Automation Anywhere Launches AI-Powered Banking Bot to Expedite SBA Loan Processing 

SAN JOSE, Calif., April 17, 2020 — Automation Anywhere announced new AI-powered bots to help lending institutions automate thousands of loan applications for small businesses under the $2.2 trillion U.S. coronavirus stimulus package.

The new Payroll Protection Program (PPP) Bots streamline loan processing by automatically extracting application data and entering the information into the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) loan origination portal – quickly, efficiently and accurately.

In the wake of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, the U.S. Government initiated the emergency PPP loan program managed by the SBA under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The program was created to allocate funding to help businesses keep their workforce employed, as the pandemic disrupts the global economy. However, limited guidance to banks racing to handle a deluge of applications has created a backlog and many of the largest banks as well as smaller regional lenders have become overwhelmed with thousands of applications for the federal stimulus money.

Lending institutions and community banking networks are helping small businesses apply for funding within a mandated filing timeline of only 10 days. With so many businesses rushing to get loans, banks are looking for a scalable solution that could meet audit requirements and process thousands of applications for customers. Under the law, the loans will be forgiven if employers maintain or quickly rehire their employees.

New AI-powered banking bot helps put employees back to work

Community banks are turning to Automation Anywhere to streamline the loan application intake process from the usual three weeks to just three days. Here’s how the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) Bots work:

• Streamlines the loan application intake process by automatically extracting data from the borrowers’ application.
• Accelerates the payroll validation and calculation process by automatically mining data from IRS forms.
• Automates the loan submission process by using lender data to populate fields into E-Tran, the SBA loan origination portal, a process bank employees typically perform manually, taking up to 30 minutes per application.

“In working with community banks throughout the U.S., we have begun automating multiple banking and loan application processes for operating efficiencies,” said Leslie Andersen, the current advisory board member of BancAlliance, a network of 250+ community banks, and the CEO of Bank of Bennington in Nebraska. “This solution can relieve the backlog of loan applications for community banks and delivers value to banking customers hoping for a quick recovery so they can open their businesses and can get their employees back to work quickly.”

“In an industry where an estimated 35 percent of processes are still manual, the case for process automation in banking is compelling,” said Ken Mertzel, Global Industry Leader for Financial Services at Automation Anywhere. “With RPA, banks can achieve productivity gains compounded across thousands of transactions to increase efficiencies, eliminate errors, free up bankers for more valuable and rewarding work, improve customer services – and in the age of COVID-19 – kickstart the economy.”

About Automation Anywhere

Automation Anywhere is a global leader in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), empowering customers to automate end-to-end business processes with software bots – digital workers that perform repetitive and manual tasks, resulting in dramatic productivity gains, optimized customer experience and more engaged employees. The company offers the world’s only web-based and cloud-native intelligent automation platform combining RPA, artificial intelligence, machine learning and analytics right out of the box, to help organizations rapidly start and scale their process automation journey. Its Bot Store is the world's first and largest marketplace with more than 850 pre-built, intelligent automation solutions. With offices in more than 40 countries and a global network of 1,500 partners, Automation Anywhere has deployed over 1.8 million bots to support some of the world’s largest enterprises across all industries. For additional information, visit www.automationanywhere.com.

Source: Automation Anywhere