Compliance officers, RegTech suppliers, and financial professionals from Europe, Asia, and the United States assembled in May 2021 to discuss the future of communications surveillance. There was a lot on the line for each group. Policies, methods, and technology must all fulfil current requirements while also considering future requirements. The key to accomplishing this was to make individual surveillance seamless while remaining compliant with privacy rules.
It is true that saying something is much easier than doing it. It was clear that communications surveillance was growing more difficult, and the attendees requested suggestions on how to improve their current efforts.
This is the first of a two-part series. Why? In this first section, I'll focus on the most pressing issues, such as integration and multi-channel surveillance. Next week, in Part B, we'll look at how financial businesses differ in terms of everything from their concept of "real-time" to their performance with artificial intelligence/machine learning to who to watch.
The Big Challenges
Let's start with the Big Three. One, today's largest problem for surveillance is personal gadgets and expanding eComms channels. Two, everyone is on the lookout for ways to improve efficiency and productivity. Three, it turns out that integrating disparate third-party and in-house legacy monitoring solutions isn't a one-and-done job. It also can't be done quickly: it appears to have turned into a multi-year project that most businesses have already budgeted appropriately for.
Multi-channel Mess
Every day, WhatsApp users send 100 billion texts! With 40 billion daily communications, WeChat is also in high demand. Then there's Zoom and Team... There's a lot of room for malicious activities now that bad actors can easily participate in fraudulent activity and transact unlawful transactions.
Brokers, on the other hand, aren't about to give up their personal phones anytime soon. In reality, they're utilising their personal phones to get around the rules for connecting with clients. Brokers, it's arguable, are frequently forced to choose between connecting with a client on their preferred channel or not engaging with them at all. As a result, people use their personal phones to communicate using various eComms apps.
This is where technology companies come in. Symphony, for example, is attempting to filter through some of the multi-channel chaos. How? WhatsApp and WeChat are being integrated. This is a huge step forward in terms of compliance, and it allows you to meet customers where they are – which means communicating with brokers via chat apps like these two popular options.