How to Get Started with RPA and OCR for Process Automation

I’ll be honest: when I first heard about RPA and OCR, I thought it was just more tech jargon that would complicate my already busy workday. Turns out, I was completely wrong.

If you’re drowning in data entry, manually processing invoices, or copying information between systems (and who isn’t?), this might be exactly what you need.

After diving deep into research, testing different approaches, and learning from both successes and failures, I’ve picked up some insights that I wish someone had shared with me when I started. But first, let me define it clearly. 

What is RPA?

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is essentially software that mimics human actions on your computer. It’s almost like you are creating a digital worker that can handle:

• Data extraction and migration – Takes info from one place and puts it somewhere else, whether that’s emails to spreadsheets or databases to reports
• File management – Organizes, moves, and processes files based on whatever rules you set up
• System connections – Gets different software talking to each other when they normally wouldn’t
• Report creation – Pulls data from multiple sources and formats it the way you need
• Form filling – Handles repetitive form entries across websites or internal systems
• Transaction processing – Manages routine financial tasks, orders, and account updates

The beauty of RPA is that it doesn’t require you to overhaul your existing systems. It works on top of what you already have, which means you can start automating processes without waiting for IT to rebuild everything from scratch.

How Does OCR Enhance RPA Capabilities?

Now, here’s where things get interesting. RPA is great at handling digital information, but what happens when your data is trapped in scanned documents, PDFs, or images? That’s where OCR (Optical Character Recognition) becomes your best friend.

OCR technology converts text from images and documents into machine-readable data that RPA can actually work with. Without OCR, your RPA bot would be like having a super-efficient assistant who can’t read handwriting or printed documents – pretty limiting, right? But combine them, and suddenly you can automate processes that involve physical paperwork, scanned contracts, or even screenshots.

Take invoice processing – probably the most common use case I see. You get a PDF invoice, OCR reads all the details (vendor name, amount, due date, line items), and RPA automatically enters everything into your accounting system. What used to be 10 minutes of squinting at poorly scanned documents and manual typing becomes completely automatic.

Which Processes are the Best Candidates for RPA? (Use cases)

The pattern I’ve noticed is that RPA works best when you’re essentially a human copy-paste machine. If you find yourself doing the same sequence of clicks and data entry every day, that’s probably a good automation candidate. 

All in all, you can automate any digital task. Below are just a few of those tasks I can think of:

➽ KYC Document Verification

RPA with OCR can handle KYC document processing edge cases like poor image quality, non-standard formats, or when primary validation systems return inconclusive results. It can also manage exception handling – routing failed verifications to human reviewers with proper context and documentation.

➽ Customer Onboarding Workflows

Backend processing in customer onboarding often requires coordination between different systems and teams. RPA works well for handling the integration gaps:

• Data synchronization – When customer information gets updated in one system but needs to be reflected across compliance databases, card management platforms, and reporting tools
• Exception processing – Handling cases where automated credit monitoring returns inconclusive results or when additional documentation is needed
• Status tracking and communication – Automatically updating customer-facing dashboards and sending notifications when applications move between different approval stages
• Compliance documentation – Ensuring all required audit trails are properly logged across different systems when onboarding processes span multiple platforms

RPA fills the gaps where manual coordination is still needed between different systems.

➽ Transaction Monitoring for Suspicious Patterns

Transaction monitoring often requires manual fine-tuning and exception handling. RPA can optimize the processes around monitoring tools – managing false positive investigations, updating customer risk profiles based on new information, and handling the administrative work around case management.

➽ Player Age Validation for Gaming Platforms

Age verification becomes complex due to varying regulatory requirements by jurisdiction. RPA can handle applying different validation rules based on user location, managing re-verification requirements, and updating user status when regulations change in specific markets.

➽ AML Transaction Monitoring and Reporting

The challenge is usually in the manual processes around investigation and reporting. RPA can streamline these workflows:

• Investigation workflow management – Automatically gathering supporting documentation when analysts need to investigate flagged transactions, pulling transaction histories, customer communications, and related account information
• Report preparation and filing – Taking completed investigations and formatting them according to different regulatory requirements, managing submission processes across multiple jurisdictions
• Case tracking and deadlines – Managing investigation timelines, escalating cases approaching regulatory deadlines, and ensuring proper documentation throughout the review process
• Quality assurance – Running automated checks on completed investigations to ensure all required fields are completed and supporting documentation is attached before submission

The focus is on optimizing the human-intensive parts of compliance work

➽ New Employee Onboarding Paperwork

There are always like five different systems where you need to create accounts, add permissions, send welcome emails, and order equipment. RPA can handle the checklist items while you focus on actually getting the new person settled in.

➽ Basic Customer Service Requests

Password resets, address changes, simple account updates – RPA can process these routine requests automatically and only send the complicated stuff to your support team.

How Can You Scale Process Automation Beyond RPA?

The real breakthrough comes when you stop thinking about individual bots doing individual tasks and start building connected systems. Instead of having 10 different bots, you create workflows where everything talks to each other properly.

↪ Direct system integrations: Rather than having bots click through user interfaces, you set up direct connections between your software through APIs. Faster, more reliable, and it doesn’t break when someone updates their website design.

↪ Smarter document processing: Basic OCR is fine for simple stuff, but complex documents need more intelligence. Don’t know about others, but with Signzy, we can help with reading complicated contracts or even forms with weird layouts that regular OCR can’t handle.

↪ End-to-end workflow management: Instead of separate automation pieces, you build complete processes that handle the entire workflow from start to finish, including the exception cases and approval steps.

↪ Real-time data updates: Stop waiting for nightly batch jobs. When something changes in one system, everything else updates immediately.

↪ Built-in compliance tracking: Automatic audit trails, approval workflows, and regulatory reporting that happens in the background without you having to think about it.

The idea isn’t to replace RPA completely, but to use it as part of a bigger automation strategy. RPA handles the straightforward interface work while more sophisticated tools manage the complex integrations and decision-making.

Interested in seeing how this could work for your specific use case? Book a demo with Signzy here, and we can walk through what an automation setup would look like for your organization.