Avidia Bank was established in 2007 through the merger of Hudson Savings Bank and Westborough Bank, each founded in 1869. A full-service community bank serving the MetroWest Boston community, Avidia Bank has a strong focus on supporting local businesses.

The challenges accompanying rapid growth

Over the course of a decade, Avidia Bank experienced remarkable growth, doubling its size to $2.7 billion in assets. However, as the bank prepared for further expansion, leadership identified several critical operational challenges that could hinder its growth strategy:

Manual portfolio management

Tasks like reviewing exception reports, documenting compliance activities and managing risk assessments were time-intensive and prone to human error.

Inefficient index rate processing

From scouring government websites to printing documents, entering data and performing compliance verification tasks, staff has reduced time collecting index rates for loan pricing.

Legacy process documentation

Existing workflows relied on outdated procedures that lacked the conditional logic and structured documentation.

Scalability concerns

Avidia Bank needed to ensure its operational foundation could support growth without proportionally increasing labor costs.

Automating for efficiency

Building on a long-standing relationship with FIS, Avidia Bank decided to expand its partnership by implementing FIS® PREBOTS, an advanced robotic process automation (RPA) solution featuring an extensive inventory of hundreds of prebuilt bots, developed and managed by FIS. FIS’ RPA offering (PREBOTS) was deployed to tackle two critical automation projects, delivering immediate operational benefits:

Index rate automation

Automating the collection of index rates from government websites minimizes manual data gathering and entry. The bot captures screenshots for compliance documentation and automatically inputs rates into the core banking system with greater accuracy than manual processes.

Portfolio management

The FIS team developed a sophisticated application that ingests daily exception reports from the core system and presents them in a user-friendly interface. The solution includes:

• Logical rules for automatically resolving common exceptions
• Multi-user collaboration capabilities
• Enhanced documentation and audit trails for compliance
• Streamlined workflow management

Throughout the implementation process, the FIS PREBOTS team worked collaboratively with Avidia Bank to understand its specific processes rather than apply predetermined solutions. This consultative approach allowed for customization that perfectly matched Avidia Bank’s operational needs while maintaining flexibility for future enhancements.

By partnering with FIS, Avidia Bank has built a scalable operational foundation that supports its ambitious growth plans while maintaining the personalized service that defines its competitive advantage.

Looking ahead, Avidia Bank continues to strengthen its relationship with FIS by expanding automation through PREBOTS, actively participating in AI automation advisory groups and exploring agentic AI solutions. This ongoing partnership positions the bank for continued innovation and operational excellence as it executes its expansion strategy.