Continuous compliance made simple
Every existing banking institution and financial services organization has at least one remediation project in progress at any given moment. But do these projects really ever end? “What is compliant today may require remediation tomorrow,” says Thomas Van Maele, CEO of Harmoney. “As regulations and workloads get heavier, digitalizing and automating ongoing customer due diligence processes will be the only way to offer financial services.”
Ongoing digital remediation: remediate once, remain compliant
Even after a traditional remediation has been successfully concluded, an institution can’t simply rest on its laurels – as the remediation cycle never ends.
“Regulators never stand still,” Thomas asserts. “They’re inevitably going to change their requirements, prompting institutions to update their standards, workflows and forms over and over again and ask customers for more information. The term ‘remediation’ is a misnomer – it’s something that’s not done once, but continuously.”
Harmoney is a digital platform of tools and services that not only addresses the challenges of the remediation process, but also automates the task of aligning workflows with dynamic regulations, pulling additional data from trustworthy data sources like online registers and following up with the end user.
The end of the remediation process is where continuous customer due diligence begins. “Your compliance team can rely on automated risk grading for all customers and stakeholders, and perform multiple screenings and verifications,” explains Thomas. “An easy-to-use digital dashboard enables the back office to complete workflow tasks in an intuitive way.”
Always fully aligned with global regulators
The Harmoney team of compliance professionals adapts the platform to reflect the latest regulations applicable to each institution, regardless of jurisdiction. Workflows are updated by the system, and when new information is required from a customer, the institution can trigger a new information request.
The customer can be invited to the platform via the channel of their choice – SMS, QR code or e-mail – improving the user experience and saving the financial institution significant time and resources. Thomas: “And when staying compliant means just a few minutes for the user, they are much more likely to respond to information requests thoroughly and correctly.”
Building a centralized foundation for continuous compliance
The configurable tools offered by the Harmoney platform are all linked to one key element that is the driver of automated, digital, remote end-to-end customer due diligence: the Financial Passport™.
Financial passports are centralized, continuously updated, comprehensive dossiers for both individual and corporate customers that are built in an automated way. They contain public data from selected trustworthy sources, customer-furnished information and additional information collected by your compliance and customer relationship teams, providing a 360-degree view of the customer. Financial passports can be linked in the case of complex corporate structures, and, once established, grow in quality and completeness.
The Financial Passport™ can be utilized by the compliance team to optimize audit, onboarding and remediation processes and workflows, and by bankers to build stronger customer relationships and offer highly tailored services.
Upload, configure, go
As a financial institution, you can unlock automated remediation and continuous compliance in three steps:
- Upload your data into the platform. This can be done using any file format.
- Determine the channels for data capture. Select the data providers you wish to work with, and combine these channels (if needed) with end-user information.
- Remediate. Approach your end users with a single tool capable of handling the entire process.
“Via the platform, it’s possible to cut the time it takes to complete an analog remediation cycle in half and significantly lighten the workloads of your customer relationship team and compliance professionals,” asserts Thomas.
“Instead of asking clients over and over again to provide information and sending mail back and forth, it takes five minutes for the customer to log in and update their data. And instead of your back office team spending hours reading, processing and retyping customer data, it’s all automatically and remotely added to the customer’s digital financial passport.”
Even more, ongoing customer due diligence requirements are continuously aligned with the latest regulatory updates and best practices. “In addition to a next-generation IT platform for the automation of end-to-end due diligence processes,” continues Thomas, “we also offer the combined knowledge of an experienced team of compliance experts and finance industry professionals.”
Explore the functionality and technology behind the Harmoney platform, and get in touch with our team to schedule a one-on-one demo.