Close Brothers has been on an RPA journey for more than six years, and much of its work in this area has focused on automating rules-based, structured processes. But Stephen Durnin, the company’s head of operational excellence and automation, says the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic thrust automation around unstructured input, like email and documents, into the spotlight. “We provide support, which we call forbearance within the banking sector, to customers in the form of a payment holiday if they’re struggling to meet their financial obligations,” Durnin says. “With a high number of customers furlough…