| | May 20188CIOReview IN MY OPINIONn Elon Musk's 2015 biography the author referred to the prediction by a physicist named Jonathan Heubener that the probability of us discovering another top-one-hundred-type invention gets smaller and smaller. Game-changing ideas such as the wheel, electricity, the airplane, and the television have already been invented, transforming the lives of billions of people along the way. Whilst Musk is trying his best to get into the Top 100 with SpaceX, Tesla Motors, and SolarCity, banking is not really expected to face such a revolution. We expect to see more of a constant evolution in our industry. (This assumes, of course, that Musk continues to be pre-occupied with his current ventures!)From "back-office" to a trusted business partner Over the last decade or so, the Operations function in the banking context has emerged from the tag of "back-office" to being a trusted business partner - one that occupies a seat at the leadership table equal to any of the other CXO roles. This recognition has come about from the increasingly significant role CIO's and their staff play in supporting the customers. Operations have always had the benefit of many touch points with Clients and over the years this natural connection has been leveraged to increase the quality of those interactions and thereby enhance the relevance of the function. There are three main areas, where the Operations function has been adding value to the organization through the years:1. Standardization of systems and processes ­ An exponential increase in STP (straight through processing) for client-initiated transactions has been realized. This has been a priority for product areas with high transaction volumes where no-one in the bank touches the transaction, thanks to the efforts to integrate many interconnecting systems. Standardization of systems has also enabled centralization of manual processes to offshore service centers to leverage the benefits of scale, best practice across multiple countries, and a standard service offering.2. Data Analytics - The sheer magnitude of data stored in bank databases has driven a whole new industry in data analytics. For example, this creates an opportunity for us to analyze the nature of the many thousands of client inquiries and work with them individually to understand their needs better. This, in turn, enables us to help customers get the required information faster or remove the need to make the inquiry altogether (via self-serve options). Either way, there is a time saving both for the client and for the bank.3. Revenue enablement - Operations teams are fully empowered to work directly with clients to support revenue initiatives, e.g. operations can look at unutilized loan limits and encourage utilization. The above initiatives have helped Operations play a more meaningful role in the customer experience. Capacity created has been used to reduce cost, reinvest in process improvement efforts and re-orient operations staff from manual transaction processing to proactively satisfying internal and external clients. What does the future look like for operations?Competition in banking has gone up many notches, thanks to the rise of non-bank players such as cryptocurrencies, THE EVOLUTION OF OPERATIONS AND WHAT TO EXPECT NEXT? IBy Venkatesh Subbaraman, Regional Chief Operating Officer, ANZ Venkatesh Subbaraman
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