Why robotics is reshaping the world of RPA and IA

By Adriaan Kom, CCO at Visma | Onguard

New and exciting technologies such as robotic process automation (RPA) and intelligent automation (IA) are making a significant impact on the financial sector, performing tasks that were once carried out by teams of people, saving time and money. Indeed, financial institutions such as banks, that don’t engage and incorporate this technology into their systems run the very serious risk of falling behind their competitors.

When it comes to RPA, there has been a recent rush in its uptake. In essence it is a software robot that mimics human activity by carrying out routine processes with the potential to reduce the number of operational errors and increase efficiency as robots or ‘bots’ operate 24/7. There is also a cost-saving element to this as the employees who would have once been in involved in a manual process can be replaced by a single programmed robot. Furthermore, there should invariably be an increase in customer satisfaction because of the speed of work, resulting in a faster turnaround and improved accountability as the audit logs of robot operations are readily available.

Research confirms the rush towards RPA

Recent research data from Visma | Onguard confirms there has been a significant uptake of RPA, which illustrates the point that data is playing a prominent role in reshaping the strategy for more financial businesses and creating a range of opportunities by improving the efficiency of processes, cutting expenditure and maximising daily repetitive routines.

The 2021 Fintech Barometer survey showed 61% of organisations now either use RPA or are developing ideas on how to incorporate the technology into their businesses and represents a 15% increase compared to figures from 2020 (46%).

There has also been an increase in the use of IA tools, which expands on the functionality of RPA through supporting technology solutions such Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).

However, it is worth remembering that this technology does not mean that in the future people will be completely replaced by machines and robots – far from it. It simply means that RPA will ensure financial sector institutions are better able to utilise their employees and add value to their business operations while delegating repetitive tasks to automated machines.

Significantly, close to half (47%) of those who took part in the survey said AI was the largest trend to make an impact across the financial sector, increasing from 36% in 2020 and 29% in 2019. In addition, AI also came out on top in terms of its perceived impact on order-to-cash processes – jumping from 36% in 2020 to 40% in 2021.

Increased IA take-up

However, IA technology has seen an even greater take-up in the sector, with 53% of those surveyed reporting the use of tools in their businesses. A great deal of this is likely to have been driven by the need for financial organisations to harness data-driven insights and use them to inform decision-making and define business strategy. This is reflected in the fact that almost two-thirds (65%) of financial businesses say they were either fully data-driven organisations or that data supports their processes.

Big data was also identified by 44% of those surveyed as one of the top three trends to have positive effects on the financial sector, representing an increase from 36% in 2020.

As the importance of data becomes more widely known to the financial sector, it will play a more prominent role in shaping strategy for more businesses. Just 8% of businesses reported that they were not planning on becoming fully data-driven at some point in the future, which was down by 5% compared to 2020 (13%).

Technology will support the data-driven dream in 2022

The 2021 Fintech Barometer shows that many financial organisations are beginning to embrace the concepts of RPA and IA, even if they have yet to fully utilise it in their operations. A great deal of this uptake is because data is now driving processes and technology solutions, with big data among the biggest trends across the sector.

As financial professionals work to further understand how they can apply and utilise data within their organisations, it is inevitable that we will continue to see an increase in the use of emerging solutions, such as RPA and IA, during 2022.  It’s clear that robotics and IA are playing a key role in helping financial businesses to improve their overall efficiency, and in an industry of constant change and innovation, embracing technology that can support modern day finance professionals to achieve their data-driven dreams will be crucial for providing them with that all important competitive edge.