Better customer outcomes with process intelligence

We can all agree that banks are burdened by cumbersome processes and face constant pressure to be more cost-effective, competitive and compliant, all while improving customer service. In fact, complicated processes are not far behind poor customer service as one of the top reasons  that 1 in 3 Americans are considering switching banks.

And bad processes don’t only impact the consumer. Our research shows almost half of employees surveyed felt business processes make their job more challenging. No surprise then that many respondents admitted to taking short cuts and deviating from protocol to better serve clients.

But how do you know which processes are working well and which are holding you back? Or worse, which are putting your compliance at risk? The answer is the holy grail of improving performance and, ultimately, customer service.

Process intelligence provides a data-driven approach to assessing entire business workflows – everything from administering loan applications to digital customer onboarding can be put under the microscope. It’s a bit like having a mini AI detective go behind the scenes of your organization to see how systems are interacting with each other and with employees, and how each process is completed step by step.

Process intelligence should be introduced at the start of any digital transformation journey to learn where best to focus efforts and which will achieve the highest ROI. With as many as 70% of digital transformation projects failing, the insights gained before making upgrades could save banks a fortune in technical debt.

Every click of a keyboard can be monitored by incorporating task mining to uncover bottlenecks, blind spots, repetitive behavior and deviations from the norm. Process intelligence is often referred to creating a ‘digital twin’ of all your business processes. You can see workflow diagrams of exactly how customers and staff interact, how loan agents are performing and any process or document-centric obstacles getting in the way of a teller’s daily tasks.

Once financial services leaders have this ‘digital twin,’ they can see the best option, or primary path, to complete a process. But what if they wanted to know how improvements would impact the employee and customer experience?

Process simulation is the latest advancement within process intelligence that allow CIOs to see hypothetical scenarios of processes in action to predict timing and resources and the impact on customers and employees before deploying.

For example, could that backlog of mortgage applications be processed more efficiently by bringing in more underwriters for faster resolutions? By allowing business analysts to ‘insert’ more underwriters into the mortgage loan application process, the simulator will forecast how it will influence outcomes. The result may be negative, in which case you could save significant costs on recruitment and training. You could then consider alternative solutions such as using intelligent document processing or proof-of-identity software.

Another good example is digitally onboarding new customers. Despite the impulse to throw more technology at solving the problem, many banks were surprised to find that 24% of customers drop out because of a ‘lack of human element,’ according to a recent ABBYY survey. That’s not to say automation doesn’t work, as close to half of respondents believe technology improves overall customer experience. However, with process mining and simulation, the guessing game is removed from the equation. It could simply be that you’re just not getting the right mix of automation and human interaction.

Banks have experienced enormous change over the past three years with an economic downturn coupled with higher customer expectations. Resting on the laurels of previous technology upgrades gives a false sense of security that initial benefits of digital transformation are long term. This can leave you vulnerable in the fast-paced world of evolving technology.

Advanced process mining tools can provide on-going monitoring of how process improvements are impacting customers with real-time dashboards, along with alerts for deviations from the norm and given predict scenarios of business outcomes for future service offerings, redefined processes or resource investments.

Digital transformation is a key priority in the financial services industry, but real success means achieving the best outcome for your staff, your customers and your bottom line. As we see news of more banks laying off technical staff, process intelligence is a tool that delivers the data and insights needed to achieve operational excellence.

Bruce Orcutt is senior vice president, product marketing, at ABBYY