Transforming Trade Finance Operations for a Post-Pandemic World

Driving the Future of Work Through Enhanced Digital & Data-Driven Journeys

The current Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in the acceleration of digital transformation trends across the globe. We have seen numerous innovations in fields such as AI, Blockchain, Cloud Computing and 5G due to the increased need for e-solutions.

At DBS Hong Kong, we are continuously exploring new ways to digitally transform our customer journeys and the way we work. An example of this is the transformation of Trade Finance Operations processes in our Institutional Banking business (IBG) with the use of digital tools to unify processing and enhancement of data-driven decision-making capabilities in our teams.

In this blog post, I’m going to share details and offer tips on the approaches & tools we use for supporting such large-scale transformation projects.

Introduction

Previously, the daily routine of our Trade Finance Operations involved the BAU team needing to go through vast amounts of physical documentation to process trade transactions. These documents often included applications and internal guideline checklists that the team had to validate against customer information. Such manual processes and tight turnaround times meant that the BAU team were required to be present in the office to work.

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in Hong Kong, DBS has adopted a bank-wide policy of practicing split-site operations and a work from home (WFH) arrangement. Prior to our Trade Finance Operations transformation, all BAU staff would have needed to continue working in office to process their trade transactions.

Therefore, by digitalising and automating our previously manual processes, we have:

1. Standardised processes across locations
2. Automated several checkpoints, helping to alleviate processor workload
3. Reduced our paper usage
4. Leveraged on digital documents within the central control tower that BAU processors can utilise
5. Made working from home possible for all BAU Staff during the Covid-19 pandemic

So, how did we do this?

We Adopted Intelligent Process Automation (IPA) as a Solution

We first explored different digitisation solutions available on the market, allowing us to pinpoint the solutions that would work best for our transformation project. We then narrowed it down to the two options: Intelligent Process Automation (IPA) and Robotics Process Automation (RPA). We ran a cost-benefit analysis to see which would be the best fit our team. IPA incorporates technology such as intelligent document processing, structured and unstructured data processing, and cognitive automation, whereas RPA focuses more on automating repetitive and routine processes. Given that Trade Finance Operations often require supporting scenario-based transactions that can have many different variables, we determined that the technology and features provided by the IPA would be the best fit in our digitisation journey.

We Standardised Trade Processes and Created a Central Control Tower Infrastructure

One of our project’s aims was to standardise trade processes across different locations. Together with the Regional Trade Finance IPA team, I carried out a number of workshops and studies with teams from Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, which enabled us to better understand their BAU processing flows and standardise them as much as possible. With our standardised model developed as a base, a central control tower was built to unify the data of clients’ trade applications, documents and scanned digital images in our downstream processing system.

We Digitalised Processes to Drive Paperless Adoption

Through our IPA solution, we have digitalised product checklists and standardised exception handling processes. This in turn helped us to drive paperless adoption within our Trade Finance Operations team. For example, as checklists and exception details are stored within the system, users are no longer required to print out checklists and exception approval for review.

We Automated Pre-Processing Checks to Reduce Manual Effort

The team, SMEs from the various locations and I worked together to conduct a requirement study. From this, we were able to identify opportunities to automate pre-processing checkpoints and manual work. During implementation, we deployed a holistic change management approach to ensure minimal impact to our operation service levels. As a result of the new IPA platform, we have been able to eliminate up to 10% of manual touchpoints. We have also continued encouraging our external and internal customers to adopt digital channels, including onboarding our staff to our IPA platform.

A high-level process flow chart of trade digitalisation model

We Equipped Our Team to Make Data-Driven Decisions

• Data Ready: By digitising our processes, we have been able to capture more data points for future initiative planning and analysis. Via this data-driven approach, the team has discovered more opportunities for business and operational improvements. The data has also been fed into our real-time database which supports daily monitoring metrics.
• Decision Making and Monitoring: After ensuring data readiness, our next step was to equip staff with data-driven decision-making platforms and capabilities. Via dashboards, managers are now able to monitor key service metrics of operations in real-time. This includes real-time SLA monitoring, demand management, as well as resource management. The management team can also review key operational metrics such as turnaround time, volume trend and transaction channels — making changes accordingly based on their observations.
• Future Ready: By leveraging upon the dashboards and key metrics referenced above, managers have been able to observe in real-time the effectiveness of our WFH model during the pandemic. As such, they can make rapid adjustments to ensure we maintain optimal service levels.

A prototype of an operations monitoring dashboard

Supporting a Large-Scale Transformation Project

Back in 2019, I was accepted into a Group-wide scholarship programme for Technology & Operations staff, through which I took a course on Scrum and have since become a Certified Scrum Master. With these new skills, I have been able to play an integral role in driving large-scale transformation projects — such as the Trade Finance Operations project relayed above.

While this course was an essential building block in my professional development, I am also grateful to have had such an experienced team around to show me the ropes. My manager, in particular, went to great lengths to share his insights with me. So, in addition to this being a meaningful transformation journey for the bank, it was also a highly impactful learning experience and journey of my own. I’d therefore like to share with you some of my recommended best practices to anyone looking to embark on their own transformation journey.

1. Prototype Your End-State Models: At the start of the project, it is crucial to have a prototype of your desired end-state. As such, you and the team can have a clear understanding of what success will look like. With this end-state in mind, the team can then divide the whole project into various key milestones, plan the schedule and set sub-goals. Doing all this will enable you to have a structured project delivery plan.
2. Leverage Upon Agile Development Methodologies: Plan your project in phases to recognise and validate the success of the project at regular intervals. By adopting agile project management methodologies, you and the team can prioritise which functionalities and features should be launched first (based on factors such as benefits and urgency from users). Moreover, by conducting daily scrum meetings, the team can promptly escalate issues for discussion and resolution.
3. Align with your stakeholders: Stakeholder management is a key ingredient in any successful large-scale project. It is therefore a must in the context of a transformation journey to make sure any innovation meets the needs of your different users and stakeholders. Conducting regular meetings with key stakeholders are a great way to provide status updates as well as solicit feedback to ensure the right direction of the project journey.

As the saying goes, the only constant in life is change. As change agents in the organisation, it is therefore our responsibility to keep finding new opportunities for innovation and transformation. With a solid digital infrastructure, strong data analytics capabilities and skilled agile practitioners, we have the foundation in place to set the gold standard in Trade Finance.