By Emma Okonji
Stanbic IBTC has said the introduction of robotics into its banking operations, will enhance workforce optimisation and also reduce the number of human interface at its back end operations.
Manager, Process Analytics at the bank, Mr. Wale Ojo, who made the disclosure at the ongoing Social Media Week Lagos, said the bank would continue to invest in robotics technology as well as in humans in order to speed up banking operations and enhance customers’ experience.
“We have developed solution that is making our financial process more seamless, and this helps to reduce the number of human interactions that occur within the system.
“We have all-in-one app that allows customers to navigate across various accounts from a single user interface. The same app could be used to access different sites instead of having different app for different bank accounts in different bank websites,” Ojo said.
The bank has also developed chatbots that can log on to systems, using the username and password to visit different sites and download information and save such information in a particular location that could be accessible to all, Ojo added.
According to him, “We have chatbots that can interact with our customers and help them in basic transactions like account opening, checking of account balance. They act as robot advisory that helps customers to identify investment types that best suit their financial strength. The chatbots advise customers on different bank offerings based on the customers spending pattern.
“Without robotics, we are able to deal with back-end operations by speeding up our back-end operations such that customers do not experience long turn-around time and delays in the banking operations.
‘In the area of cheque confirmation, we use out back-end robotics to carry out the operations as fast as possible and in few hours, other bank checks are verified and cleared. In the future we are looking at building chatbots that will interface with human in major baking operations, including front-end operations,” Ojo said.
Senior Process Analyst at Stanbic IBTC, Jane Nwosu, spoke on the bank’s innovation lab where the bank does co-operation exercise that engages the customers and knowing exactly what the customer wants, adding that it was a way of engaging customer experience.
“Our investments in robotics and people are key to us as a bank as we will continue to invest in young people that have brilliant ideas. We will continue to invest in robots and in people to prove a point that the use of robotics in banking operations will not eliminate jobs of people.
“It’s all about workforce optimisation. We see millennials taking up key banking operations in the future, and that is the reason why we invest in people even as we invest in chatbots,” Ojo added.
