As the growing number of financial service providers transition to digital innovation and services for their customers, modernized threats come with that progress. Remaining competitive is not simply the addition of technology into your service stack but also requires the heightened vigilance needed to level up your risk management without ballooning your budget. From this need comes one clear solution - it’s time to find yourself a ridiculously agile and aligned outsourcing partner.
In fields like financial services, where digital transformation is rapidly encouraged - borderline required - banks, MSBs, FinTechs, Credit Unions, and other financial institutions must skillfully navigate the narrow pass between scalable business processes and security protocols to remain compliant in an ever-evolving world of financial trade, transaction, and service. It is imperative to build and maintain your organization’s level of operational resilience.
Processes and procedures like Know Your Customer (KYC), Payment Screening, Chargebacks, and Transaction Monitoring (TM), are ongoing requirements that must be successfully implemented, monitored, updated, and maintained. However, these can be costly, time-consuming, and susceptible to failure when these compliance efforts are ineffectively managed. Moreover, there’s a growing threat of criminals desperate to manipulate and utilize financial systems - and in a bear market, like we’re seeing today, tightened purse strings quickly lead to an abundance of motivation for criminals attempting to circumvent the financial system’s rules and enforcements. The need for meticulous scrutiny through enhanced strategies for your Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF) programs has never been higher. But how do you successfully manage your program and staff without breaking your bank? (no pun intended)
Partnership Is the Key
Regulators are constantly looking for two things: how your institution is working to revolutionize its program with new processes and tech-enabled systems and where you’re failing (probably a gross oversimplification, but hear me out..). Bottlenecks and stagnant processes within your program can be an issue - however getting the right people on board, training them, and constantly keeping them updated to solve these constantly-evolving concerns is arguably the number one challenge for financial leaders in the space today. This inevitably adds strain to your workforce and drives up your operational costs - often at a tremendous rate. Given this challenge, companies are finding outsourcing front-line risk management extremely palatable as the process capitalizes on existing best practices from a company specializing in such a practice, while many times being more affordable and effective than building an entire in-house team. With the right outsourcing partner, organizations can focus on operating their business at the highest proficiency without sacrificing their risk management and security levels.
How to Choose a Good Outsourcing Partner for Risk Management
- Check the track record
An outsourcing company with strong credentials and in-depth experience implementing and managing multiple workflows within an institution's program shows its ability to plan and scale capabilities proactively. In addition, these companies are often well-equipped with the necessary tech and tools you need to enhance processes and improve performance.
- See if they can accommodate your existing team and processes
A good risk management partner can seamlessly augment your existing team with the bandwidth required for the work without changing how you do things from a people and operational perspective. Evaluate how your prospective partner has taken the appropriate time to learn and understand your organization and structured its risk management and transaction monitoring processes before coming back with any recommendations for immediate change. In short, find a partner who aligns with your growth strategy and can support your long-term growth.
- Align your targets
You want immediate value manifested through your partnership with an outside vendor. However, ensure this isn’t just a flash in the pan—the value added, while immediate, should also be a continuous characteristic. To see definitive and progressive results, a good rule of thumb is:
- Start the partnership by outsourcing a percentage of your current needs
Before outsourcing a large amount of work, you should start in divisions to verify the quality of work and proficiency. Some companies even choose to work with multiple outsourcing partners doing the same type of work to build benchmarks, measure results, and reallocate project bandwidth to the highest performer. The right partner will not only rise to meet the challenges of high performance but will actively look for ways to increase the value of the professional relationship and deliverables to your organization.
- Prepare measurable deliverables and expectations
Make sure you have measurable delivery deadlines and expectations that fit the project’s scope. Even if you’re not completely set, your first meeting is an opportunity to open discussions with your prospective partner and workshop ideas and practices for successful workflows and deliverables. Everyone should be on the same page from day 1.
- Dream big—you’re more than just a number
Conservative decisioning dictates a proven track record, and known players in the space can help ensure your needs are addressed and serviced completely. However, one challenge you might encounter is not being prioritized among other leading providers in the industry. Will you be able to get the "A Team" from an in-demand outsourcing company? Sometimes it makes sense to weigh the perceived priority of your business compared to their remaining book of business. It’s your reputation and regulatory obligation to make sure your program meets or exceeds the expectations laid out in the requirements - do you want to leave that to the backups? (no offense B-Team, you’ll get your shot one day..)
You can help avoid this risk through the prioritization of communication. In addition, you may want to consider allocating an internal resource to help manage the project while adhering to the following:
- Evaluate/vet your vendor and their available resources to ensure you get the right people for the job.
- Ask for specific examples or case studies of the work you need and see if it meets your expectations, ensuring alignment from day 1.
- You matter. Look for a partner who puts your successes first and finds ways to keep adding value to the relationship every step of the way.
- Size and reputation are important, but a job well done is always top priority.
- Choose a partner that fits your values and culture
If you want a partner who cares about your successes and failures, look at the vendor's company culture and see how it compares to your organization's values. Corporate culture and alignment of values are key to success. Make sure your partners recognize and honor your organization's values and organize their teams accordingly.
If you’re in the market for a new partner…
Let Us Protect You
As the economy becomes increasingly digital, the risk of fraud and financial crime grows exponentially. Fortunately, the TaskUs Risk + Response line is always working to stay a step ahead. While we may not outnumber criminals, we can certainly outwit them. We constantly build innovative solutions to heighten processes of financial services such as KYC, payment screening, chargebacks, transaction monitoring, AML, CTF, and more.
In our partnership with a US-Based Investing and Stocks Trading Company and Platform, we successfully manage their user growth and compliance needs by providing a thorough DSAT and CSAT analysis, implementing a better training approach, and exceed speed and proficiency growth benchmarks. We can do the same for you!
With our in-depth experience in outsourcing, we understand the need to act in advance and constantly innovate with new technology, techniques, and training methodologies for operational resilience. Let Us help you manage the risks, freeing your A Team up to focus on growing and scaling your business.
