What Processes Are You Wasting Time on That Should be Automated?

Credit union members and bank customers expect digital services that are fast, reliable, and error-free. Being more innovative and efficient matters. However, FI IT staff are often so busy and overwhelmed that they simply don’t have the time to focus on new initiatives that will have a meaningful impact on member and customer satisfaction.

Using automation and orchestration will free them from repetitive tasks so they can take on more strategic initiatives.

What are examples of business processes that are ripe for automation and orchestration?

As IT processes become more complex, once-routine tasks can also become confusing and convoluted. A new set of steps may be appended to an existing process for expediency rather than because it’s the optimal way to handle the job.

When working with banks and credit unions, we often see the same issues on IT and operations leaders’ improvement wish lists. Examples of business process automation opportunities include:

• Digital banking and payments. Online payments and related actions such as remote deposit capture, Check 21 and ACH processing can benefit greatly from automation-fueled efficiency. Every financial institution runs these processes daily, yet they continue to go through the same messy steps instead of a streamlined and optimized process.

• Loan processing and servicing. Borrowers want responses quickly to make financing decisions, but loan processing often requires slow, time-consuming manual reviews and data entry. With loan processing automation and orchestration, applications are pulled into the system and screened without potential human error so that loan decisions can happen quickly. Loan servicing automation can also streamline the billing process, as well as quickly and accurately reflect payments and balances in your mortgage servicing platform.

• Data warehousing. A robust, automated data warehouse opens up endless possibilities for FIs. With easily accessible data, features such as automated member retention programs and data-based personalized marketing campaigns can become a reality. Up-to-date information and reporting allows for better management and nimbler operations.

What role does automation and orchestration play in improving business processes?

Automating your business processes helps to manage routine transactions faster and more efficiently than if a human completes them manually. Process automation is the first step to streamlining your FI’s technical processes and making them more efficient.

Orchestration is the next step. The most robust workload automation tools also have orchestration functionality. Orchestration allows your IT team to coordinate processes across multiple complex IT environments. In other words, with orchestration, organizations combine multiple moving parts into a harmonious whole.

When automation and orchestration are combined, the joint effort creates a clear pathway to doing business better and reducing inefficiencies for your IT team.

Team members who work in automation and orchestration-focused culture learn to look for additional ways to improve processes. The result? A powerful impact on your FI’s bottom line.

What are the benefits of automating business processes and eliminating manual tasks?

According to research by cybersecurity provider Tessian, employees at fast-paced companies are more likely to make errors, often because they’re stressed (more than half of workers surveyed) or tired on the job (93 percent). In the same survey, 85 percent of tech workers and 77 percent of financial industry workers report feeling an additional burden of expectation because company leadership wants them to handle responsibilities and respond to requests quickly.

Eliminating manual tasks reduces errors and inefficiency while empowering your IT staff to invest their time in more strategic ways. With the right automation and orchestration capabilities, you can cut expenses and boost your FI’s bottom line, productivity, and resiliency.

Which must-have features can help tech teams manage a modern workload?

Managing a modern workload means reaching across systems, integrating them to find efficiencies, and eliminating siloed processes. Using OpCon’s automation and orchestration functionalities streamlines your processes, so you have the bandwidth to invest more deeply in creating customer- and member-focused experiences.

What tasks are keeping your team from optimized productivity? Schedule a free checklist review with one of our automation consultants to discover what business processes your FI may be able to automate. We’ll even give you an estimated number of employee hours you’ll save so that you can quantify your potential cost savings.