The growing inefficiency of traditional KYC outreach methods

Traditional approaches to collating client information through Know Your Customer (KYC) outreach are inadequate, inefficient and insecure.

The problem with traditional KYC outreach methods

The real challenge goes beyond gathering the required information. It is about how effectively banks engage with their corporate clients to obtain necessary documents.

According to our 2024 Corporate Treasurers Report, 73% of corporate treasurers expressed dissatisfaction with the KYC process. Historically, banks have relied on manual and labor-intensive methods, including emails and phone calls, to communicate with clients. While these methods may offer some personalization, they are burdened with inefficiencies and are no longer sustainable for KYC outreach:

• Emails pose security risks such as data breaches due to potential interception. Managing responses, tracking follow-ups, and ensuring all required information is collected can be overwhelming for banks.
• Direct communication via telephone calls can be effective. However, it is time-consuming and impractical to scale, especially when handling a large client base.

Why a modern solution is needed

With 93% of corporate treasurers being asked multiple times for the same information, banks must look beyond outdated processes. Not merely because they frustrate clients, but also because manual processes delay onboarding and the opportunity to speed-up sales and time to revenue.

As clients wait to be onboarded/reviewed, front office revenue-generating staff are stuck chasing administrative tasks. Furthermore, creating inefficiency and pulling focus away from higher-value activities. Manual KYC processes need significant improvements in a market where speed, accuracy, and compliance are critical.

The role of a secure outreach and document management platform

A unified platform with a digital vault offers a powerful solution to the challenges of KYC outreach. Providing corporates with a secure platform for storing, organizing, and sharing KYC documents, while the bank performs outreach via the system platform, eliminates many of the inefficiencies associated with traditional methods of outreach.

Banks can rapidly deploy a secure outreach platform, transitioning from outdated, manual processes to a more streamlined and automated system. Additionally, consistency and standardization in communication can be achieved, improving both the client experience and regulatory compliance.

The convenience of cloud-based solutions also reduces IT overhead and frees banks from the complexities of managing their own infrastructure.

A game-changer in KYC outreach

With features like real-time document tracking, audit logs, and secure access controls multi-entity organizations see a reduction in the instances of duplicated outreach. From a corporates perspective this is invaluable for saving time and resources. Additionally, repetitive tasks, data extraction and document verification, can be automated to enhance efficiency.

Achieving data parity, (ensuring that the data gathered is accurate and complete from the outset), is fundamental to successful KYC outreach. Incomplete or inaccurate data can lead to regulatory non-compliance, higher operational costs, and negative client experiences.

Ensuring data accuracy helps banks adhere to regulatory requirements. It also reduces the need for manual intervention and provides a solid foundation for data-driven decision-making. In turn, this builds client trust, as clients appreciate accurate and timely service.

Building a future-ready KYC process

The future of KYC outreach lies in automation and centralization. By moving away from outdated methods like emails and embracing a standardized platform, banks can ensure secure, efficient, and scalable KYC processes. This improves compliance as well as laying a strong foundation for future innovation, ultimately enhancing client experience and trust.

For a deeper understanding of how your bank can transform its KYC outreach process, explore our comprehensive whitepaper. Discover how a centralized platform and automated outreach can revolutionize your operations, boost client experience, and establish long-term compliance standards.