Tips on How to Achieve a Best-Practice Model for Bank Compliance
Compliance is the number one concern when you’re in a business involving activities related to banking, be it fintech or traditional banks. Yet, how can you ensure you’re remaining compliant in an industry known for its ever-changing regulations and tightened security measures?
The answer depends on the framework you use within your system. Everything matters, from how you teach your staff to follow compliance principles to the businesses you partner with.
It might sound close to impossible to always be in compliance, but with these tips, you can create a best-practice model that you can be confident covers the essential bases.
Start With the Foundation
As you establish the steps that will bring you to and keep you in compliance, you’ll always have an eye on the end goal. However, it’s the foundation of your framework that determines how secure the entire process will remain.
The basis of your bank compliance model must be built on solid principles of ethics and morality. This should be the gold standard for how you set up your rules, choose your software and banking partners, and hire staff.
When you can trust in the integrity and morality of each of these areas, it allows you to focus on the practical implementation of your products and services. You know that everyone involved in each level of the job is likely to be working for the good of the client and the business.
Determine the Main Target Areas
Once you have a strong moral foundation, you can begin looking at the areas where your staff and clients will need support to ensure they’re being compliant.
This concern boils down to these specific factors, which determine the basis of your entire bank compliance model:
- Risk areas, including AML (Anti-Money Laundering) and KYC (Know Your Customer)
- What your business offers regarding products and services
- The target market you serve
- The rules and regulations of your industry
- How to screen and report risks and concerns
- How to access and use the technology available to them through policies, procedures, and training
These are the areas where you should devote the resources you’ll use to develop your bank compliance model.
Don’t Skimp on the Expertise
The banking industry, and fintech, by extension, is an area where it’s worth the investment to pay someone who knows what they’re doing to help you. Look into companies that have high-quality reputations, such as Victor, and let them guide you as you develop your plan.
You’re an expert at what you do, but unless your business is specifically geared toward banking compliance, you need someone who knows the ropes from top to bottom.
The best way to allocate your resources, including time and money, for a maximum return on investment, is by hiring an expert. These businesses have the knowledge, technology, and staff to design a thorough compliance program for you.
Go an Inch Wide and Mile Deep at a Time
It’s a philosophy used by experts in every industry. Focus on one thing at a time, become an authority on that topic, and then move on to other areas.
It’s easy to want to rush through these steps in banking compliance. You want to roll your product or service out and start making money. But if one aspect isn’t wholly secure, the entire business can fail.
As you establish your workflows around banking compliance, it’s crucial that you take time to ensure each level is smooth, with no gaps or cracks. Every level relates and connects to the others. Letting one bad apple into your business (i.e., a fraudulent customer) will leak into your entire business.
A best-practice model for banking compliance includes these areas, and you’ll want to have a thorough plan for each level:
- Rules and regulations for your industry, as well as any industry that falls into your service area and business line;
- Monitoring for changes and implementing updates across the board;
- Consistent evaluation of policies, procedures, and training to watch for gaps or areas of opportunity;
- Risk and reporting software tracking, training, and development.
Your products and services are your bread and butter. Consider these four areas to be the ingredients that determine how healthy they are. The better your model is for compliance, the more likely it is that you and your staff will understand what goes into the overall business.
Conclusion
Using the idea of mastering one concept before moving on, you’ll have a best-practice model that you can trust. Don’t be afraid to scrutinize everyone in your network, and only use those with the highest integrity. Plan to ask (and pay) for expert advice, as the ROI is magnified.
With this model, you’ll be well on your way to a successful business with a top-notch reputation for security and compliance.
