Robotic Automation for Retail Financing Operations Qorus-Infosys Finacle Banking Innovation Awards 2025

Concept and Objectives

BSN implemented Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to transform high-volume, post-disbursement financing operations, specifically targeting settlement and refund processes. The initiative aimed to reduce processing time, improve accuracy, scale transactional capacity, and enhance overall service delivery. RPA bots were designed to automate structured tasks, validate inputs, execute transactions, and issue notifications without manual intervention, delivering faster, more reliable service to customers.

Reasons Behind

Manual processing in financing operations often led to delayed turnaround times, inconsistent outcomes, and over-reliance on human resources. With growing expectations for speed, accuracy, and reliability, BSN saw an urgent need to modernize back-office workflows. The RPA initiative was launched to enhance operational efficiency, reduce costs, and improve customer experience. By automating repetitive tasks, BSN also aimed to relieve staff from routine workloads, allowing them to focus on more meaningful, higher-value activities and increasing overall productivity.

State of Competition

While automation is increasingly used across the banking sector, many deployments remain limited to front-office functions such as customer onboarding or contact centres. In contrast, BSN’s RPA initiative focused on post-disbursement financing processes, a critical yet often overlooked area in conventional automation strategies. By targeting settlement and refund operations with direct customer impact, BSN delivered measurable, scalable improvements in back-office efficiency, setting a new benchmark for RPA-driven transformation in financial services.

Sources of Inspiration

This initiative was part of BSN’s broader transformation agenda and focus on operational excellence. It aligned with the bank’s mission to deliver efficient, inclusive services while scaling delivery through technology without proportionally increasing cost or headcount. By embedding automation in essential financing functions, BSN demonstrated its commitment to improving service delivery and staying agile amid evolving customer and regulatory demands.

Departments Involved

The RPA initiative was driven by BSN’s Credit Operations and IT departments, supported by a 12-member core team. IT managed design, configuration, and deployment, while Credit Operations provided business logic and domain expertise. A specialist RPA vendor ensured technical robustness and scalability. Close coordination between technical and functional teams ensured alignment with governance and compliance standards throughout.

Main Results So Far

In settlement processes, processing time was reduced from 20 to 4 minutes, daily capacity increased from 32 to 195 accounts, and turnaround time improved from 7 days to same-day processing. One RPA bot replaced six manual roles in settlement activities.

In refund processing, transaction time dropped from 30 to 2 minutes, daily volume rose from 48 to 240 transactions, and turnaround time was shortened from 3 days to same-day processing. The process also achieved a 97% cost reduction by replacing printed letters with automated SMS notifications.

The implementation of RPA bots delivered significant operational improvements. These gains translated into faster customer service, reduced manual workload, and up to a 5X increase in productivity for redemption and settlement processes.

Next Steps

To sustain and scale automation benefits, BSN has established a Robotic Process Automation Center of Excellence (CoE). The CoE serves as a centralized hub to standardize delivery, develop reusable frameworks, and embed governance across business units. It accelerates automation adoption, promotes compliance, and tracks strategic impact through defined KPIs. This structured approach enables BSN to embed innovation, expand RPA across more processes, and continuously elevate operational efficiency through a scalable model.