Unlocking Growth And Efficiency: Transformation Opportunities In Client Onboarding For US Banks

Introduction:

By 2025, corporate clients might account for almost 9% of revenue generated by banks.

But are we well equipped to leverage that?

The answer might not be that simple. As most of the commercial customers’ onboarding in banks today continues to be not streamlined enough for a seamless experience for the customers.

Banks typically face numerous challenges in the onboarding process of commercial customers. Interviews with corporate clients have consistently highlighted issues such as ambiguous requirements, underutilization of available data, fragmented documentation demands, and considerable delays in granting account access post-application.

This inefficient process not only frustrates clients but also places a significant burden on bank employees, with a notable portion of onboarding attempts failing to culminate in account opening. These inefficiencies underscore an opportunity for enhancing profitability through process optimization.

Opportunities for Process Enhancement

Fortunately, for all of us there are proven steps to be successful in onboarding. Our experience with leading major banks has yielded the following five initiatives for substantial onboarding improvements.

1. Streamlining Data Collection
   To ensure compliance, it's essential to streamline the data collection process. Over time, the accumulation of outdated and redundant forms due to regulatory changes has increased complexity. Simplifying these into a core set of necessary data points will ease the workload and minimize confusion.

2. Unified Global Onboarding
   Adopting a global approach to onboarding, especially for multinational banks, is recommended. This involves creating a universal set of questions applicable globally, with additional forms for specific local or product-related information, thereby eliminating repetitive data entry for existing customers in different locales.

3. Digital Portals for Client Engagement
   Introducing a user-friendly, self-service digital portal enhances the client experience. Such portals, equipped with features like advanced character recognition, streamlines processes and ensures data accuracy by integrating with other IT systems for automatic data updates.

4. Formation of Specialized Teams
   Organizational efficiency is further improved by forming specialized teams for client-facing and non-client facing tasks, using standardized global procedures. This approach not only increases productivity but also reduces operating costs and fraud risk.

5. Establishing Global Centers of Excellence
   Finally, establish a few global centers of excellence for onboarding, mainly chosen for their language and time zone suitability, ensuring overall consistency and efficiency.

This model allows for a unified process across different regions, leading to cost savings through offshoring and more effective compliance management due to centralized governance and easier implementation of process changes.

Coforge Aids Process Enhancement Through ProcessGym^TM  

Coforge helps its client in achieving these above steps in their transformation journey by following its proven process consulting framework known as ProcessGym^TM

The engagement begins with a “Day-in-the-Life” workshop validating the high-level As-Is process & producing a prioritized execution plan whereafter our ProcessGym™ takes-on the core process design work. It leverages its methodology to create a portfolio of recommendations & an implementation roadmap for standardizing, streamlining & automating the operations processes.

Our Program Manager and ProcessGym™ SME anchor the “Day-in-the-Life” facilitated workshop for confirming the high-level As-Is state and prioritizing the processes into an execution plan for the engagement.

After agreement of scope of assessment, definition of done and success criteria, ProcessGym™ team will:

• • Perform due diligence on scope of services identified from people, process and technology perspective
  • Understand & baseline processes covering speed of delivery, cost, quality and future readiness
  • Review upstream & downstream processes
  • Identify optimization & automation candidates based on business objectives
  • Recommend implementation roadmap, timelines, and benefits

This engagement is led by Coforge business consulting - a cross-industry advisory practice enabled with methodology, frameworks, partnerships and tools.

Interestingly, what we do is also supported by a study from Bain & Company that highlights that up to 40% cost reduction and 50% efficiency gain can be achieved by redesigning the client onboarding journey using above steps. 

Additionally, alongside bringing cost optimization through process efficiencies, banks also need to focus on automating their KYC processes to reap further optimization benefits.

We have studied the value stream map of Commercial KYC process and identified automation opportunities using our IDP, RPA, Data and AI capabilities as described below.

Automation Opportunities and Use Cases:

Specific automation opportunities in commercial KYC for US banks include identity verification, regulatory compliance, and risk mitigation. Automation software can integrate with legacy systems to make them more powerful, transforming outdated manual processes into efficient, digital workflows.

• • Customer Identification and Ongoing Monitoring have a high possibility for automation, utilizing databases and automated risk models for real-time checks and transaction monitoring.
  • Ownership Verification and Account Approval are considered moderately automatable, where AI can assist, but manual checks remain necessary.
  • Business Purpose & Activities Assessment and Sanctions & Watchlist Checks are highly automatable with data integration from authoritative databases and API connections to compliance databases.
  • Risk Assessment and PEP Screening have a low automation potential, as they require a nuanced approach that often needs human judgment.

Case Study: How Coforge is helping clients reimagine Commercial Client Onboarding with Advanced QC & Compliance Technology

As part of the evolving landscape of commercial client onboarding within U.S. banking institutions, a case study of proprietary technology, dubbed 'Copasys^TM,' presents a compelling narrative of innovation and efficiency.

The Existing Paradigm:

Traditional Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures for individuals within commercial onboarding have been reliant on manual processes. These include thorough documentation review and data validation, which are not only time-consuming but are also prone to inaccuracies, leading to potential regulatory sanctions and client dissatisfaction.

Limitations Identified:

• • The manual review process is heavily dependent on human intervention, inviting quality issues
  • Inefficiencies in the process lead to delayed response times

Challenges Encountered:

• • The error-prone nature of manual processes leads to rework and escalations
  • Banks face heightened regulatory scrutiny and the risk of penalties due to non-compliance
    
    

Innovative Solution with Copasys^TM:

The introduction of 'Copasys^TM,' an automated QC platform, has redefined the KYC process. The platform incorporates a preventative QC mechanism, thereby streamlining the validation process.

Strategic Implementation:

• • Deployment of an Automated KYC procedure that encapsulates essential data fields and business rules, ensuring nearly 100% accurate output and pinpointing exceptions and errors.
  • Integration of bespoke business rules tailored to the commercial client onboarding domain.
  • Development of a comprehensive dashboard and reporting mechanism through Power BI, featuring multiple detailed reports.
    
    

Value Proposition:

• • Enhanced Processing: Transition from manual to a fully automated rules-based process, incorporating OCR for data extraction, significantly reducing the time spent on reviews.
  • Estimated Efficiency Gains: The QC timeline is anticipated to be reduced by 20 to 30%, with production timelines seeing a reduction of 10 to 20%.
  • Quality Assurance: The process adheres to regulatory standards and can be aligned with specific regulations to ensure compliance.
  • Data-Driven Decisions: The platform provides deep insights through advanced reporting, fostering effective control measures and improved management oversight.
  • Proactive QC Approach: The preventative measures within Copasys preemptively address potential defects before they impact the processing stage.

Note:

The platform's efficacy is contingent upon the integration with the bank's existing data systems to ensure a seamless flow of client information.

To know more, connect with us at coforgeBPS@coforge.com

About Coforge

Coforge is a global digital services and solutions provider, that leverages emerging technologies and deep domain expertise to deliver real-world business impact for its clients. A focus on very select industries, a detailed understanding of the underlying processes of those industries, and partnerships with leading platforms provide us with a distinct perspective. Coforge leads with its product engineering approach and leverages Cloud, Data, Integration, and Automation technologies to transform client businesses into intelligent, high-growth enterprises. Coforge’s proprietary platforms power critical business processes across its core verticals. The firm has a presence in 21 countries with 26 delivery centers across nine countries.

For more information on Coforge, please visit www.coforge.com