Dispute arising over robotization at banks

By Kim Bo-eun

Many banks here are embracing robotization to increase their competitive edge in the digital era but experts said that they have to consider the potential pitfalls of robotic automation.

They pointed out that robotic systems are helping banks maximize efficiency and reduce work hours, but on the other hand raise concerns about reductions in the labor force and errors that may occur in the system.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) allows robots to emulate and integrate the actions of a human interacting within digital systems to execute a business process.

This is helping companies eliminate menial tasks and cut down work hours to adhere to the new 52-hour work week, introduced to improve the work-life balance for workers here.

“The introduction of the RPA system enables existing employees to engage in more creative work by leaving the menial tasks for the RPA system to assume,” a KEB Hana official said.

“The system also makes it possible for us to adhere to the 52-hour work week by performing the necessary tasks overnight, as employees are required to leave when their computers switch off in the evening,” he said.

KEB Hana Bank said last month it has finished setting up an RPA system that will perform 80,000 hours of work. The bank expects to save 3.2 billion won annually through the RPA system.

"Hanabot" is comprised of 34 robots that aid 22 processes of 19 types of tasks, including calculating the loan interest rate for 8,000 firms based on their credit ratings.

Shinhan Bank is currently working on its own artificial intelligence-based RPA.

The 'Handy Robot' is set to assume secondary tasks assisting the employees as well as enhancing efficiency and accuracy of the work.

For example, the robot will automatically upload clients' documents such as their business license to the system in the process of issuing loans.

Without the RPA, employees need to scan each of the documents and upload them on the existing platform.

Shinhan completed automating 13 tasks of 6 divisions in September last year, and plans on completing the automation of 30 tasks of 14 divisions by September.

The bank expects to be able to save a minimum of 6.5 billion won in the next five years.

“This comes from eliminating the use of paper, as well as some costs associated with the labor force,” a Shinhan official said, acknowledging employees conducting menial tasks could be affected.

This is the other side of the double-edged sword of RPA. The reduction of the labor force is expected to become a major issue as the systems develop and their application expands.

Regarding the issue, a ranking executive of a bank said “Banks should address the issue by providing new positions for employees whose jobs are replaced.”

Lee Eun-jae, a researcher at the Korea Center for International Finance, addressed these concerns in a report on global banks increasingly adopting RPAs.

“The employees whose jobs are being replaced should be trained to be able to do more creative work,” she said.

In the meantime, banks need to make sure that their employees become familiar with the system to prevent errors from arising. KEB Hana Bank has been holding regular sessions with employees through which they can learn about the system.