- March 6, 2020
- FOXITBLOG
The strict compliance regulations and ethics laws of the banking and financial services industries make it necessary for companies to handle documents properly. To optimize the high-volume information pulling of a big data model while ensuring compliance, firms utilize Optical Character Recognition (OCR).
Given that a scanned document is simply a digital image of its original paper version, extracting information from scanned documents such as invoices would normally require time-consuming manual effort as the text is not machine readable.
By first using OCR technology to recognize the text and convert scanned documents into searchable PDFs, text and data extraction can be automated to make the process much quicker and less labor-intensive.
How OCR technology Big Data Optimized
OCR enables the optimization of big data modeling by converting paper and scanned image documents into machine-readable, searchable PDF files. Processing and retrieving valuable information cannot be automated without first applying OCR in documents where text layers are not already present. With OCR text recognition, scanned documents can be integrated into a big data system that is now able to read client data from bank statements, contracts, and other important documents.
Instead of having employees examine countless image documents in an attempt to manually feed inputs into an automated big data processing workflow, organizations can just use OCR to automate at the input stage of data mining.
Using OCR helps enterprises avoid time-consuming and inefficient manual data retrieval, enabling employees to have more time to contribute to the core operations of the firm. Before the Debt Exchange, an international financial organization, began using our accurate OCR software, they relied on 20-25 employees working 8 hours a day to manually convert documents into searchable PDFs.
7 years of utilizing our efficient OCR text recognition technology has enabled the Debt Exchange to optimize their process of document conversion to machine-readable PDFs, saving the company both time and money.
In this way, OCR can have a profound impact not only on big data processing, but also on the entire organization by saving time and reducing operational costs.
Impact of OCR Technology On The Industry
OCR technology has revolutionized the way businesses process information. By automating the conversion of paper documents into machine-readable PDFs, OCR enables organizations to optimize their big data processing workflow and avoid the inefficiencies of manual data entry.
It can also have a profound impact on organizations via time saving and reducing operational costs, but also by enabling employees to focus on more important tasks.
If your organization is still relying on manual data entry, it’s time to consider OCR technology. OCR can help you optimize your big data processing workflow and improve your bottom line.
Understanding Regulations and Compliance in Banking and Financial services
As financial entities that possess PII and sensitive data, banks and financial firms are subject to compliance regulations and evaluation by auditors. Consequently, firms need to efficiently and securely preserve financial records and archive documents. Manually sifting through thousands of paper documents to retrieve specific information is time-consuming and costly, and so is the storage of paper documents.
According to research done by PricewaterhouseCoopers, it costs an organization $20 on average to file a single document, roughly $120 to manually search for a misfiled document, and $220 to recreate a lost document.
The time and labor spent trying to find certain content throughout a plethora of documents is time that could otherwise be allocated toward a firm’s core workflow. OCR technology leverages image processing to reliably convert scanned documents from images into searchable PDF files, allowing for specific information retrieval with keyword search.
What Does This Mean For Banks and Financial Institutions?
Banks and financial organizations are able to save on physical storage units costs and modernize by standardizing paper to digital document conversion. OCR’d documents can be stored in a centralize location and backed up on the cloud for easier disaster recovery. Automated workflows can also be established to further reduce manual processes, saving even more time and resources.
With OCR, banks are able to improve their client experience by providing digital channels such as online banking and mobile apps. Clients have come to expect a certain level of convenience and accessibility from the brands they do business with, and OCR can help banks meet these demands.
Digital channels not only provide a better user experience, but also enable two-way communication that paper documents cannot. Automated workflows can be set up to notify both customers and relevant staff of any changes or updates to documents in real-time.
Additionally, e-signatures can be employed to streamline approvals and create a paperless process from start to finish. By going digital, banks are able improve their bottom line by reducing operational costs while simultaneously boosting customer satisfaction.
OCR for banking and financial services can be used in a number of different ways, such as:
- Automated data entry from scanned documents
- Digitization of financial records for easier storage and retrieval
- Archival of important documents
- Online banking and mobile apps
- E-signatures for paperless approval processes
- Real-time notifications of changes or updates to documents
Additional Benefits of OCR Technology
Accurate OCR equips enterprises with the ability to standardize their document handling by turning scanned documents into searchable PDFs rather than images saved as PDFs, PNGs, or other unsearchable file types. Using PDFs eliminates a company’s need to have multiple reader software solutions (and the systems in place to pay for, maintain, and train employees on those readers) to access the various different file formats.
Furthermore, using PDFs also decreases the amount of employees needed for information retrieval, lowering security risks and saving on labor costs.
Getting started
OCR technology is a powerful tool that can be used to automate various tasks in the banking and financial industries. It can be used to convert PDF documents into text format, making it easier to extract data from documents. OCR technology can also be used to create digital copies of physical documents, making it possible to store and access documents electronically.
Foxit offers a number of OCR solutions that are designed to meet the needs of businesses in the banking and financial industries. With OCR technology, businesses can streamline their workflow, improve their efficiency, and save time and money.