ČSOB (Československá obchodní banka) is one of the largest commercial banks in the Czech Republic. As a universal bank, ČSOB provides a wide range of banking products and services, while following all laws, regulations and procedures to prevent criminal activity and keep their customers safe. CSOB’s Blue Prism digital workforce, built in partnership with Deloitte, tackles anti-money laundering (AML) seamlessly and efficiently.

Challenge

Anti-money laundering (AML) regulations require banks to report suspicious activity to deter criminals from integrating illicit funds into the financial system. In the past year alone, ČSOB has investigated over 25,000 cases.

Each case, whether from a new or existing client, required human investigators to collect information from multiple internal and external systems. The average processing time for each case was around 45 minutes, and at least half the time was spent gathering data.

Employees were then responsible for making a decision. If the investigator decided the client was at risk of money-laundering, the case was escalated to another department where the same checks were repeated. ČSOB knew there was a more efficient way to gather and verify this critical information.

Solution

Turning to Deloitte, ČSOB formed a strong partnership that led them to cooperate daily with Deloitte’s experienced team, optimizing and automating processes across the bank. Using Deloitte’s knowledge of RPA technologies, ČSOB implemented a Blue Prism digital workforce. But they didn’t stop there. They ensured that proper governance was in place which enabled them to rapidly scale. In addition to scaling the number of automations, the team grew their digital workforce’s capabilities to include artificial intelligence, together with workflow and machine learning.

ČSOB now has 15 digital workers dedicated to the AML process, gathering and consolidating data into a single excel file that provides a summary at a glance. Running a combined average of 300 plus hours per day, including weekends, these digital workers enable human investigators to cover more cases in less time. They’ve decreased overall risk for the bank.

With the added flexibility of the workforce, the AML team at ČSOB can handle bursts of work effortlessly, with no overtime, and still deliver accurate and timely information.