‘Robotic Process Automation – A stepping stone of banking into the digital era’

‘Robotic Process Automation – A stepping stone of banking into the digital era’

Before we start talking about Robotic Process Automation(RPA), let’s take a ride of a time machine to go back to the good old days…On the count of 3…2…1…and  Zzzoooppp….

We have successfully landed in 2009.

Whereabouts: Monday morning, 11am. Waiting lounge of an esteemed bank:

Scene 1: Long queues, many irritated faces, some impatient office goers continuously fidgeting and checking out their watches in every 2 minutes, few old sleepy faces sitting in the waiting area for their turn to come and finally some super irritated bankers with their incapacitated computers. This was how a typical working day at a bank would look like in the year 2009 or so.

Scene 2: Then suddenly a magic occurred and transfigured the scenario in many top ranked banks. Today in 2018, many banks have victoriously transformed their discontented customers into satisfied and elated customers.

Have we ever wondered how this magic materialised and altered the entire scenario through roots and branch? The answer lies in “Automation and RPA”

What is RPA?

This is the age of ‘Rise of the Robots and Intelligent machines’, in-case of the fast changing, competitive industries like Banking sectors and financial institutions which are always considered to be the early adopters of many ground breaking and disruptive technologies. To achieve competitive edge over the other competitors, BFSI sector specially Private and Foreign banks always thrive for establishing excellence by attaining unprecedented speed, productivity, accuracy, performance etc. by providing ultimate customer satisfaction and operational cost optimisation. Disruptive technologies like ‘Robotic process automation and Artificial intelligence via high level machine learning’ is the magical spell that has helped these change seekers (many top-notched banks) to transform the entire system with a simple mantra of “Low operational Cost, Accuracy, Better performance and Scalability”.

According to Mr. Bill Cline, KPMG Advisory principal “In the next 15 years, it’s likely that 45% may be up to 75% of existing offshore jobs in the financial sectors will be performed by Robots, more precisely Robotic  process automation (RPA) and this should translate into enormous cost savings of upto 75% for firms that get on board”.

Contribution of RPA in BFSI sector:

RPA is not a new concept. It had been originated, modified and progressed from an early and premature form of automation called “Screen Scraping”. Over the years data scientists had been giving it a ‘Midas touch’ to make it better and finally the magic occurred and “Robotic process Automation (RPA)” was originated. But it is still positioned at the lower end of the robotic spectrum.

RPA is not a physical robot but is a high level robotic software that is programmed to work 365*7*24 hours, as a virtual workforce to perform large volume of manual, repetitive and mundane routine based tasks involving structured data and instruction like a ‘Super-man’, without asking for a salary increment or break. From mundane back office tasks to low complexity decision-making procedure, from replacing routine operations and transactional works to centrally managing business processes, RPA can replicate any work in a jiffy accurately with high-efficiency and it is equivalent to 3 to 4 full-time human employees. One of the most revolutionary contributions of RPA is in the field of managing big data. RPA tries to extract meaningful information from the huge big data warehouses and tries to track patterns, trends etc. for institutional decision-making.

RPA is a boon to the Loan processing and risk aversion in banking, as it can be used to generate and analyse trends of credit default of a debtor that can help banks taking preventive measures beforehand to avoid NPA. Anti-fraud divisions, Anti-money-Laundering (AML), KYC, Loan processing, money transactions, underwriting support, investment processing, customer service, maintaining account payable and account receivable directory, 15G-15H form collection and segregation etc. are few of the areas of expertise of RPA. RPA justified its worth and created immense values and satisfaction for the clients with exponential reduction of operation cost and processing time from days to minutes.  Because of RPA, tired bankers don’t have to stay back anymore for overtime during the peak season. Single click scalability to handle excess work pressure during the peak season like year ending, end of financial year etc. enhanced compliance and faster response to business.

 

Direct Benefits and tangible outcomes of RPA:

 

Source: white paper by Accenture.

•  The tangible benefits are directly dependent upon the incremental improvements in the presently practised, manual processes and pain points. Implementation of RPA in several hot spots like mundane back office jobs, finance and risk management, account payable and account receivable, loan processing etc. can provide rapid payback period.
• Various early adopters could reap benefits in terms of 20-60% operational cost cutting, and few banks could gain profit as high as 80%. This cost savings are achievable within a very short timeframes which depends upon the complexity of the project. For a simple RPA process payback period can be as less as 3 months, whereas for a complex project breakeven can be achieved in 12 months.
• Apart from cost cutting, clients can be benefited in terms of reliability, accuracy, faster processes, improved service level, single scale scalability during peak time etc.

Market Trend and Future of RPA:

According to a report by Gen-pact, capital expenditure to adopt RPA/AI will vary with the economies-of-scale and the complexity of the process. Total cost will include à RPA license cost+ configuration and implementation cost+ maintenance and other overheads + IT infrastructure cost.

The price range may vary with Low, middle and high complexity RPA projects, between the ranges of 5500 to 7000 USD in the current market scenario. Willingness to pay and hence purchase intention is comparatively higher among the banks, because the early adopters will achieve a substantial relative advantage and competitive edge over the other competitors.

It has been forecasted that within 2018 worldwide investment in RPA/AI in BFSI sector may reach upto 172.4 million USD and this amount may sky-rocket within next couple of years, to as high as 835 million USD that is 75% CAGR (Compound average Growth Rate). Massive market potential has been identified and forecasted. If it doesn’t turn out to be an over-optimistic venture, then it will change the future of IT consulting as well as entire Banking and Financial sector. Experience a ‘Happy Banking’!!!!

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‘A Good Food Day’ in Trichy

As we are rapidly approaching towards the end of an astounding journey called MBA, we, a group of 1o friends decided to leave no stones unturned to make these last few days indelibly wonderful by creating numerous good moments of memories together. We made a bucket list of “To Dos” & “Places to visit” in and around Tiruchirappalli and gallantly started our adventure. So on the eve of Valentine’s Day we decided to go out for an exotic lunch. We started checking out the lists of famous restaurants in Trichy for some authentic dishes. On recommendations of few other gourmets like us, we landed ourselves in Thaai Cakes and Pizza which is a subsidiary of the famous Hotel Shaan’s, located at 19 Tennur High Road, Tiruchirappalli.

Thaai Cakes and Pizza has bakery product section and Thaai multi-cuisine restaurant under the same roof. So it is a perfect hang out place to take a small snack bite or for a perfect meal. On reaching the place we were amazed by the courteous welcome extended by the restaurant staffs and the Valentine’s Day special decoration. The interior was dimly lit with heart-shaped balloons everywhere and beautiful red roses on each table. With a romantic music being played at the background, it was just a perfect destination to take one’s bae for a romantic lunch or dinner date.

Naatu Kozhi:

Although I am not a great fan of soup, I ordered Naatu Kozhi or Country chicken soup on my friend’s request. The soup came within 10 minutes. When I took the first sip of the  soup, its aroma and refreshing taste just blew my mind. The soup had a blend of mild sour and spicy taste with small chicken pieces floating in it.  It was a perfect appetizer to set your hunger on fire.

Salmon Fish finger & Arutha Meen Nethili:

Salmon fish fry was a special dish for Valentine’s Day. The fish was extremely tender with right proportion of added flavours in it, and it just melted in the mouth in moments, leaving the taste behind. Whereas Arutha Meen Nethili was deeply fried crunchy fish with a single bone in it. Those who love small fishes must try this delicious local fish.

Source: Google

Prawns Devil:

When we are talking about fishes how can we dare to ignore prawns? However prawns are considered as the insects of water, but to the non-vegetarian food connoisseurs’ prawns are among the top attractions. We ordered Prawns Devil, without knowing what would be coming to the plate. But when it came we just got blown by its appearance and delightful smell. I’m not describing the taste further to torture the foodies out there. I’m leaving the decisions upto you to taste and judge this extremely appetizing dish.

Image: Prawns Devil

Andhra Chicken dry:

This was a famous recipe from the traditional cuisine of Andhra Pradesh. To extract the original taste, this dish demands a perfect mix of various spices and appropriate marination to instil flavours into the juicy boneless chicken pieces. Many of the restaurants can’t unfold the authentic taste of this dish. To my sheer surprise Thaai Multi-cuisine restaurant perfectly nailed this preparation too. This is certainly one of the best Andhra Chicken preparations that I had ever tasted.

Source: Google

Fish Biriyani & Side dishes:

This was another wonder that I tasted there. The rice was properly cooked with mild essence of various spices. The amazing part was that in a plate of biriyani 5 boneless fish pieces were there. I don’t know which fish did they use in the biriyani but the taste was sumptuous. This dish is a good main course item at an affordable price. We ordered Tandoori chicken & a mutton Gravy to pair up with the biriyani and we definitely did not regret for that. The full plate tandoori chicken contained many medium-sized leg and breast pieces which just complimented the biriyani.

Source: Google

Veg Pizza and Garlic Bread:

1 of our friends was pure vegetarian. Thaai restaurant did not fail to amaze him with their range of finger-licking customized pizza and garlic bread. He, being a gentle person offered me to taste from his share. The garlic bread was extremely soft with a thick layer of cheese on it with right amount of seasoning. Whereas the pizza was of thin crust with fascinating toppings on it.

Exciting news is that they have many Budget medium Pizza combos with coke and mousse, with prices starting with 249/-.

Those who are in Trichy and wondering if Thaai Restaurant serves good veg cuisines or not, I would like to suggest them to o there at least once, to treat themselves with some spectacular veg dishes and veg thaalis.

Image: Thaai Cakes and Pizza

Deserts & Bakery products:

I can bet if you’re at Thaai restaurants or Thaai cakes and pizza bakery (Both are situated at the same place) it will be tremendously challenging for you to curb your temptations for not having those delightful, mouth-watering deserts and bakery products. We ordered Tiramisu and various types of ice-creams like Cassata, ice-cream-scoops with faluda and fruit salads, mojito etc.

 

Image: Thaai Cakes and Pizza

Thaai cake & Pizza, has an amazing range of Cakes and Pastries, Mousse, Tarts, Donuts, Cup-cakes, range of Dark chocolates, Swiss chocolates, gift boxes containing Home-made chocolates, imported assortments of Dry fruits etc. to satisfy your sweet stings. To name a few, Choco truffle cake, dark chocolate, blue berry pastry, black current, strawberry and pineapple cakes are to be placed in your check list. They have various sweet and salty puffs for a quick snack.

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Image: Thaai Cakes and Pizza

There is a good news for vegetarians and for those who don’t like eggs, Thaai cakes & Pizza sells egg less cakes too for a perfect  egg less birthday bash.

Now I have given you enough reasons to pay a quick visit to this wonderful place with your family or partner this weekend. The most enchanting part is that you can afford to come here even at the month’s end without worrying about your budget. This is an affordable place to have good food and enjoy good ambience in Trichy. It was certainly a great decision for us to select Thaai cakes and pizza to celebrate the day of Love in a grand way and that was how our Valentine’s Day was sorted.

Note: We were so engrossed in eating that we forgot to click pictures of few of the dishes that we ordered. So for your easy references I have used few of the images from Google from representation purpose.

Artificial Intelligence – The next big weapon in the world of automation

“The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim.”  ― Edsger W. Dijkstra

In this age of automation, Artificial Intelligence or AI has become a buzz word. No wonder, AI has the potential to turn out to be a disruptor that can change the entire Eco-system in a corporate sector. Today I would like to mention few of the rudimentary facts about AI and its significance in BFSI sector.

Journey of Artificial intelligence started in the year of 1955 by holding the hands of pioneer Scientist Mr. John McCarthy. In its embryonic stage AI, like any other path-breaking invention, was extremely ignored and faced massive ignorance. But AI stood the test of time and with exponentially increasing trend of automation and digitization, AI had started picking up momentum. Eventually AI secured its place as a trailblazing innovation and occupied the advanced continuum of RPA or Robotic Process Automation in the robotic spectrum.

It is said that, with AI machines are thinking but in reality machines are just learning.In AI algorithm, machines are programmed to learn from repetitive events, understand various situations and recommend the most suitable solution for the problem in hand without any human intervention. This task is accomplished with the help of Deep Learning algorithm which is a part of High Level Machine Learning system. Machines are programmed with speech recognition, cognitive senses learning, planning and reasoning ability to accomplish intended tasks. Deep level learning, cognitive computing and natural language processing (NLP) are the 3 pillars behind the architecture of advanced AI.

BFSI industry, being the early adopters in majority of the relevant cutting-edge technologies, has already embraced AI to gain operational advancements and competitive advantages over the competitors. Many banks are looking forward to use AI for monetary transactions, security for public safety, and customer assistance.According to a thought leader of this industry: “A bank can use AI for authentication in transactions, access to buildings and specific floors and rooms, security for public safety and surveillance in locations including ATMs, interpersonal recognition and virtual personal teller assistants (for example, advising tellers of a customer’s identity without the customer having to do anything)”.

Emergence of chatbot:

Nowadays AI embedded automatic chat system, termed as chatbot, are gaining importance as the virtual customer assistants which are being used to articulate conversations via auditory or textual methods in the bank BPOs. These chatbots interact directly with the customers and successfully resolve the repetitive queries. These are designed to learn from the interactions with the customers, understand their emotional aspects and offer appropriately customised solutions to them like any other human consultant. Thus they help nurturing customer relationship between the service provider and the satisfied clients. The chatbot ‘Erica’ is a decorative example of successful virtual assistant for digital banking of Bank of America.

In 2016, Singapore based DBS Bank introduced Digi bank app with in-built AI in India, as a virtual assistance.Private Banks in India are not laggards anymore in adopting this cutting edge technology. City Union Bank had already introduced their chatbot ‘Lakshmi’. HDFC Bank Ltd. Launched their humanoid ‘Ira’ and chatbot ‘Eva’ to extend expert assistance to their customers.

Image (courtesy Google): Chatbot Lakshmi, City Union Bank

Usefulness of AI in banking system:

Banks are also looking forward to implement AI in their in-house critical services like Anti-money-laundering to prevent the flow of black money in the banking system, in the disguise of white money. Security and biometric test based fraud detection is one of the most highlighted areas of expertise of AI that has provided indissoluble safety and security to the net banking system. Thousands of investors are getting benefitted across the world, by AI adoption in their financial risk analysis and decision making activities. Recommendation engines are being utilised to act as a consultant for the customers to give them personalised and more profitable investment plans by analysing their personal financial preferences and bank details.

Differences between RPA and AI:

People often use the terms RPA & AI interchangeably but in reality these distinct technologies occupy different positions in the robotic spectrum. The main divergence lies in the “Learning” aspect of the machines. Machines embedded with RPA, are programmed to replicate enormous amount of repetitive and low-end tasks that involve very structured and unambiguous instructions and produce standardised output. RPA embedded machines keep on performing with same efficiency for eternity.

Although AI is in sequence with RPA, but is way advanced and smarter than RPA. AI learns from its experience and emerges as a better performer. Gradually it understands customer’s emotional aspects, their choices and preferences and provides superior recommendations.

Conclusion:

“Machine intelligence is the last invention that humanity will ever need to make.”- Nick Bostrom”.

Although AI is a boon to the banking system but it can prove to be a bane too in the lives of the low-end back office employees whose jobs may jeopardise because of redundancy. Banks were the major job creator in Indian context, owing to minimalism job market in this segment may face a rapid shrinkage. Silver lining in this pivotal situation is that banks have committed for no termination policies. Instead the employees will be transferred to the other departments to perform more interesting and value adding activities. Employees will get opportunities to upgrade their skill-set and expertise and contribute in more a fascinating and promising area of work rather than getting stuck up in mundane back office job forever.The ultimate fact of life is that machines can imitate tasks but can never replicate a human touch. ‘Man makes machine but a machine cannot make man’. Man and machine should always prevail in harmony. Considering this situation the ultimate mantra should be: Respect humanity and foster science to make this world a better place to live in.

 

 

All about Singapore – the wonderland

A trip to Singapore had always been in my bucket list since I got to know about the place. My desire for Singapore trip saw a ray of hope when IIM Trichy announced its introductory elective called International Business Policy (IBP), for which it was mandatory for a batch of 20 students to work under the mentorship of a Singapore based company and execute the final leg of the project on site. My dream came into reality when almost miraculously I got subscribed for the elective and the door of Singapore left open in front of me. Singapore is a small island country made up of 63 islands, in South-east Asia and nurtures tropical rain forest climate.

Changi Airport

After a 4.15 hours of boring flight journey from Chennai to Singapore, when we reached Changi Airport, it instilled a sudden rush of Adrenaline in me. It was just difficult for me to believe that an airport could be as picturesque as Changi. That justified why had it been crowned as the “World’s Best Airport” since 5 consecutive years from 2013 by Skytrax. There are 4 terminals and each terminal bears enchanting surprises to welcome the travellers. Orchid garden, Water Lily garden, Cactus garden, Interactive ‘Enchanted Garden’, of glass and mosaic architecture, embedded with motion sensors that give life to the artificial garden when you walk through it, are few of the spectacular airport attractions.

Image: Changi Airport

Image: Enchnted garden

Hotel 81 Dickson

We stayed in Hotel 81, Dickson. Although the hotel lacks in stars, but the rooms were well-equipped and to add to the delight it was just a 10 mins walk from Little India and was located in between 2 prime metro railway stations Rochor and Bugis. This hotel chain has 20 other branches in various areas. If you’re planning a trip to Singapore, you can certainly consider hotel 81 for a good stay and courteous hospitality within a comparatively affordable range of INR 4000-5000 per day for a double bedroom. Many hostels are also there for accommodation at a cheaper rate.

 Little India

If you’re in Singapore and find people speaking in Tamil and can hear a very famous Tamil song being played in a bit congested roadside shop then chances are high that you have successfully landed in Little India. This is a place where many restaurants serve Indian vegetarian dishes. To add to the amazement you can discover a temple of Indian deity too. Here the main roads remain embellished with beautiful decorative lights throughout the year and are being lit during various Indian festivals. This is an ideal place to shop around even within a shoestring budget.

Image: Little India main road

Street food / food joints

If you’re in love with food (like me) and endeavour to try out various palatable cuisines then Singapore is nothing less than a paradise for you. Exotic Chinese, Malay, Indian or Indonesian sea food & non-veg preparations are sold in every nook and corners of Singapore. Food hawker corners and road side food joints are the hot spot to epitomize the food heritage of Singapore. In many of these food stalls only $5 is sufficient for a one time meal. Whereas restaurants are generally exorbitantly expensive in comparison to these road side food corners. You can royally treat your taste buds with some mouth-watering, delectable, authentic dishes like Chilly crab or prawn, Laksa, Bak Chor Mee (Minced meat noodles), Hokkien Prawn Mee, Mee Rebus, Bee Hoon, Fish head curry, Rice in different meat like chicken, pork or beef, BBQ pork dishes, Char Kway Teow etc. Our very own KFC, McDonald’s, Burger King offer some special regional items in their value meals in Singapore.

Changi Business Park Vista & Singapore metro

Changi Business Park is just like Bangalore. This is the business and Fintech hub of Singapore. We had our office located here and we had to take a metro followed by a double-decker bus ride to reach our destination. Public transport in Singapore is another wonder. Singaporeans don’t know what ‘Late running’ of a metro is. Majority of the metros are driverless. It looks magnificent when the rail runs over the ground and flaunts the beauty of Singapore through its transparent structure. It is not allowed to eat or drink in the Metro and the passengers are encouraged to speak in a hushed voice to bestow a pleasant journey to all. The mechanical voice continuously informs passengers about the whereabouts and destination. So it is extremely convenient for a foreigner to travel alone without any assistance.

Image: Singapore MRT

Sentosa Island

One of the most amazing places in Singapore is Sentosa Island resort. This island itself is a land of awe-inspiring wonders. We availed monorail (fair: $4 for round trip) from Sentosa station to reach Sentosa Island. One can also avail cable car or Sentosa broad-walk. This short monorail trip provides a panoramic view of the seashore and the beaches of Sentosa Island.

Image: View from monorail

There are numerous attractions in the island. It is a traveler’s paradise. Singapore trip will remain incomplete unless one hits this idyllic spot. Few of the ‘Must Visit’ destinations in this island are Universal Studio, S.E.A Aquarium, Sentosa Merlion and its light and sound show, Cable car, Fort Siloso, Siloso and Palawan beach, the southernmost point of Continental Asia.

Image: Sentosa Island beach

Universal Studio

Universal Studio, although a costly affair (Normal Entry fee: $76 for adults, includes all the rides), is one of the best amusement parks in the world and the best in Asia. It houses 7 Hollywood movie themed zones, 24 rides and various live performances. It is an entire world of fun, thrill and excitement in itself. It opens at 10 am in the morning and closes at 6pm, even a whole day might seem insufficient to cover all of the attractions here. They also have premium VIP passes to skip queues and extended passes that shall be valid over an entire week.

I experienced the best ever, heart pounding and extremely thrilling roller coaster ride here.

In the Hollywood movie themed zones one can not only see, but also feel, ride and experience the movie. In Sci-Fi theme zone of Transformers (3D), we fought an extreme intergalactic battle to win over the evil and saved the Earth from destruction.

Image: Universal studio, infront of Transformer Theme zone

We were not spared from the deadly curse of the Mummy too, when we visited ancient Egypt. To add to our agony and fear we had to face the wrath of mummy and flesh-eater beetles, in an indoor roller coaster ride in complete darkness.

Image: Univrsal studio, Mummy theme zone

Far far away, Madagascar, Jurassic park, Water world are few of the breath-taking, cutting-edge rides that won’t fail to sensitize a person to the core.

Singapore Merlion

The majestic and mythical Merlion of Singapore, signifies a rich history and is considered as the ‘Guardian of Prosperity’. The 37 meter high enormously gigantic, concrete architecture of the Merlion (With a head of a Lion and body of a fish) in Sentosa, is an iconic sculpture and attracts millions of travelers every year. The laser light and sound show brings back life to the Merlion and creates a phenomenal, magical ambiance.

Image: Merlion, Sentosa Island

Gardens by the bay, Marina bay sands, Night safari, Singapore Flyers were few of the incredible spots that had provided me unparalleled delight. Marina-bay-sand is one of the most serene places in Singapore and can encompass you with a quintessential tranquillity and peace of mind.

Image: Light & music show at Garden by the Bay.

If we talk about malls, shopping and night life, Singapore steals the show. Mustafa centre, Bugis street, Little India, Jurong plaza, City plaza, Lucky plaza are few of the budget shopping places that I explored. If you have the tenacity to walk an extra mile to grab the best deal, then these places surely won’t disappoint you. You will be spoilt for choices among the never-ending stocks of trendy dresses, electronic gadgets, delightful chocolates, souvenir and gift items etc. without pinching your pocket. Price range for various products may start from as low as $5.

I was overwhelmed and bewildered by the charm of this mind-boggling country and I can bet that Singapore won’t dishearten anyone, from a nature lover bohemian to a hard-core gambler. These 15 days didn’t leave a stone unturned to mesmerize me in every possible way and gifted me numerous bewitching memories for life. It still brings a smile on my face whenever I hear the name ‘SINGAPORE’.