Industries and businesses have had varying degrees of success in adapting to survive or even thrive amid the disruption of Covid-19. With many people now working from home, buying methods are increasingly digital interactions and this is reflected in the way they want to interact with their bank or lender.

The lockdown period has forced lenders to recognise the issue and digitise in order to retain engagement with customers, whilst also ensuring their own employees are able to operate in these new conditions. As a result, we have seen an increase in the use of automation technology for the consumer-facing and sales-related processes in lending. This includes technology such as pre-DiP and affordability checks with the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) and Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) initiatives accelerating this transformation.

However, the use of automation technology has not yet been holistically adopted within lending, with loan case management still very manual, as are the mortgage stages post DiP. Many lenders remain reliant on ?behind the scenes? rekeying of data between multiple application programmes whilst also being constrained by legacy platforms requiring manual intervention.

Although many firms continue to operate a ?work from home? policy, a need for manual faxing of paper work and post room functions remains in order to complete loan and mortgage applications. This can result in delays to the process, lower operational efficiencies and poorer customer satisfaction ratings.

Many lenders are also yet to maximise the benefits of ?big data? from sources such as Open Banking, which can be utilised by automation technology through APIs to help make faster, more accurate decisions. This is particularly relevant in r the more complex underwriting cases that currently require manual intervention such as furloughed applicants. Similar data is being taken advantage of in other industries which has resulted in improved efficiencies, and lenders now need to recognise that use of ?big data? is a must in the ?new normal?.

The disruption caused by Covid-19 is now providing the opportunity for a wider strategic review into how prepared lenders are for the ?new normal? and what technology will be needed. We have seen consumers? desire to engage remotely with their lenders, and self-service at the top of the priority list. However, lenders should now look to adapt their back office operations to the ?new normal? by utilising automation technology and combining with big data to improve efficiencies throughout. 

Download our recent whitepaper, ?Challenge Equals Opportunity: Lessons for Lenders from Covid-19? to learn where lenders are focusing their efforts and how this period has been a catalyst for change.