Securities Services Get a Robot-Speed Boost 

For stock traders and investors, time is money. In a volatile market, the right moment comes and goes in a flash. A second too late, and they could miss out on big returns.  With such high stakes, organizations like Thanachart Securities Public Limited Company (TNS) are moving to eradicate unnecessary waiting time.

TNS wanted to help its customers avoid losing opportunities due to inefficiencies by shortening the processing time while also reducing costs with the help of robotic process automation (RPA). Since October 2019, TNS has employed robots whose accuracy and speed have greatly streamlined cash deposits and other services.

Thanachart Securities has been focusing on improving (its) internal processes to be more efficient. We needed tools to manage these activities to increase efficiency to satisfy our clients.

Supavasa Suwanarat • First Vice-President of the Operations Department in TNS

Faster registration with RPA 

Before customers begin trading, they have to register and validate their bank accounts to use the company’s Automated Transfer System (ATS). Customer data is received in various ways—such as emails, on the respective banks’ websites or other documents.  

Employees used to have to pore over the information and fill up digital forms. But with RPA, a robot gathers all the input and updates the system in one go. Once finished, it will send a notification to the customer, who can then start trading. 

While the process remains semi-automated—with paper-based registration and the use of Thai language requiring human intervention—RPA has shaved the processing time from 45 minutes to less than 15 minutes, thus delivering cost savings of up to 60%. 

Natthaphat Soonthornsilsungworn is in charge of robot maintenance. Armed with IT and .NET programming skills, he embarked on an RPA journey to support the company’s automation plans. His resources include UiPath Academy’s website and onsite consultation with TNS’s automation partner, KG Information Systems Private Limited. 

I was assigned to support (the) RPA process without having any knowledge before, UiPath Academy helped me get up to speed by providing more than enough predefined activities to use and allows me to program and run my codes for specific tasks

Natthaphat Soonthornsilsungwornt • TNS

Zero-error checks

Previously, when customers deposited cash into TNS’s ATS channel, employees had to manually check transactions and key the data into the back office system before exporting and uploading the organization’s partner banks’ websites. The data had to be manually verified and approved, which extended the waiting time for customers. 

Manual, time-consuming processes work against TNS, whose customers count on it to swiftly prepare their trading funds. With UiPath’s solution, the error-prone process is now automated. The robot processes ATS requests before exporting the data, verifying the transaction status, and automatically updating the information into TNS’ system. With such a quick turnaround, customer satisfaction has improved. 

At the first launch, our traditional methods were still more efficient, but the team gradually adjusted and changed the automation process to match our business expectations,

Supavasa Suwanarat • First Vice-President of the Operations Department in TNS

With RPA, the error rate has been reduced to zero, while customers are now notified of their successful deposits within 15 minutes, down from an hour. 

Streamlining staff for better workflow 

Customers can deposit cash through another channel, called bill payment, where random checks are conducted before the transaction is verified and consolidated in TNS’ system. Before automation, there were four employees working on the ATS and bill payment channels each.

With UiPath’s RPA solution implemented, one staff member can handle both processes, which has also reduced manual effort to 15% by validating customers’ transactions and updating the bank system before sending out email notifications. After its initial success with these three processes, TNS is identifying more areas for automation. However, Suwanarat noted that the firm has to be discerning of what can and cannot be automated.  

Her tip to companies planning to employ RPA is to use a process assessment tool, which lists processes suitable for automation and prioritize them for development to maximize implementation. 

The most important thing when adopting RPA is to select the right process, analyze it and come up with a redesigned process prior to development,” she explained. “It is important to synergise the organization's needs and strategies with technology to move forward and remain competitive today.

Supavasa Suwanarat • First Vice-President of the Operations Department in TNS