JB Financial ups competitiveness with robotics process automation

JB Financial Group headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of JB Financial Group

By Lee Min-hyung

JB Financial Group said Monday it has started utilizing robotic process automation (RPA) technologies at its sales offices.

According to the financial holding firm, Jeonbuk Bank, one of the group's banking affiliates, started introducing the RPA for bank clerks in sales offices, reducing the burden of taking on repetitive and tedious tasks. RPA refers to a software robot developed to complete tasks carried out by people.

JB Financial has used the technologies to automate such tasks handled at its headquarters, but this is the first time that it has expanded RPA use into sales channels, the group said.

It plans to use RPA when sending electronic bank statements to its customers and will expand the use into more diverse areas in its future.

JB expects the introduction of RPA to take on 36,000 hours of work previously handled by bank clerks each year, according to the group.

The mid-tier financial holding firm is also expanding digitization to other affiliates. In October, Kwangju Bank, another banking arm of JB, launched a robo-advisor system that is an automated investment manager.

Major banks and financial firms here are introducing automated investment systems to reduce risks and enhance accuracy for market forecasts. The rise of non-face-to-face transactions is expected to increase demand for such systems.

Kwangju Bank's KJ Mybot offers an individualized asset management service for its users.

“We will continue to develop our RPA systems and expand them when handling more complex tasks, in a preemptive move to tackle volatile financial circumstances,” an official from JB Financial said.