Re-defining Business Finances After Covid

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Despite the accelerated expansion of Covid-19, financial services must remain operational. Hence, the sector's rapid action, which makes different solutions available to citizens, freelancers, SMEs, and companies to guarantee the continuity of economic activity. Businesses have most likely struggled to receive outstanding funds from companies, which is most likely crippling their finances. Debts should not be taken lightly in business at all. A commercial collection agency can assist. 

However, there are positives to the crisis. There have been some adaptations within the industries that will see some changes afoot in 2021.

Accelerate digital transformation

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, while banks had increased their use of data and analytics to detect and prevent financial crime, digital technology's deployment was relatively conservative. The closures have forced banks to take the customer experience almost exclusively online - incorporating and serving customers through digital platforms - with many hoping to keep this digital customer journey in recovery. For this digital transformation to deliver real progress, banks must also consider what is required to digitize the processes and monitor transactions. This will require both a significant change in the use of data and analytics in these domains, such as the adoption of next-generation technologies such as computer vision, dynamic customer risk ranking, and biometrics.

Rethinking the balance between resilience, agility, and efficiency

In a broader dilemma than fighting financial crime, all banks will face the challenge of having to act quickly in a crisis while ensuring security and keeping operating costs low. The closure of significant offshoring centers such as India has highlighted some offshoring/outsourcing models' pitfalls. It has led some banks to consider the possibility of returning to carry out their financial crime functions in the country, even if this implies higher costs for the bank. Others are aggressively trying to use digital tools to reduce manual effort and thus reliance on humans to perform compliance functions, not forgetting the need to incorporate security and regulatory approval into all technology.

Review and redesign operating models 

We are already seeing banks assess current operating models' performance during the COVID-19 pandemic and consider how to build greater resilience, including by preventing financial crime. During this pandemic, what has become very clear is that today's global economy is a highly complicated and interconnected environment. Withstanding disruption during a significant global significance requires an operating model with the flexibility to respond quickly to change - to move people, change strategies, and turn to technology to do things differently. With this in mind, we expect that many banks will increase external partners' use and use an outsourcing approach. Services - the importance of a healthy ecosystem has never been greater.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught businesses many lessons, but for banks, one of the biggest has been the need to maintain confidence amidst uncertainty. As the global economy begins to overcome the pandemic's immediate threat, many institutions may consider reforming their approach to financial crime compliance to help build this trust and the freedom to start planning for recovery sooner.