Mince Pies to Transaction Monitoring: Defining Your AML Needs

Today I’m going to shoehorn something festive into a blog. It’s apparently too early to put Christmas decorations up, but I’ve just eaten the first mince pie of the season so I’m ready for Santa. 

But what is he bringing this year? Well, I’ve written my list so hopefully I’ll get what I want.  

Sound the claxon – here comes the awkward gearchange… 

Writing my Christmas list is exactly like defining your requirements for an AML system. 

There. Slick, wasn’t it? 

I know what I want for Christmas. Hubby and I always set a modest budget for each other so we can spend a little more on nieces and nephews, so I’m not expecting a new car to be delivered on 25th December. My requirements are either something to make me laugh, something to make me cosy, or something sweet and sickly to fill my face with on Boxing Day.  

I’m not interested in what my friends are getting – I have a friend who is absolutely obsessed with shoes, and I know she’s hankering for a pair of Valentino slingback pumps. They’re absolutely lovely but I’ve hardly been out of my slippers since the first lockdown, so not for me.  

Assessing Your Transaction Monitoring Needs

I also talk to lots of AML professionals who are looking for a Transaction Monitoring solution but have started their search by checking out what others are using, instead of assessing their own risk and requirements. Don’t get me wrong – your selection process needs to cover due diligence and references, but it’s important not to be wowed by a product or service which offers features you don’t need. There’s no point in buying a chopper if you can’t ride a bike.  

Likewise, if you’re not dealing with huge transactional volumes, do you really need a product with AI? You DO need to be able to manage your false positive rates, but there are other systems with other ways of addressing this. Jade ThirdEye for example, offers you a rules effectiveness report which you can run as frequently as you want, and the system includes a sandbox, so you can tweak your rules and run them against your live data as many times as you need to, so you can assess the impact of changes. Managing your false positive rates and ensuring you are addressing your financial crime risk.

So, today’s moral is to assess your needs first.  

What Are Your MUST-HAVE Requirements?  

• Do you need a system with built-in case management and workflow? 
• Do you need the ability to quickly change your rules to meet changing risks? 
• Do you need segregated reporting for different business entities? 
• Do you need integrated customer screening?

Engaging Suppliers

Once you have your requirements together, then talk to suppliers. Share your needs with them – they will all have a development roadmap, and it may be that items on your NICE TO HAVE list are features coming in a future release. If not, they may be willing to develop new features because if you are asking for them, other prospects are likely to want them too. In fact, discussions like this can indicate a supplier who is willing to work in partnership with you – a very promising start to a relationship. 

Wrapping up your AML wish list

So, take a moment (perhaps over a mince pie or two) to reflect on what’s really on your AML wish list. 

After a tough year, my MUST-HAVE Christmas requirements are friends and family, plenty of pigs in blankets and if the weather holds up a lovely long walk. 

For more information on how Jade ThirdEye can support your MUST-HAVE requirements, to talk to one of our experts or arrange a demo, please reach out to us using the form below: