A Look Ahead: Finance

This is the first in a series of posts providing “a look ahead” at key business trends that are evolving in major industries. The insights I share are based on our work with clients as well as discussions with high-level executives about business practices, technologies, labor needs and outsourcing strategies. Today I will focus on the financial sector. Many organizations are grappling with the four major trends highlighted below.

• Financial companies and institutions are currently undergoing a rapid technological evolution that is having a profound impact on the workforce. Technologies such as mobile communications, online banking and big data analytics are having a significant impact on the business models of many financial enterprises. This has produced a corresponding shift in labor needs, with technological skill becoming more important and the skills required of traditional financial industry employees such as bank tellers and loan agents less important.
• Financial institutions increasingly seek to contain costs and enhance operational efficiency by leveraging the benefits of business process automation and location consolidation as they shift more of their presence online. In particular, by automating previously manual, document- and labor-intensive activities such as accounts payable invoice and loan processing, some establishments are realizing a host of business benefits. These include faster processing cycle time, improved customer service and lower cost.
• While technologically oriented skills are increasingly important, many traditional skills are still required of financial industry workers. Executives report that while computers and the Internet have made technical skills in areas such as programming desirable, traditional skills in servicing customers and a knowledge of finance remain very important.
• Frequently outsourced tasks include typical “back office” functions such as clerical work. Financial enterprises are also looking to team with outsourcing service providers that have a track record in improving functions such as loan processing. For example, clients often seek our expertise in bringing digital efficiency to their mail operations, from mail intake to outbound print mail. Our services take care of the document flow (scan, route, and distribute) enabling companies to process more loans and increase their profit per loan. Another key area is credit card processing. Here, we can help drive efficiency from application intake to processing to customer communication. We can support a client’s dispute and fraud claim processing as well as collections and FCRA compliance.

In future posts I will spotlight trends in healthcare and manufacturing. In the meantime, feel free to visit the Business Process Outsourcing page of our website. There you can find additional insights in the form of white papers, research reports, case histories and more.