Bank of the West Harnesses Robotics, Automation for Swift Turnaround

Bank of the West is betting on automation and robotics to boost approval rates and to trim turnaround time, Executive Vice President and Head of Personal Finance Michael Pereira told AFN.

The goal, Pereira said, is to have automated offers on 90% of the applications coming in, giving the bank the ability to respond more quickly to dealers.

Currently, the San Francisco-based bank can provide loan decisions in 30 to 60 seconds. For the remaining 10% of applications, the bank has full-time staff dedicated to support dealers and work through more complicated financing opportunities, Pereira said.

Meanwhile, the lender is using robotics to minimize repetitive collection tasks, like automating the transmission of account data from one system to another at the start of the repossession process. That task, which used to take 20 minutes per account, has been reduced to three minutes, he said.

Robotics implemented in the funding and servicing areas are a key driver in the bank’s same-day funding capabilities, he added. Looking forward, Bank of the West is eyeing alternative communication channels and consumer behavior trends to adapt services and products.

“Those are more medium-term innovation goals,” Pereira added, without specifying a timeline.

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