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Robotic Process Automation vendor UiPath secured a $30 million in funding for expansion and development. finews.asia talked to Tommy Fung, the sales director for Greater China Region.

Tommy Fung, what is UiPath?

UiPath develops Enterprise Robotics Process Automation (RPA) software robots that can perform a multitude of tasks that are usually executed by employees on their desktops. We are one of the fastest growing of the three or four true RPA vendors in the world today; with a 500 percent revenue growth in 2016.

Based in New York we have offices in Australia, France, India, Japan, France, Romania, Singapore and the U.K. We are forecast to have grown even further in 2017.

What exactly is Robotic Process Automation?

RPA is software that accesses a computer just like a human does, via the user interface (for example, Windows). It is then able to automate many of the repetitive, rules-based tasks that are currently performed by humans, freeing those workers up to do more creative, value-added activities.

This allows companies to increase productivity and create new jobs. Globally, the RPA market is expected to hit $9 billion in size in the next seven years of which the Asia Pacific region will make up approximately 10 percent of that.

How is RPA applicable to the financial services industry?

The global financial crisis created significant change and disruption socially, politically and economically, yet for banks today the biggest reverberation continues to be the rising cost and complexity of compliance.

«Costs have skyrocketed, some banks spending up to $4 billion a year on compliance» 

Faced with demands ranging from money-laundering checks and data flow policies to more data for stress tests, banks have been forced to invest heavily in personnel – from senior executives on $1million a year salaries, to unskilled people screening emails at a rate of 200 messages a day.

As a result, costs have skyrocketed, with some banks spending up to $4 billion a year on compliance. Worryingly, this is set to continue, with 83 percent of major global financial firms expecting the cost of senior compliance staff to continue to rise in 2016/17, and 66 percent saying they are forced to «do more with less», as a shortage of compliance staff raises labour costs.