Mashreq Bank
United Arab Emirates
« Transformation » Award:
Best customer orientation and digital-mindset acculturation
In response to changing customer needs, Mashreq Bank has bridged new gaps in its digital transformation race, with a particular focus on disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics. The bank has a remarkable track record in digital innovation and has established itself as one of the pioneering players in the region. This "digital" mindset has spread widely to cover all dimensions of its business. The keys to Mashreq Bank transformation success are:
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Digital Leadership: Mashreq Bank is multiplying its efforts to adapt habits and skills in the workplace with the rapid evolution of technology. This "outside in" approach is based on a diversification of communication, collaboration and coordination of activities in order to spread a mindset of innovation and agility, which has a positive impact on the internal capacity for innovation and creativity.
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The customer experience at the heart of the strategy: the bank's strategy is built around the customer experience, the notion of customer is omnipresent in all dimensions, this perspective implies a transversal vision that does not focus solely on the product, but rather on the usefulness of the product for the customer and the ability to develop it continuously according to a proactive vision.
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Mashreq Bank also stands out for its ability to develop external synergies with players with strong technological leadership to strengthen its transformation and innovation efforts. This is the case of its alliance with the leader of ERP solutions in SAAS mode "Zoho" whose applications are integrated into the platform dedicated to small and medium enterprises "Mashreq NeoBiz".
« Solution / Customer Journey » Award:
Cheques processing through AI
the bank has launched its flagship AI product that marks a new generation of process automation, the "Dexter" robot, which enables visual processing of cheques via an intelligent digital process that combines 30 algorithms (Neural Network, SVM,1Zernike, Orientation, Script Detection, etc.) to ensure and optimise the efficiency and speed of processing; a first in the banking sector in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region. Indeed, Dexter has taken on a number of key challenges:
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Growth in cheque volume: With growing customer demand, Mashreq Bank processes up to 25,000 cheques per day, a number that is likely to increase over time. This robot is a fast and convenient alternative capable of accurately processing a large number of cheques on a daily basis.
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The Time challenge: The time variable is very important under the rules of the Central Bank. In other words, cheques must be processed according to a specific daily deadline, failure to meet this deadline may result in fines, but above all it may damage the bank's reputation.
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A more efficient Process: Even with a high degree of precision, human processing can generate errors, the efficiency of which cannot reach "total perfection". On the other hand, Dexter allows 38 visual validations to be performed in 20 seconds, without any errors, which is 8 times faster than a high-performance bank agent.
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Circumventing the risk of fraud: Over time, a customer's signature may change from the specimen on file, Dexter is able to detect fraudulent attempts to duplicate signatures. In addition to a simple comparison with the customer's specimen signature, it mainly evaluates the alignment of the signature with its historical evolution, using specific algorithms, which considerably reduces fraud and forgery.
Perhaps the feature that distinguishes Dexter from existing robots is the automation of human visual functions, going beyond the traditional functionality that is limited to data extraction and entry, which allows for highly accurate cheque verification with minimal risk of fraud. In addition, Dexter is operational 24/7 without interruption, and additional processing capacity can be activated to handle a higher volume of cheques depending on the period. In addition, Dexter has performed remarkably:
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The average processing time (AHT) per cheque has dropped from 9 minutes with human processing (making and checking) to only 20 seconds with Dexter, and without the use of a downstream verification (no checking process).
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Transaction Wait Time (TWT) decreased by 50%, with an overall accuracy rate of 100%, not to mention an impressive 90% drop in Full-Time Workload (FTE) at the check processing unit.
