In a Volatile Financial Environment: Growing Anxiety, Financial Strains, and Shifting Legislation
In today's rapidly evolving financial landscape, banks are increasingly turning to advanced technologies to streamline operations and enhance customer experiences. OTP Bank has exemplified this shift by integrating agentic AI solutions to address the growing demand for efficient and personalized banking services.
30x Reduction in Time Required to Collect and Process Credit Deferrals
OTP Bank deployed a DRUID AI Agent designed to provide customers with round-the-clock personalized information, as well as guide them through the credit payment deferral process.
In the second quarter of 2020 the European economic reality vastly changed. Awash with the uncertainty of what the next months would bring people welcomed the measures enabling the postponement of their credit installments and turned in large numbers to banks to take advantage of this opportunity.
For the OTP Bank, the volume of incoming requests rose by 125%, thus it sought a solution that would help them:
- Manage the upsurge in credit deferral requests generated by new legislation.
- Reduce customer support time and the time for processing credit deferral requests.
- Accelerate customer access to relevant information.
- Automate client eligibility checks for payment deferrals.
- Lessen the workload of back-office personnel.
The Challenge: Scaling Customer Support Without Sacrificing Quality
OTP Bank experienced a 125% spike in customer inquiries, placing significant strain on its support infrastructure. The surge in volume led to increased handling times, operational bottlenecks, and rising service costs. As a leading financial institution known for its customer-centric approach, OTP Bank recognized the urgency to act.
The bank needed a solution that could be rapidly deployed, deliver immediate relief to overwhelmed teams, and uphold its high service standards. Beyond just easing the load, the solution had to empower support agents to manage a growing number of requests, without compromising quality or customer satisfaction.
OTP Bank set out to find an intelligent, scalable approach. The answer? A fast, flexible, and efficient AI agent capable of managing demand while elevating the overall service experience.
The Solution: Empowering Smart Digital Coworkers to Deliver Speed and Precision
To meet the rising demand and maintain service excellence, OTP Bank implemented OCTAVIAN—an advanced AI agent developed with DRUID’s agentic AI platform. Embedded on the bank’s website, OCTAVIAN delivers real-time, personalized assistance around the clock, helping customers navigate OTPDirekt and OTPay digital services and seamlessly submit credit payment deferral requests.
Behind the scenes, OCTAVIAN collaborates with UiPath’s RPA technology to automate key decision points. It validates user-submitted data, cross-checks eligibility based on predefined criteria, and determines application outcomes autonomously. Once the eligibility is confirmed, OCTAVIAN uploads the request directly into the bank’s business process management (BPM) system, completing the workflow from inquiry to resolution without human intervention.
The results are striking: the average request processing time was slashed from 10 minutes to just 20 seconds, a 30x efficiency boost. This not only freed up human agents to focus on complex issues but also drastically improved the customer experience with near-instant resolutions.
Key Learnings: Agentic AI as a Strategic Advantage in Modern Banking
Recent industry insights—such as those from The Economist Intelligence Unit—reveal that 77% of banking executives believe the ability to harness AI will define the next generation of market leaders. As digital-first expectations become the norm, banks must rethink traditional service models and invest in technologies that enhance speed, personalization, and scalability.
OTP Bank’s successful integration of agentic AI illustrates how early adoption of smart digital coworkers can create a lasting competitive edge. By reengineering customer interaction models through autonomous AI agents, the bank has positioned itself as a pioneer in digital transformation. This approach not only improves operational agility but also sets a strong foundation for future innovations in intelligent banking.
