RPA in finance: 10 use cases, benefits, and challenges

RPA in finance: 10 use cases, benefits, and challenges

March 22, 2023

by Yanis Budreyka, RPA Business Analyst

The finance industry has an immense amount of daily paperwork, such as manual data entry and transaction recording. These processes are often repetitive and rule-based, but still require human intervention. Fortunately, robotic process automation (RPA) can successfully manage them, partially or completely.

RPA in finance means using software bots to automate manual and repetitive tasks, allowing financial institutions to increase efficiency and reduce the cost of operations. RPA can free up time from manual activities, enabling finance departments to focus on higher-value customer-oriented tasks.

Adopting robotic process automation solutions in finance and accounting departments is particularly successful and widespread, granting faster data processing times and better compliance with strict financial and tax regulations.

Table of contents

RPA software market stats

market share of BFSI, the leading RPA market segment in 2021

Grand View Research

of finance leaders plan to adopt advanced digital technologies like RPA by 2025

Gartner

expected global RPA market size by 2030

Grand View Research

10 RPA use cases in finance

P&L reporting

P&L reports are a critical component in overall data analysis and reporting processes for any financial services company, as they summarize the revenues and expenses over a given period. However, since these financial statements are compiled by manually combining several individual reports, inaccuracies and errors add up, creating significant headaches for the accounting department.  For this reason, delegating such back-office tasks to bots that automatically compile, validate, and merge reports can be helpful. According to our partner UiPath, implementing bots resulted in a 70% reduction in average handling time (AHT) and a 100% accuracy achieved for one global financial services company.

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Real-life examples of RPA in finance

Societe Generale Bank Brazil

Societe Generale Bank Brazil is one of the leading banks in Brazil that provides services for both corporate and institutional clients. The financial institution faced a common problem among banks - employees spent too much time on daily reporting, preventing them from performing more important and cognitively-demanding tasks. The bank decided to implement RPA to streamline daily reporting. In partnership with a software development company Fortra, Societe Generale automated the entire reporting process with RPA, saving 6 hours of work per employee per day.

RPA came to join other technological projects aiming at making our collaborators’ work easier and enabling us to offer increasingly better services to our clients.

Mario Lopes

Mario Lopes

CIO at Societe Generale Bank Brazil

A step-by-step guide to RPA implementation in finance

1

Analyze the current state

Before automating processes, it's important to assess the current state of business operations. Careful examination of all the existing processes and manual activities related to them will bring visibility into areas where RPA may have a positive impact. In addition, evaluating the current state in terms of cost, speed and accuracy allows for more informed decisions on processes best suited for RPA automation.

2

Identify automation use cases

To identify potential use cases for RPA in finance, examine existing process maps to determine candidate processes that could benefit from automation. Assess each process using a combination of technical feasibility criteria such as complexity, cost, and scalability. Consider the cost savings, speed of execution, and accuracy gains that RPA can provide. Utilize existing data to understand where automation could help reduce manual labor and define any financial or resource constraints.

3

Standardize existing processes

RPA works best when processes are well-defined and follow a consistent structure. As such, it's important to standardize existing processes, ensuring they are reliable and repeatable, to make them easier to automate. Standardization should include defining data sources, setting up standard workflows and task sequences, and establishing defined documentation practices.

4

Establish processes for implementation

Define clear guidelines to ensure each automation project is appropriately planned and executed: the necessary resources are in place, the scope of the automation project is defined, and the expected benefits are quantified. We highly recommend consulting an experienced RPA vendor to ensure your adoption roadmap accounts for all the intricacies associated with RPA implementation in finance.

8 benefits of RPA in finance

RPA is transforming the world of finance. By automating mundane, repetitive tasks, RPA enables financial institutions and insurance companies to free up valuable resources, gain insight into their operations, and streamline decision making. Here are eight benefits companies can reap by integrating RPA into their finance processes.

Reduced operational costs

RPA can automate manual processes and eliminate redundant, labor-intensive tasks, leading to significant cost savings. Without the need for costly human resources, companies can reinvest these funds into more strategic initiatives that drive greater returns in the long term.

Eliminated human error

By removing humans from certain processes, companies can avoid costly human errors and reduce the risk of operational disruption. This is especially important in the world of finance, where the cost of human errors can be astronomically high.

Improved customer experience

RPA helps banks provide better customer service by automating mundane updates and quickly responding to inquiries. It also reduces waiting time for customers by speeding up the processing of data.

Streamlined compliance

RPA technology simplifies adherence to regulatory requirements, enabling financial institutions to track and monitor activities easily. RPA-enabled audit trails are invaluable in such a highly regulated industry as finance.

Reduced IT burden

With sufficient training, it becomes possible for regular employees to set up RPA bots themselves. Citizen RPA development alleviates the burden of reconfiguring infrastructure from IT departments, freeing up time for other essential activities.

Increased security

RPA helps to ensure regulatory compliance and provides enhanced data security by eliminating manual errors and reducing the risk of human-based threats. This enables financial organizations to protect sensitive customer information.

Non-disruptive implementation

RPA bots can be integrated into existing systems with minimal disruption, making them an ideal solution for institutions looking to improve their processes quickly.

Enhanced scalability

RPA can be easily scaled up or down as needed, making it an ideal solution for banks dealing with ever-changing needs. Increased flexibility would allow financial institutions to quickly adjust their processes in order to meet customer demand.

Challenges of implementing RPA in finance

Challenges

Solutions

Lack of coordination between departments

Financial processes are complex. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that all departments work together and are in sync when implementing RPA. Consider establishing a governance structure that defines roles, responsibilities, and procedures. Also, improve communication between teams by re-engineering and optimizing processes and ensuring cross-functional collaboration.  

Lack of process standardization

To ensure process standardization, which is crucial for RPA development, organizations should invest in a thorough documentation process, business intelligence, and analytics capabilities. By taking the time to document each stage of the process, businesses can establish clear definitions and requirements for each task, making it easier to identify discrepancies and errors before they occur.

Intricate legacy system architecture

Complicated legacy systems are not always flexible in integrating other necessary systems or introducing new processes. Therefore, organizations should consider engaging professional consulting services to understand their system architecture better and determine the changes needed for applying robotic process automation most effectively.

Improve your efficiency with RPA

Improve your efficiency with RPA

As organizations continue to realize the many benefits of RPA in finance, we'll likely see more financial institutions integrating this technology into their operations. We also expect improvements and increasing accessibility of AI and machine learning services to make RPA even more powerful in the near future. As a result, banks will have access to even greater insights and opportunities as the technology evolves. Overall, RPA presents a viable option for financial institutions to transform their operations and gain unprecedented insight into their activities.

At Itransition, we provide experienced teams that specialize in deploying RPA solutions to enable digital transformation in the finance industry. Contact us today to find out how we can help you unlock the power of robotics process automation and improve your operations.

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FAQs about RPA in finance

How much does RPA implementation cost?

What are the most popular RPA platforms for the financial sector?

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