TWM Articles from Umlaut Solutions

AI’s date with data

Using AI to extract and input data makes sense, says Shane Reid, Co-founder & Director at Ümlaut

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by Umlaut Solutions
| 28/04/2022 12:00:00

Data accuracy has never been so important. Wealth managers need to both extract and input an avalanche of data each and every day. They need to know that it is accurate for KYC, compliance, and customer service purposes. The security of data is also paramount in an age where would-be criminals are ever ready to exploit cybersecurity gaps.

 Until now wealth managers have largely had to rely on legacy tools to extract and input data. But that does not work anymore. The data being extracted is often complex and unstructured and from multiple sources. But many of these legacy tools are no longer fit for purpose. They cannot reliably identify, read and transcribe diverse layouts, text inputs, and real-world degradations.

This leads to issues with accuracy and sometimes, the data doesn’t even get extracted because it cannot be read. Business success is reliant on having up-to-date information. Yet, all too often, important data lies hidden in old documents or gets skewed by poor extraction.

Add to that manual data input with its high risk of error and you could be extracting an apple but inputting a pear. 

In addition to the accuracy issue, there is the cost and inefficiency associated with having to do things in such a disjointed way, in the need to go back and double-check or cross-check and sometimes even repeating a process. This is expensive in terms of resources, and time-consuming too. 

But with so much data and information needing to move between organizations, their customers, and partners it makes sense to think about how to do things intelligently; saving time, money and making the whole process more automated and accurate. 

The answer?
Data management using machine learning is the answer. Leveraging AI and machine learning in its various forms means automated data management, streamlining of complex processes, and increased productivity by automatically extracting the key details you need from your documents.

Our Hyperscience solution does all of this. It can leverage the power of machine learning to make sure that only the data required is extracted. That data can be in pretty much any format, handwritten notes, emails, faxes, PDFs, images, invoices, or other forms. The idea is that it pulls out what you tell it to and inputs it where you tell it to, using rules that you set and machine learning technology to scan and interpret data from a wide range of sources and in a range of formats. 

Hyperscience also has a robust data validation function. This means that you can compare data across several forms (e.g., application forms and payslips) as well as interact with other systems to verify personal details. This builds on the automation functions around data classification and identification and adds to the validation comfort level. 

This gives you accurate, and complete data sets to provide the winning formula in terms of both KYC and compliance as well as innovation, better decision making, and the development of your products and services for customer engagement and retention. 

In particular the ability to better serve your client by providing more relevant and personalized advice, using the data extracted to get a 360 view of the client and thus empower the adviser to hone the advice and make the relationship more relevant and empathetic. 

Better processes and accuracy also work to build the client relationship in the onboarding phase. The theory is the same; by cutting out unnecessary administrative tasks and installing automated processes where disparate data,  both structured and unstructured, is gathered means less time spent on paper shuffling and more time dedicated to serving your clients’ needs.

The ability to do this also gives you visibility over any given area to identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to develop and grow the business. 

Redaction
A crucial part of the Hyperscience solution is the reduction solution. It can 

redact documents on the fly as well scan through all your historical documents to find relevant fields to redact such as credit card and bank details and NI numbers or similar. 

By cutting out what you don’t need and going straight to what you do, the solution reduces risk because you are not exposing yourself to as much data and thus reducing the potential surface for attack. 

Another security facet is that controls and oversight are customizable and can fit around other structures already in place. The solution will mould into your existing procedures, configure accuracy thresholds, automatically alert team members when action is needed, and manage quality assurance capabilities with confidence. 

In practice, this means you can automate many of your internal processes and eliminate time wasted on data entry procedures. Hyperscience will manage customer account data, HR forms, and classify your email or mailroom documents as they come in. Thus, you can set your own limits and oversights according to existing protocols and tolerance levels then you have the assurance that things are optimized from an efficiency and compliance viewpoint and you avoid anything that you don’t need or that becomes a distraction process-wise.

Hyperscience also integrates seamlessly with other relevant applications such as Pronto, Procure, and iressXplan to provide further streamlining and process efficiency.

Ultimately leveraging document management tools to provide security, efficiency and automation not only makes sense from a cost perspective but can also boost the business by giving you surety over accuracy, the means to better service customers, and the visibility over your own data to make strategic decisions and changes – keeping you one step ahead in the market.