BACKGROUND
L&T Finance, a leading NBFC in India, experienced difficulties in processing CKYC documents, resulting in a massive backlog of 40,00,000 IDs. Their existing vendors lacked visibility and efficiency, leading to compliance issues and potential penalties from the regulator. Crown Information Management, known for document storage services, proposed an automated CKYC solution, addressing the challenges faced by L&T Finance and delivering significant benefits in terms of time savings, cost reduction, scalability, data accuracy, and regulatory compliance.
CHALLENGES
L&T Finance faced significant challenges in processing their CKYC (Central Know Your Customer) documents, resulting in a backlog of 40,00,000 CKYC IDs. The existing vendor employed by L&T Finance could only process 100 documents per batch, with each batch taking 30 minutes to process. Additionally, it took the L&T IT team one day to create records for these 100 documents. As a result, L&T Finance could process only 100 CKYC records per day, leading to a massive accumulation of pending CKYC documents over time. Furthermore, L&T Finance lacked visibility into SFTP uploads, API integration, and robotic process automation (RPA) from their existing vendors.
THE SOLUTION
Crown Information Management, a trusted partner of L&T Finance for document storage, proposed an efficient solution to automate the CKYC process. Crown leveraged advanced digital technologies and automation tools to streamline the CKYC document processing for L&T Finance. The key steps involved in the solution were as follows:
- Scan: Crown established a scan station at L&T Finance’s branches or allowed L&T Finance’s team to scan the application forms, along with proof of address (POA) and proof of identity (POI). The scanned images and data sheets were securely transferred to Crown’s Centralized Processing Centre via a dedicated Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP).
- Filter / De-duplicate: Upon receiving the scanned images, Crown’s team filtered and checked L&T Finance’s master records to ensure that CKYC processes were not already performed for specific customer IDs.
- Auto-Identify / Crop: Crown utilized a dedicated offline tool to automatically identify photos, POAs, and POIs from the remaining records without CKYC IDs. The tool cropped the images as per the prescribed dimensions from CERSAI (Central Registry of Securitization Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest).
- Data Entry: Data entry was performed for each record, either imported from L&T Finance’s master records or entered manually using Crown’s web-based tool. The processed data was then organized into individual zip folders following CERSAI’s guidelines.
- Quality Check: Each record underwent a thorough quality check to ensure compliance with CERSAI guidelines. If a record failed to meet the quality check norms, it was sent back for re-scanning or data entry.
- Approve – Upload: After passing the quality check, the records were approved for batch upload. Crown’s system generated flat files and zip files according to CERSAI’s guidelines. A digital signature was applied to the batch, and the ready files were securely pushed to CERSAI’s SFTP location.
g. Download Report: Once the data was successfully uploaded to CERSAI’s SFTP location, L&T Finance could download the necessary reports for their reference and audit trail.
THE OUTCOMES AND BENEFITS
Implementing Crown Information Management’s CKYC process automation solution brought several significant outcomes and benefits for L&T Finance:
- Time Savings: The CKYC turn-around-time was reduced from enabling L&T Finance to process CKYC documents more efficiently.
- Cost Reduction: L&T Finance saved costs on infrastructure, integration, and operations by leveraging Crown’s automated solution, eliminating the need for manual processing and increasing overall operational efficiency.
- Scalability: Crown’s solution provided end-to-end automation and could handle the processing of a large volume of CKYC documents. It allowed L&T Finance to accommodate their growing client base seamlessly.
- Data Accuracy and Quality: Through advanced digital technologies, Crown ensured accurate data extraction from the CKYC documents, reducing the chances of errors and enhancing data hygiene.
- Regulatory Compliance: Crown continuously updated its solution to align with changes in regulatory requirements, ensuring L&T Finance’s CKYC processes remained compliant at all times.
- Secure Data Transactions: The entire CKYC process, including data transfers and uploads, was conducted securely through dedicated SFTP, maintaining data privacy and security.
- Audit Trail and Reporting: Crown’s solution provided comprehensive reports and audit management, allowing L&T Finance to monitor and track CKYC processes effectively.
By leveraging Crown Information Management’s CKYC process automation solution, L&T Finance successfully resolved the observation raised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regarding pending CKYC IDs. Crown’s services enabled L&T Finance to process CKYC documents within the RBI’s deadlines, mitigating potential penalties and ensuring smooth financial transactions for their customers.
