The robots are coming, the robots are coming (quick, run and hide). No, but in all seriousness, you can’t escape this narrative. Finance teams have long been afraid of and hesitant to embrace AI and automation. But the truth is – AI and automation can be tremendously valuable in helping you achieve your business goals – from increasing productivity and improving operational efficiencies to cutting costs, minimizing risks and growing the bottom line. As our study reveals, it’ s about understanding the full capabilities of AI and automation – and not letting your fears and frustrations with your workload cloud your judgment.
Data management is a top business challenge, but finance’s digital skills gap is making things worse.
When we asked finance managers what their most pressing concern is, the number one response (27%) was the need for strong data management and advanced analytics. Meanwhile, 29% of the respondents admitted they have little to no digital skills and aren’t comfortable with AI. And with only 14% citing expert digital skills, there’s clearly a large skills gap among finance professionals, which will only widen the chasm between finance and AI.
B2B credit checks aren’t always cut and dry – at least half require in-depth analysis.
97% of finance managers process up to 100 credit applications a day – that comes to 500 applications each week. And for 63% of businesses, it takes up to 5 people to make credit decisions on new customers, while 22% of companies involve 6-10 people in the process. Plus, 75% of businesses take up to a full day (8 hours) to reach a credit decision on a single customer. Now consider this: 50-99% of weekly credit decisions require in-depth analysis for nearly half (46%) of businesses, while 10% of businesses admitted that further analysis is needed on every credit application they review.
AML and compliance checks are frequently skipped during customer onboarding.
Given the U.S. government’s tough stance on financial crimes and sanctions violations, you’d think companies would make AML and compliance checks a top priority and religiously use them during the customer onboarding process. But our study shows that’s far from the reality. In fact, almost half (41%) of businesses only run AML checks on customers sometimes or rarely, while 38% take the same lax attitude with compliance checks. To make matters worse, 21% never run AML checks and 15% never run compliance checks.
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