Automating the review of transaction listing reports, closing documents, and sending document completion reminders not only helps banks enhance operational efficiency but also brings practical benefits to their operational teams. In the context of Vietnam’s financial and banking sector continuously innovating and striving for optimal efficiency, banking automation is becoming an inevitable trend, bringing positive transformations to numerous operational processes. This solution helps improve the accuracy of accounting data, ensure regulatory compliance, and boost the work performance of the operational divisions.
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The Current Manual Process: Transaction Listing Report Review, Document Closure, and Document Completion Reminders in Vietnamese Banks
The traditional process of reviewing transaction listing reports, closing documents, and sending document completion reminders involves many complex and time-consuming steps:
- Collecting Reports and Transaction Listings: Staff must gather transaction listing reports from various systems (core banking, payment systems, specialized transaction systems). These reports often come in multiple formats (Excel, CSV, printed PDF).
- Reviewing and Reconciling Transactions: Employees meticulously compare each transaction on the listing report with original documents (payment orders, collection orders, bank statements, over-the-counter transaction documents, etc.). This requires high precision to detect errors or omissions.
- Marking and Recording Results: After reconciliation, staff mark matched transactions and record discrepancies or missing documents in manual tracking sheets (usually Excel).
- Collecting and Organizing Documents: Original documents, once reconciled, are gathered and organized chronologically or by transaction code in preparation for bundling.
- Bundling and Storing Documents: Employees proceed to bundle the reconciled and organized documents into packages or boxes according to bank regulations. This includes numbering, labeling, and transferring them to the archiving department.
- Tracking Document Completion Status: For transactions with missing documents, staff must manually track progress (via email, phone, or spreadsheets) to remind relevant departments or customers to provide the necessary documents.
- Reporting Review and Document Closure Status: Periodically, employees must compile reports on review progress, the number of closed documents, and the status of document completion, often done manually in Excel.
Operational Challenges of Manual Execution
Manually executing this process in Vietnamese banks faces significant challenges:
- Time and Resource Intensive: Employees spend a considerable amount of time on repetitive tasks such as collecting, reconciling, marking, and organizing documents. This reduces work efficiency and wastes human resources.
- Human Error: Manual reconciliation and data entry are prone to errors, overlooking transactions, or inaccurate recording, affecting the precision of accounting data and reports.
- Difficulty in Tracking and Management: Tracking review progress, document closure status, and the completion of missing documents becomes complex and easily overlooked when performed manually.
- Extended Process Completion Time: Due to the complexity and manual nature of the steps, the time taken to complete report review, document closure, and full document collection often extends, impacting accounting ledger closing times.
- Pressure on Operational Staff: The large volume of work, repetitive nature, and time pressure can cause stress and reduce employee motivation.
- Challenges in Ensuring Compliance: Controlling compliance with regulations on document storage and document completion deadlines becomes more difficult when the process is performed manually.
The Automated Process with RPA: Transaction Listing Report Review, Document Closure, and Document Completion Reminders
With the support of RPA (Robotic Process Automation) solutions, this process can be performed much faster, more accurately, and efficiently:
- Automated Report and Transaction Listing Collection:
- Bots automatically log into various operational systems (core banking, payment systems, etc.) on schedule or when new reports are available.
- Bots automatically download and convert transaction listing reports into a standardized format (e.g., Excel).
- Automated Transaction Review and Reconciliation:
- Bots read data from transaction listing reports and from electronic document storage systems or digitized document data files.
- Bots compare key data fields (transaction code, amount, transaction time, etc.) between the report and the documents based on configured rules.
- Bots record reconciliation results (matched, unmatched) into the management system.
- Automated Marking and Result Recording:
- Bots automatically mark matched transactions within the system.
- Bots automatically record unmatched cases or missing documents into a tracking list and categorize them by reason (e.g., missing document, amount discrepancy, etc.).
- Automated Collection and Preparation for Electronic Document Closure:
- Bots automatically group reconciled electronic documents into packages according to the bank’s bundling rules.
- Bots automatically create metadata files for each document package.
- Automated Document Completion Reminders:
- Based on the list of missing documents, bots automatically send reminder emails to relevant departments or customers using pre-set templates.
- Bots track response status and update information in the system. Different levels of reminders can be set (e.g., first reminder after X days, second reminder after Y days, etc.).
- Automated Report Generation:
- Bots automatically compile and generate reports on review progress, the number of closed (electronic) documents, transaction matching rates, and document completion status (number of reminders sent, number completed, number still missing).
- Bots send reports to management levels at scheduled intervals.
Value of Automation Solutions in Report Review, Document Closure, and Document Completion Reminder Processes
Applying RPA automation to the report review, document closure, and document completion reminder processes brings immense value to both the bank and its operational staff:
For the Bank:
- Time and Cost Savings: Reduces the time spent on manual tasks by up to 80-90%, significantly saving human resource costs.
- Increased Accuracy: Minimizes human errors by 99% during reconciliation and data entry.
- Enhanced Efficiency: Employees can handle a larger workload within the same timeframe.
- Improved Tracking and Management: Easily monitor progress, document status, and work efficiency through the automated system.
- Better Compliance Assurance: The automated system consistently adheres to document storage and completion regulations and procedures.
- Faster Accounting Closing Time: The process is completed more quickly and accurately, shortening the accounting ledger closing period.
For Operational Staff:
- Reduced Repetitive Workload: Frees employees from tedious and time-consuming tasks.
- Decreased Pressure and Stress: More time to focus on specialized and analytical work.
- Increased Work Accuracy: Reduces the risk of errors and accountability for manual mistakes.
- Enhanced Work Efficiency: Can complete tasks faster and more accurately, contributing to the bank’s overall success.
- Improved Job Satisfaction: When work becomes more efficient and less stressful, job satisfaction and engagement with the bank also increase.
Akabot Solution for Banks: Superior Automation, Deep Operational Understanding
Akabot is a comprehensive automation platform specifically designed to meet the operational optimization needs of enterprises. With successful deployments for over 30 banks and financial institutions both domestically and internationally, akaBot confidently delivers international-standard automation solutions while possessing a deep understanding of the unique operational characteristics of the banking sector in Vietnam.
Akabot Capabilities:
- Comprehensive, Flexible, and Robust Solution: Akabot provides a powerful RPA platform, combined with advanced technologies such as Machine Learning and AI, capable of automating complex banking processes flexibly and efficiently.
- Deep Understanding of Banking Operations: With extensive experience working with banks, Akabot’s team of experts thoroughly understands the operational processes, challenges, and specific compliance requirements of the industry.
- Bank-Wide Deployment Capability: Akabot can deploy automation solutions for over 500 processes within a single bank, covering all departments (bank-wide scale), ensuring synchronization and widespread efficiency.
WithAkabot, banks can effectively automate transaction listing report review, document closure, and document completion reminder processes, as well as many other operational workflows, thereby optimizing operations, enhancing efficiency, and providing a better experience for both employees and customers.
Strategic Direction for Optimizing Bank Operations Through Automation
In an increasingly competitive landscape with rising demands for efficiency, accuracy, and customer experience, the strategic direction for applying automation in banking operations in Vietnam is becoming clearer and more urgent. Instead of focusing solely on a few isolated processes, banks are increasingly adopting a more strategic and comprehensive approach to automation.
According to an Akabot report, between 2019 and 2024, over 10,000 virtual robots were deployed for nearly 30 banks and financial institutions in Vietnam. Many top-tier banks have achieved a high level of automation, with most daily operational processes involving large transaction volumes being entirely handled by bots.
This strategic direction involves identifying core processes, “bottlenecks” that waste time and resources, and processes with high error risks for priority automation. Beyond just automating repetitive tasks with RPA, banks are gradually integrating smarter technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) into more complex processes, from customer data analysis and credit risk assessment to personalizing service experiences. The goal is to build an intelligent, flexible operational system capable of automatically adapting to market changes and customer needs. This requires serious investment in technology infrastructure, developing a workforce with automation skills, and building a clear deployment roadmap to progressively realize the vision of a fully digitized bank.
According to Akabot data, RPA implementation has helped Vietnamese banks save 80-95% of the time spent on transaction processing, reconciliation, and card operations, while reducing the risk of manual errors by up to 99%. The workload performed by virtual robots can be equated to 12,000 labor hours per year, equivalent to 40-60 full-time employees. This demonstrates the immense potential of automation in enhancing efficiency and optimizing costs for the Vietnamese banking industry.
