Business Process Services In The Banking Sector: Importance And Its Prospects

Business process services have been around for centuries, but it is only now that companies and organizations are realizing their true potential. BPO services can empower the overworked and under-resourced companies, help them cut costs, and add value to the existing services.

Just like all the other domains and institutions, financial houses hire companies providing BPO Services to streamline their products and services. Business consolidation has been the spirit of industrial operations over the last decade.

Many large and small financial companies are investing time and money into amalgamating similar functions under a common roof. It reduces redundant processes and improves operational efficiency. It further results in better management of cash, investment, FX, and smarter financial decisions. However, in most cases, the availability of investment for the creation of this centralized treasury isn’t possible due to the lack of infrastructure, manpower, and knowledge. Since the financial services and products are ever-expanding, getting a good business process outsourcing company seems like the right deal. 

What is Banking BPO Services?

Banking BPO ( Business Process Services ) is a highly specialized strategy used by banks and other lending institutions to support account activities and business acquisition services associated with the banking lifecycle of a customer. Both parties sign service-level agreements for credit card lending, consumer lending, or commercial lending contracts. Several financial organizations choose to outsource operations like ITO systems and software services, human resources services, finance and accounting outsourcing services, procurement, or training services. 

Banking BPO services are an integral part of the financial industry. It depicts a set of discrete processes or transactional activities that support the lending lifecycle of a bank and a customer. 

• BPO services include new customer acquisition processes like telemarketing, application processing, underwriting, customer or merchant credit evaluation, credit approval, document processing, account opening, and customer care activities
• Business process services also include account servicing processes for credit cards or consumer loans. Mostly, the back-office operations like payment processing systems, customer services or call center support operations like voice, email, and mail services are handled by an outsourcing company
• Take over the consumer, and commercial lending processes
• Transaction process management for loans and credit cards services serves 

The Banking Process that can be Outsourced to a Business Process Services Company 

Several banking processes can be outsourced to an efficient business process outsourcing company ranging from customer support to revenue generation for both channels; voice or non-voice. These include:

Credit Card Process: 

Outsourcing credit card processes to an outsourcing partner is extremely popular. Banks hire call center agents to connect with the existing customers from the database and pitch a new credit card offer. Many-a-times, customers are looking for credit cards, and your call might find them at the right time. 

Furthermore, the agents are experienced in handling calls of the customers who have applied for credit cards. These agents can help them walk through the process for a quick approval. Such services can be rendered over the call or through a live chat system. 

In-app Support:

Mobile apps have become a way of life for us. For anything we want to do, there is an app that can do it for us. If statistics are to be believed, more than 50% of all smartphone users have mobile apps on their home screen for easy access. With mobile apps gaining so much importance, even noted and established banks have come up with their banking apps to support a wide range of customer processes, including loans and fixed deposits requests, checking and initiating transactions, look through the best offers, shopping, and applying for credit cards.

Mobile apps are a great way to engage your customers and provide them with convenient services. However, banking-based mobile apps can be tricky. Many customers face certain challenges while using the app. Business process companies can offer in-app support to such customers so that they can get the issue resolved through live chat. Such support also boosts customer satisfaction, and alleviates their trust in an organization’s services.

Commercial Lending: 

There was a time commercial lending was considered to be complicated to outsource. However, with the tremendous development in the same field, banks can now outsource these services as well, even beyond the geographical boundaries. This has led to the growth of outsourcing processes, especially in the west.

How BPO Services Outsourcing can Help the Banking Sector?

Business process outsourcing doesn’t hold the same reputation it used to before. It has risen over its innate standards and is an established backbone for several business functions and operations. Banking and financial services involve an ever-increasing pool of customers and repetitive back-office processes.

However, with the growing number of products and services, banks cannot afford to let the staff handle all non-essential processes. This is why reducing the overall cost of operations and outsourcing similar tasks to a business process outsourcing company seem like the right thing to do.

Outsourcing allows you to get experienced and talented people on-board while allowing your staff to focus on core operations, in turn, reducing the cost of services in the entire process. Hiring proficient BPO service providers to handle non-essential processes will provide great relief for the staff while allowing your customers to contact agents adept in query solving.

What are the Benefits of Outsourcing in Banking?

Outsourcing makes a perfect sense for any organization struggling to carry out the in-house processes within the time interval, limited money, and compact skillset. The primary reason why financial institutions outsource business process services is the cost and money restraints. Therefore, outsourcing non-strategic functions like payroll, logistics, and customer management to a company packed with technological knowledge, innovative products, professional staff, experience, and the talent of handling customers in both voice and non-voice processes are highly rewardable.

Outsourcing does improve the operational performance and speed of an organization. It also helps in increasing operational efficiency through better consolidation and centralized functions. Outsourcing ensures institutions are getting improved delivery access to world-class skills, benchmarking information, enhance reporting, and indulge in strategic decision-making.