How digital transformation in the finance industry is beginning to accelerate

Digital transformation in the financial services sector is beginning to accelerate, and both financial services and insurance companies want to put customers at the centre of their experiences. 

In the Forrester State of Systems Agreement Research 2020, the top priorities identified by financial services and insurance technology purchasing decision-makers include: 

• Improving CX 
• Strengthening security
• Compliance 
• Increasing employee productivity

We commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct an online survey of business leaders responsible for document-intensive processes at organisations in the U.K. with 250 to more than 20,000 employees. 

The 954 respondents include global technology purchasing decision-makers, 147 of those were from the Financial Services & Insurance sector. Of those, 79% cited the improvement of customer experience as a high or critical priority in the coming year.

At present, financial services experiences for customers are full of manual processes and paper-based forms. 58% of financial service and insurance decision-makers say modernising their contract and agreement processes is of high or critical priority. 

Digital transformation in finance

Despite digital transformation being a key priority for financial services and insurance companies, many processes are still manual. Paper-based processes span a variety of use cases throughout these companies. 

●      55% of respondents said there were at least some paper-based processes for Trust Openings

●      59% of insurance claim appeals have some paper-based forms

●      60% of new insurance policy applications have some paper-based processes

●      59% of respondents said there were at least some paper-based processes for the opening of new accounts.

●      57% of respondents said there were at least some paper-based processes for loan applications

●      55% of respondents said there were at least some paper-based processes for Asset Transfers

Ensuring financial services agreements are easy, efficient and secure is an essential part of building better experiences for customers. Each agreement, whether it’s a loan or mortgage application, or an insurance policy, has the potential to improve relationships.

The impact of manual processes on financial services

Many decision-makers in this sector find that manual processes are hindering their results toward the goal to deliver better customer experiences. Nine out of ten firms are burdened by manual agreement processes. 

These processes are to blame for poor customer experiences, project delays and increased costs and they can negatively impact a firm’s ability to recognise revenue. 

Manual processes and unintegrated systems drive inefficiency and can cause negative experiences. Financial and insurance decision-makers state that manual processes cause the following challenges:

●      47% say work is duplicated when re-entering date from agreements into systems of record

●      63% of respondents say errors occur when manually transferring data such as customer or product data into agreements manually

●      45% of respondents say customer experience has suffered as a result of manual processes

●      35% say they see delays in starting projects because of manual processes

●      39% see delays in recognising revenue and 23% experience lost revenue

Financial services and insurance automation

It’s clear that automated digital processes in finance and insurance result in reduced turnaround times and fewer errors. 

98% of respondents report that digital agreement processes provide benefits:

●      48% say they deliver better customer experiences

●      45% reported accelerated deal cycles

●      40% reported revenue growth

●      37% reported time savings

Over 91% of the respondents say they’re processing over 500 agreements each month. In the financial services and insurance sector, regulatory changes are constant and can be easier to manage with automated processes.

Automation of signatures is a common first step followed by other business process automation, including the processes before and after signing. Now more than ever, financial services and insurance organisations are examining their agreement processes to determine where and how they can be more efficient, more user-friendly and more secure. 

Financial services and insurance leaders are now looking toward intelligent automation, contract lifecycle management software, and contract analytics to create better experiences for customers and employees.

How DocuSign can help

Digital disruptors in finance, banking and insurance are reinventing business models. They’re using digital technologies and contract management software to create simple, convenient, and more personalised customer interactions.

The DocuSign Agreement Cloud can help financial services leaders streamline critical financial services processes and digitally transform agreement documents and sign-offs. It can help financial institutions digitally transform the many contracting processes that require agreement and sign-off, in turn helping to deliver better customer and employee experiences as well as time and cost-efficiencies. 

Download the Forrester Consulting The State of Systems of Agreement Report 2020 to find out more or join our live webinar on 19th August where we will delve deeper into Forrester insights and discuss how you can transform your organisations agreement strategy.