How 10xDS RPA solution streamlines Block/Unblock process for Bahrain Banks
The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), on 23rd Dec 2020, made it mandatory for Banks in Bahrain to comply with the instructions pertaining to Blocking/Unblocking and freezing/unfreezing of customer’s accounts, with a strict timeline of one day to process the requests. The Block/Unblock account request process is a high impact process involving manual data inputs by staff members who should follow strict timelines and adherence criteria. Recently, the CBB has requested banks to maintain near real-time turnaround time for blocking and unblocking response and operate the process 24/7, making the adherence even more difficult for the Banks.
With a manual process in place, the biggest challenge banks face is to process thousands of requests adhering to the tight deadline. The process lacked consistency, accuracy, and efficiency and with several Block/Unblock account requests required to be closed on the same day or even real-time, there is a high possibility for Banks to incur penalties from the Central Bank for non-performance, delays and due to issues related to information security.
How a combination of Intelligent Automation, Advanced Analytics including Artificial Intelligence based technologies can help?
Intelligent Automation or Hyperautomation is a technology and approach that can be used to automate mundane, high-volume, rule-based, and repeatable tasks previously performed by humans. It is non-invasive and can be easily integrated into the Bank’s existing IT landscape. For banks in Bahrain, Intelligent Automation comes very useful as a lifesaver to automate the Block/Unblock requests process.
Adopting Intelligent Automation/Hyperautomation in banks can significantly:
- Increase processing speed, capacity, accuracy of the Block/Unblock process
- Reduce compliance risk and avoid penalties from the Central Bank for non-performance or delays in processing the requests.
- Offload manual work and shift employees to more value-added processes
Implementing RPA can ensure enhanced security, faster processing, compliance of rules and regulations, and higher accuracy.
10xDS Intelligent Automation/Hyperautomation solution for Block-Unblock Process
10xDS team has helped leading Islamic Retail banks in Bahrain automate Block/ Unblock account process. The solution, which is designed to enable end to end automation with no human intervention, delivered maximum value to Banks by helping them adhere to deadlines imposed by Central Bank for non-compliance.
How the solution works
The Digital Worker or the Intelligent robot does the task of a human, such as downloading the excel report from the Bahrain Central Bank website, updating the list in the Core Banking System, some further processing and reporting back to the Bahrain Central Bank website. The automated solution has been designed as a touchless process to accommodate processing of requests based on availability of the application. In case of unavailability of the application, the solution does re-runs (auto-resumption) of the request. The Digital Worker or the Intelligent robot can be scheduled to run on specific intervals to handle the incoming requests.
Automation of selected process comprises of the following steps:
- Downloading the block or unblock request list from the Bahrain Central Bank (CBB) website
- Updating the list into the core banking system
- Blocking or unblocking the customer accounts
- Downloading the processed output file from the core banking system
- Updating the status back in the Bahrain Central Bank (CBB) website
How the solution benefited Bahrain Banks
The solution significantly increased processing speed, capacity, accuracy and significantly helped Bahrain Banks to reduce the Average Handling Time by over 50 %, which covers 400-500 requests in a day.
The process automation enabled:
- End to end automation without any human dependency.
- 100% on-time compliance with CBB guidelines to avoid any penalties covering both timeliness and accuracy.
- Enhanced stakeholder management with higher process efficiencies.
- The BOTs to diligently perform tasks at a much better speed without downtime, significantly increasing productivity.
- Reduction in errors, enhanced efficiency, and accuracy.
Conclusion
Several banks in Bahrain have already started embracing emerging technologies like Intelligent Automation or Hyperautomation to address the challenge and automate the complete process. The intelligent robots perform tasks at a much better speed 24/7/365 without downtime. With the reduced risk of errors and the ability to diligently follow the regulatory norms and compliance, the solution reduces compliance risks and helps banks to avoid severe penalties from the Central Bank. The process automation also helps the Banks to eliminate manual work and shift employees to more value-added or strategic activities, further improving productivity.
10xDS has successfully implemented the Automation of Block/Unblock process for some of the leading banks in Bahrain. We would be delighted to provide references from these banks on how the successful automation has benefitted them.
Want to gain further insights into our Intelligent Automation/Hyperautomation/Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning services and solutions or if you are looking to jumpstart your Digital Transformation journey, talk to our experts!
