At a time when digital payments and online transactions form the backbone of our financial landscape, ensuring compliance with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations is more important than ever.
For payments firms, ensuring compliance with AML regulations can be challenging, however the emergence of dedicated software solutions can help firms to not only adhere to regulatory requirements, but also enhance customer experience and streamline onboarding journeys.
In the last few years, the world of digital payments has rapidly evolved. What was once simple bank transfers and card payments has now become mobile wallets, cryptocurrency transactions, and peer-to-peer payments platforms. With such advancements comes the need for robust compliance processes to detect, prevent, and report any suspicious activity or money laundering.
At the same time, it is important to remember customer experience during payment transactions. Balancing smooth experiences while adhering to AML requirements is critical in avoiding friction during the checkout stage or when sending and receiving payments, and ultimately deterring customers from completing their transactions.
How can software help payments compliance?
Fortunately, technology has caught up with the ever-evolving, pressing demands of AML compliance.
For payment firms and customers alike, the onboarding process can be a significant pain point. Firms need to gather specific information in order to evaluate risk, onboard customers, and comply with regulatory requirements, while customers simply want to gain access to a financial service, process a payment, or pay for products.
Using software for payments compliance can speed up this process, making data collection effortless, while detailed risk analysis of customer data, screening against existing databases, and global watchlists can happen in the background. This not only allows payment firms to quickly verify identities and onboard customers using a risk-based approach, but also reduce onboarding times from days to mere minutes.
What’s more, this automated process means that payments firms can gain assurance that every customer is being rigorously screened in line with their unique risk appetite. Customer credentials and information is being collected and automatically verified, without the need for manual approval, giving valuable time back to your compliance team to focus on more complex cases where their expertise is most required.
As time goes on, risk profiles can change dramatically from the beginning of a commercial relationship, increasing risk and the threat of financial crime. Ongoing monitoring is a critical step in AML compliance, tracking customers for any changes to an individual’s or organisation’s risk profile such as global sanctions, negative media, new directorships or political exposure. AML compliance software solutions can continuously monitor customer risk profiles for any adverse changes that may impact the risk they pose to your payment firm. This ongoing surveillance ensures that payment firms can spot potential threats as they arise, and act accordingly to mitigate any risks before they become problematic.
But, streamlining AML compliance processes is not just about staying on the right side of regulation, but also about improving customer experience throughout their time with you. By integrating AML software, payment firms can assure their customers that they operate on a platform committed to security and global compliance standards. This trust can lead to increased customer loyalty and referrals.
Technology continues to become an integral part of many compliance strategies for payments firms, leading to safer, faster, and more efficient experiences for both customers and compliance teams. Leveraging AML compliance software helps firms to adhere to ever-changing regulations, while also setting them apart in a busy market, ensuring customer satisfaction and operational efficiencies.
