Customer experience is set to be the most crucial driving trend for financial services businesses going forward, says Robert Dewar, Vice President Financial Services APAC, SS&C Blue Prism.
"If there has been one constant consumer trend over the past 70 years, it is customers' demand for higher levels of convenience," he says.
"Customer experience (CX) is the fastest-growing priority area for customer care leaders. This trend is driving the need for digital transformation across the financial services industry."
Dewars believes that automation is key to success, and utilising AI and ML can help create more tailored experiences and, therefore, better outcomes.
"Intelligent automation, especially the artificial intelligence (AI) component, enables an unprecedentedly proactive and tailored CX experience," he says.
"Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, financial institutions have been increasingly deploying intelligent automation and extending the benefits to their customers. As a result, the way financial services are traditionally discovered, evaluated, purchased, and delivered is being challenged, making intelligent automation essential for future competitiveness and differentiation in the industry."
The success of AI was showcased when Blue Prism provided Western Union with a solution that provided a connection between human employees and digital workers. The company partnered with ISG to deploy Blue Prism's digital workers to assist agents. With a digital workforce, they were able to increase daily limits when agents reached 70% of their allotted amount. This resulted in a 10-minute waiting time to just ten sections, being able to return more than 1,000 hours back to the businesses.
Dewar also says that having a comprehensive and flexible automation platform is vital and that banks and financial services firms should seek a solution that seamlessly connects human employees and digital workers and reengineers processes quickly and accurately. He says this can also help with scaling the business.
"More time for your workers means more time for your customers. Digital workers can automate checks, offer searches, generate paperwork, and distribute the appropriate version to the correct party.
"Automations also fill in or highlight any missing gaps. Collaborating with a digital workforce enables providers to process more applications than humanly possible while also giving hours back to employees. Workers can then use this time to address more complicated case matters beyond the capability of a digital worker."
Another point that Dewar makes is that end customers have more options than ever before. He says a financial institution's degree of digitalisation is one of the leading factors determining where they cast their loyalty.
"With advanced technologies like AI, machine learning, and RPA, businesses can deliver consumers a fast yet thorough and tailored experience," he says
"The benefits for enterprises are multifold: they attract and retain more customers, enhance worker satisfaction rates, and boost ROI and operational efficiency. No-code solutions enable businesses to drive digital transformation despite the tech skills shortage."
