Coforge BPS has been servicing the Banking, Mortgage & Financial services process transformation for over 20+ years, and drives Business Process Excellence through a digital-first approach, and deep domain expertise, led by experienced consultative practitioners.
We recently spoke to the Head of Banking & Financial Services at Coforge Business Process Solutions, Sumit Sood, about how the Banking industry is moving ahead, and what to expect in the future. Sumit has 22+ years of experience in the Banking domain and has led roles in Retail Operations, Payments, Product & Process Governance, Risk Management, Credit Control, and more.
Here are some excerpts from the conversation. Comments have been edited and summarised for easier reading.
Q1. How has the Banking solutions market evolved over time?
Banking, especially with growth in Fintech and fast-paced technological evolution, is going through a very dynamic phase. Banks and FIs are thinking of outsourcing as a key vehicle to either provide flexibility in managing day-to-day operations or for lowering costs from a strategic long-term perspective. We also see existing client base deepening Banking Process Solutions (BPS) engagements by bringing more processes under the outsourcing purview with Tech, Digital and Automation enabled solutions finding more takers.
We have found Banks and FIs looking for more agile, lean, simplified processes which are digital inside and outside giving truly personalized and contextual experience to end customers. Hence, the CX component’s relevance and demand has seen an uplift in the post-pandemic times. This is also changing how BPS providers craft, propose and implement solutions especially in CX space. There is more partnership, more looking to leverage IP and deeper domain talent to address this demand. We feel this aspect will fundamentally change the mind set in the way BPS will deliver CX solutions and customers embracing this in times ahead.
We saw the pandemic accelerate the shift to digital whether in ways of working or engaging/serving end customers. The ability to serve digital native customers 24X7 has brought in the need for BPS firms to partner with their technology arms like here at Coforge to provide more integrated solutions and we will see continued acceleration in this space.
Q2. What were the key changes that you observed in the market as compared to the past?
The customers have benefitted from a higher number of managed services deals and we don’t see that trend slowing down.
Speed and agility to execute—beyond traditional needs of efficiency and optimization—have seen a higher demand from our clients. This is partly because of reasons mentioned above as well as speed to market given competition that Banks and FIs are facing from FinTech’s in particular.
We have also seen an increasing demand for innovation addressed through combination of traditional business process re-engineering, automation and more recently with specialized solutions involving solutions like low-code no code, allowing organizations to rapidly develop or implement solutions. This approach has greatly enhanced BPS’s ability to deliver agile and transformational programs.
Some of the other changes observed include:
- Banks are demanding hyper personalization to their needs and demands driving the need for higher caliber BPS talent leading the discussions through thought leadership.
- Cost is becoming critical factor with recessionary trends coming into play. We are seeing higher demand for cost offtake through a combination of factors highlighted above.
- Talent remains a key challenge in the market still although we have seen some stabilization.
- A larger demand for Near Shore delivery which will likely fuel higher growth in centers in Central America, Eastern Europe, South Asia in particular.
- Intelligent Process Automation providing a more holistic process, subprocess and task level automation is becoming a mainstay demand from customers.
- Data is playing a pivotal role through analytics / data solutions and the power of leveraging data to drive desired outcomes embedded in core of BPS offerings and solutions.
Note: This series will continue with additional insights into the Banking, Financial services industries based on the Coforge BPS consulting and services delivery experience as we go through a volatile phase in the market. For any feedback, comments or suggestions please email CoforgeBPS@coforge.com
