Time savings and improved data quality through RPA at De Surinaamsche Bank N.V.

De Surinaamsche Bank N.V.(DSB) is the largest commercial bank in Suriname, serving both individual and business clients. The bank has automated the reconciliation of several general ledger accounts using RPA, in collaboration with Tacstone Technology, resulting in significant time savings and a noticeable improvement in data quality.

Alexander van Petten, Director at DSB, explains: “At DSB, we deal with processes that include routine and repetitive tasks that need to be carried out daily. These are often intensive processes with many manual steps, which also makes them error-prone. The more people involved, the more mistakes can be made.”

DSB sought technology to automate this process and connected with Tacstone Technology, which had already been active in the Surinamese market. Jimmy Nanhekhan states: “We compared them with a provider from India we were already familiar with, and Tacstone came out on top.”

Niven Boerleider adds: “We wanted to identify bottlenecks in our workflows and see where we could implement efficiencies through automation.”

“We presented this to Tacstone, and they came back with an analysis. This formed the basis for designing a process flow for RPA.”

Niven Boerleider |  Manager ATM/POS DSB 

Complex process

The first process tackled was a particularly complex challenge. Nanhekhan explains: “When a transfer is made to another bank, the money is temporarily placed in an intermediate account. This happens for all individual transactions of the day, and at the end of the day, all those transactions are processed in one batch. So, if you have a hundred transactions totaling two million, you see those hundred transactions individually in that intermediate account. But by the end of the day, it’s one transaction for two million to the central bank.”

“The reconciliation to ensure the total amount matches those individual transactions was done manually in Excel. The same process applied for the transactions we received from other banks. It was very time-consuming. That’s why we had an RPA tool developed for several of the intermediate accounts, which now automates the reconciliation of six general ledger accounts.”

Involved in the Processes

Van Petten is pleased with the role Tacstone Technology played in this process: “We worked closely with Tacstone to map out the processes.”

“At one point, they were almost like DSB employees, they understood the processes so well.”

Alexander Van Petten | Director DSB

“They were involved and thought through every detail of how to make the process more efficient. This was really helpful because internally, you tend to be in a kind of bubble and miss certain things. That’s why it’s good to get input and insights from external parties.”

However, it’s important to set up the project efficiently. “To automate a process effectively, it’s important to do as much internal groundwork as possible and involve people in the analysis. It’s not a cheap exercise, and the more hours you buy in for support in analyzing the processes, the more it will cost you.”

“The license costs of the software robot are relatively reasonable, but most of the time is spent building the scripts. You usually don’t have that expertise in-house, so a good analysis at the start of the process and clear requirements for your partner are crucial. The better the requirements, the faster the building process goes, and the lower the costs.”

Employees Pleased with the Software Robot

The employees were happy to be relieved of the labor-intensive manual work. Van Petten explains: “This project didn’t lead to the loss of any jobs. Instead, it resulted in more time for other tasks. People were running out of time because of that time-consuming process, so thanks to these efficiency gains, they now have time for other responsibilities.”

Nanhekhan adds: “Our employees were pleased with the software robot. Instead of performing all those manual tasks, they could now start working with just the push of a button.”

“At one of my departments that handles the reconciliation for local transfers, they used to spend about three hours a day on the reconciliation. Now, they are done in a quarter of an hour.”

Jimmy Nanhekhan | Manager e-banking & payment services DSB

No Human Errors

Van Petten highlights another advantage: “The calculations are fully carried out by the system, and you automatically get the output. But it’s not just about saving time, it’s also about minimizing the human errors that can occur in that process. Because it can be quite complicated with all those general ledger accounts for different types of transactions. If something went wrong, like a double booking, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

“Now, this process has become much more efficient. When a complaint comes in or a customer requests something to be investigated, we can now find out much more quickly where the issue lies and whether a correction needs to be made. This is a huge improvement in our efficiency, also in terms of our customers. As a bank, we now have more time to focus on sales.”