A long, long time ago…. well, actually not so long ago, in the land of KYC, the customer was at the end of the food chain in the eyes of those operating in the KYC space, the Compliance and Back Office staff charged with preparing and approving the KYC due diligence cases.  “A necessary step to getting the work done” or “the reason for not completing the files in a timely fashion”. How the world has changed!  As the regulators have tightened the screw over the years in the form of censure and monetary penalties for non-compliance, and now that the Front Office is aware of the role it needs to play to get documentation and information from clients, KYC has morphed into a key component of CLM.  Engagement with customers is now front and center of the process – without this, the task is impossible. The KYC process is no longer a necessary evil, rather a great opportunity to develop stronger relationships and opportunities for business development with customers

Why the Shift?

A lot of things have changed in the last 10 years.  The introduction of RegTech has opened up all sorts of possibilities.  The development of omni-channel UX opportunities has created appeal for large segments of the population, enabling customers to interact with their banks exactly when and how they want.  

The ability to collect information via data vendors using AI and robotics also cuts out unnecessary customer engagement.  All too often, customers are frustrated that information previously provided is not shared within a financial institution across business lines or product areas.  The financial institutions which are moving to a truly global, scalable, cross line of business view of the customer can cut out duplicate requests for information and add products seamlessly and quickly.  Of course, this also depends on the data infrastructure being set up correctly.   Not an easy task, especially in those large, complex organizations with many different golden sources of client data – oh the joys of data reconciliation.

Let’s not forget the regulators and the compliance costs.  It makes good sense to engage customers at the right time, in the right way, to get all the information required once and for all – re-usable, readily available across the bank for consumption, and updated everywhere the customer has a relationship every time it changes.  Costs are driven down, risk assessments are based on common documentation, and a customer-centric view is created and maintained.

What’s Next

The opportunities are endless for both customers and financial institutions.  In an ideal state, and if the banks adopt a truly customer-centric approach to KYC, customers will be able to transact any product, in any jurisdiction, and in any business line.  On the other hand, the banks will be able to see exactly what their customers are doing across the institution – the products, the business lines, the locations

The connectivity across a bank’s legacy IT infrastructure has become a key requirement to a customer centric model.  Relationship managers need to be able to see the entire relationship in one place.  Vendors offering a single CLM/KYC system which can take a wrap and renew approach with legacy systems, and provide connectors to third party systems for data, transaction monitoring outputs, and sanctions screening, are the vendors who will be the most successful in the long run.  Working with the vendors who supply the full end to orchestration model, case management and regulatory rules engine, coupled with reporting and metrics will enable the banks to move closer to a truly customer centric model more quickly and efficiently.  As we move to a configuration only, business-led change model using low code solutions, and taking a customer-centric approach, the industry will be able to adapt more quickly to new RegTech and regulatory initiatives with minimal disruption to the customer

In fact, a complete enterprise software solution would be the ideal answer.  One solution not only for KYC and CLM, but also covering front office processes, customer service operations, call centers, back office process management, marketing automation, customer intelligence and analytics, and rules engines for business and regulatory policies in a low code environment, eliminating manual coding and specifications could be the magic bullet. This could work in either a retail or commercial environment. 

The answer is out there if you look for it in today’s marketplace