Is there anything that’s a bigger pain than the onboarding process for a new hire? Surely, if there is anything that everyone can agree on, it is that the sheer mind-numbing amount of paperwork that has to be filed for someone to begin work at a new job is unruly. No one benefits from this lengthy and inordinate process: the new hire in question has to sit around waiting to start working at the job. In contrast, the hiring team must complete this superfluous work as quickly as possible to ensure the role is filled promptly.
Fortunately, thanks to modern technological tools, these concerns may soon be a thing of the past. In recent years, automated forms processing has modernized financial services by reducing manual data entry, improving accuracy, and accelerating client onboarding and compliance processes. Now, rather than sitting around filling out seemingly unending amounts of paperwork, it can be filed quickly and efficiently without wasting everyone’s time.
Manual Data Entry in Finance: A Persistent Problem
Remarkably, the applicable potential of such technology also stretches far beyond the streamlining of the onboarding process. Banks, insurance companies, and lenders are all institutions that handle large volumes of forms. This gargantuan amount of paperwork can often serve to slow service and response time, as valuable workers are pulled away from doing their actual jobs in order to file paperwork.
Obviously, this is not ideal and only serves to exacerbate the needs of the workforce. To this end, such systems greatly increase the risk of errors in filing, as workers are placed under a tremendous amount of pressure and expected to multitask while adhering to every paperwork-affiliated detail.
Automated forms processing acts to alleviate such stressors from these workers and instead, frees them up to do their job to the best of their abilities, without such regulated distractions.
What Is Automated Forms Processing?
Automated forms processing is the use of AI, OCR, and machine learning to extract and validate data from structured and semi-structured documents. Over the course of the past several years, AI has begun to be steadily integrated into everything from fast-food drive-thrus to company spreadsheets. Because of its broad applicability, it is only logical that it is now filling the role of forms processing and making the filing of such extraneous paperwork less of a load for workers.
The Police Force Example
In many ways, it is surprising that automated forms processing has not become a more widely utilized system before now. After all, a very prominent example has been utilizing a similar system for years, in the form of multiple police stations across the country using AI to file officers’ paperwork.
The thinking behind the use of AI in such circumstances was that it would alleviate the workload on individual officers, allowing them to better allocate their time and resources to bona fide work for the betterment of their community. The use of technology in businesses for onboarding, recording, and data filing is now highly similar.
Key Benefits for Financial Institutions
- Faster loan and mortgage processing
- Improved customer onboarding
- Enhanced compliance and audit readiness
- Reduction in operational costs
Practical Use Cases in Finance
Mortgage applications, KYC (Know Your Customer) forms, insurance claims, account opening, and tax form digitization are all beneficiaries that stem from the use of automated forms processing.
The Digital Transformation Push in Financial Services
When generative AI first debuted to the public in 2022, it was met with widespread skepticism and even outright derision. Many viewed it as little more than a passing fad that was doomed to become a laughing stock. However, in the years since, the technology’s ability to automate, streamline, and reduce budgets in various industries has ultimately proven its worth time and again.
All it took was for one business to utilize the tool in such a way for countless others to jump on board, fearful of falling behind their competitors. In this way, AI is continuing to redefine the financial services industry. Automated forms processing is merely the latest step in a long line of technologically inspired advancements aimed at optimizing the workflow of a business and freeing up human workers to become more productive.
Photo by Christin Hume; Unsplash
A seasoned technology executive with a proven record of developing and executing innovative strategies to scale high-growth SaaS platforms and enterprise solutions. As a hands-on CTO and systems architect, he combines technical excellence with visionary leadership to drive organizational success.
