulations, such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), MiFID II, GDPR, Dodd-Frank and PCI DSS, to improve digital risk management, security, and resilience. Automating workflows ensures compliance processes are standardised and strictly followed, reducing the risk of errors and omissions and minimising regulatory issues and fines.

4. Scalability

(Photo: Online financial providers can see high volumes of transactions)

Online financial providers can reach a much more diverse customer base, resulting in high volumes of transactions. Automating workflows can help financial service organisations scale their operations more efficiently by reducing the need for additional staff as the business grows.

5. Improved Customer Experience

Today’s clients expect quick, personalised banking services at their fingertips. Front-end automation, such as virtual assistants and customised portals, reduces turnaround times, increases accuracy and gives customers real-time access to their information.

6. Automated Customer Onboarding

(Photo: Manual onboarding in the financial services sector should be replaced with automated workflows where possible)

Traditional onboarding can be time-consuming and meticulous. By making onboarding an electronic process rather than a manual, paper-based one, financial organisations make it easy for their customers to open accounts and provide essential information from their homes. From there, they can use automation to expedite key parts of the process, so customers can use their accounts faster, further enhancing their overall experience.

Automate Workflows with Modern Communications Solutions

(Photo: Modern communications solutions in conjunction with automation workflows can increase customer and employee satisfaction)

Financial service organisations can maximise customer and employee satisfaction by automating key elements of their business processes. From personalising and expediting customer interactions to generating custom workflows and improving employee efficiency, automation eliminates friction throughout the organisation.

Innovative communications solutions give a critical edge when looking to automate processes. Investing in scalable, automated solutions allows organisations to move forward with confidence.

To remain competitive, you should implement communications solutions that include:

Unified Communications

Streamline your communication workflows by integrating voice, video, messaging and collaboration into a single platform. Employees can easily connect with their colleagues to close important deals or queries regardless of location.

Contact Centre

(Photo: Automating customer service workflows can reduce wait times)

Automating and optimising your customer service workflows for contact centres reduces wait times and improves satisfaction. Automated features such as interactive voice responses (IVR), chatbots and intelligent routing empower customers to manage their finances while reducing staffing overhead.

Collaboration Solutions

Collaboration is simple and easy with automation, improving teamwork and employee communication. Collaboration solutions like messaging, file sharing and video conferencing remove communication barriers for enhanced employee satisfaction.

Workflow Automation

(Photo: Workflow automation helps reduce the administrative burden of manual, routine tasks)

Ensure standardisation and compliance by automating routine tasks like transfers, application approvals and alerts. Custom workflows and automated notifications free staff to focus on more complex tasks.

Integration Features

Getting different technologies to interact is essential for maximum efficiency. UCC solutions with open API integrations unify services so they automatically update across platforms.

Mitel is a global leader in unified communications and collaboration solutions, which financial service organisations rely on to stay competitive in a challenging market. Each Mitel communications product includes automation features to optimise the end-to-end experience for customers and employees.

4Sight is proud to be a Mitel specialist and Platinum Partner. Our team have all worked with Mitel for many years and are all highly qualified, experienced and motivated professionals with a passion for being the best at what they do.

Blog Copy Courtesy of Mitel

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