Technology never stops, it is always evolving and improving, and to stay current – or better still, ahead of the game – you will need to continually review your systems and processes and the technology that enables them.
However, it is not as simple as ‘just get the latest tech’ - not every option will be right for every business and investing in the ‘right tech’ is less about the technology itself, and more about what it achieves, and how that fits in with your overall business strategy.
Ultimately, the value of investing in technology can come from enabling the business to deliver new or improved products and services, making the business more efficient or enabling a major transformation, below are some examples:
Technology drives innovation, which means better products and services for your customers, which leads to increased sales and bigger profits. Technology can also help motivate staff, as it can help make them more efficient and productive, and feel motivated because their employer is investing in the business and them, which in turn, will improve their work satisfaction an ensure you keep the best talent in the business.
There is no doubt that making your business as efficient as possible will drive success. Automating manual processes that are repetitive and time consuming - such as record-keeping, risk assessments, and transaction monitoring - can save a significant amount of time and resource, freeing up staff to focus on tasks that cannot be done by computers.
Furthermore, when you automate tasks, human error reduced or even eradicated, and so, therefore, are the risks associated with digital compliance. Automation also removes human error which can which reduces the risks associated with manual mistakes, namely customers leaving, financial losses and a fall in the value of the business.
If you are able to improve the efficiency of your business by automating a lot of the tasks, you can create a smother customer journey. Integrating systems to manage customer information makes onboarding slicker, and finding customer information quicker and easier which offers huge efficiency and risk management benefits to the business as staff are able to set customer risk profiles to identify high-risk clients, whilst improving the onboarding process for genuine customers.
By using technology to better manage, analyse and understand data you can make better informed decisions about all aspects of your business, ensuring your firm will have everything it needs to stay compliant and ahead of the curve, gaining the most from your investment in digital transformation.
For regulated firms, there is another huge benefit of technology – and that is its capability to improve your businesses’ ability to meet its compliance obligations. Investing in compliance solutions that can automate Know Your Customer checks by combining AML checks and screening with onboarding not only saves time and money, but also protects the business, legally and financially. Regulated firms found to have AML failures not only risk huge financial losses as result of money laundering activities themselves, but also risk losing customers, and a fall in value of their business.
While investment in technology offers different levels of value across the business, the ultimate benefit of improved efficiency, robust and reliable processes, innovation, improved customer service and better use of data is reduced costs and increased revenue, both of which lead to increased profits.
Despite all the reasons outlined above, many businesses view technology as simply as ‘necessary cost’ that has to be managed – and cut down to be as much as possible – rather than a long-term investment, and that is not only a short-sighted view of the value technology can bring, but also results in focussing on reducing costs instead of long-term value.
The key thing to remember about technology investment is that it should not be viewed as a standalone cost or a quick fix to a problem – but as a holistic investment, and a key part of the overall business strategy.
The decision around which technology to invest in and when needs to be considered in the context of the business as whole and its long-term strategy. Rather than thinking – ‘what will this fix now?’– you need to be thinking, ‘how will this evolve alongside the business?’.
There has been a huge issue in recent times for high growth businesses – particularly those in new sectors like crypto – where the growth of the business is simply too fast for the structures put in place, specifically, around compliance.
In organisations where there are multiple business functions, it can be difficult to know where tech investment is best placed. This is particularly challenging if different areas of the business are using different platforms from multiple providers, and even more so if, like with regulated sectors, there is the added challenge of regulation to content with. The best strategy with any technological investment – but especially when you are integrating compliance processes into the mix – is to take a holistic approach.
You need to be able to ensure that the solutions you invest in work across different functions and can be integrated to create a comprehensive solution that can be managed centrally. When it comes to compliance, transitioning to a digital model is a smart investment that can help firms better manage risks, reduce costs, and increase operational efficiency.
SmartSearch offers a fully comprehensive digital compliance platform that can be used as a standalone solution – but importantly, can be integrated into clients’ existing CMS – where they are centrally hosted, or on the cloud. By leveraging the latest technology to automate manual compliance processes such as record-keeping, risk assessment and transaction monitoring, the
SmartSearch solution replaces old processes and operating models, with a holistic approach to verification to suit varying risk levels. It provides realtime insights to ensure users have everything they need to stay compliant and respond quickly to any potential threats, provides greater visibility and transparency making it easier to track progress, identify areas of improvement and improve overall efficiency to ensure clients gain the most from their digital investment.
As discussed earlier, investing in technology is a commitment, as you need to be prepared to update your systems to ensure they stay current, and continue to serve the purpose that they were intended to serve.
With compliance, this is more challenging than with other business functions, because not only does the technology need to evolve to keep up with the ever-changing digital world, but it also needs to ensure it meets the everchanging regulatory landscape. Investing in compliance technology is, in theory, a much bigger commitment, because you need to ensure it is serving its purpose now, but will also continue to in the future.
For regulated firms, delivering the future of compliance must start with identifying the businesses’ individual operational and regulatory needs, and then finding a solution that can be tailored to solve those specific pain points. You cannot simply source a ‘technology solution’, and then try and make it fit into your business, as SmartSearch explains:
“To really gain the most from tech investment, you need to take a holistic approach. It is no good buying this piece of tech for this function, and another for this, and then wondering why costs are so high and the business is so siloed. You need a full picture of all the business functions that need addressing and all the costs involved to understand the potential benefits and the positive impact the whole solution will have on your business.
“It’s about making sure that new technology is not simply placed on top of old processes and operating models, but that the new technology and processes work well together and offer a more comprehensive solution that ticks all your businesses’ operational and regulatory requirements, without the challenge of legacy for some or even all the individual functions.
“SmartSearch offers a holistic approach to digital compliance to suit varying risk levels. old customer onboarding processes and operating models can be replaced in their entirety with the SmartSearch system, negating the need to run multiple systems and platforms – from multiple vendors - to meet the businesses’ different needs and ensuring customer expectations for a seamless customer journey – particularly when it comes to AML compliance – are met, and that you in a position to quickly respond to any potential threats.”
And while replacing all compliance functions with one holistic system may sound disruptive and expensive, it is quite the opposite. Thanks to SmartSearch’s advanced technology, the platform can be run parallel to old systems, and integrated with 3rd Party, CRM and Case Management Providers within 24 hours, with users receiving data within 72 hours, creating a seamless change and frictionless customer journey.
The SmartSearch system has been developed with user-friendliness and ease of use at the top of the agenda so staff at any level can run AML checks successfully. SmartSearch also ensures every user is given bespoke training on the system, and access to a dedicated point of contact. All users have access to the same system, which is constantly being improved and updated to ensure it complies with all the latest regulations, making legacy systems a thing of the past.
SmartSearch concludes: “Transitioning to a digital compliance model is a smart investment that can help your firm better manage risks, reduce costs, and increase operational efficiency and once your business has adopted the SmartSearch approach, it will never need – or want – to go back.”