In Focus Collections
Firms to embrace technology to adapt to remote working
As we all look to the new normal, old-style Know Your Customer checks may become ever harder in the new environment
John Dobson Chief executive, SmartSearch
This is not a drill. The coronavirus outbreak is the real thing. The government is going to extraordinary lengths to keep the economy afloat, but, despite this, many businesses will sadly go to the wall. It will be tempting for those that stay
afloat to think that their business model can withstand anything that is thrown at it, but if they do not use this opportunity to review existing processes and systems, they will be setting themselves up for a fall further down the line. Even as restrictions are gradually eased, for
most firms in the financial and professional services sectors, remote working will be the new normal in the near future. Looking ahead, if we can, to a time when
restrictions are lifted completely, it is hard to imagine we will all just go back to what we thought of as normal before Covid-19.
Glimpsing the future Firms have glimpsed a future where they no longer spend a small fortune on expensive business premises, while employees will have noticed the benefits of no longer spending hours of every day just getting to and from work. That is not to say that offices will shut
completely, but it may be that smaller premises are needed and firms need to plan for much of their workforce operating remotely at any given time. This is where they will need to look to
how the technology they deploy fits in with this. At SmartSearch we were able to shift quickly to a 100% home-working model and have continued to service our clients
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exactly as before. We have also taken on a good number of new clients – which is obviously crucial to growing a business.
Physical documentations This is a problem for many firms, who continue to rely on physical documentation to verify new customers’ identity and meet their Know Your Customer and Anti- Money-Laundering obligations.
Clearly, documents cannot be presented
in person at the moment and with staff working remotely there is no way to ensure they are properly and promptly processed if sent through the post.
Solution to a conudrum Many of our new clients have come to us specifically because we provide a quick and simple solution to that conundrum. By switching to electronic verification, using credit-reporting data, firms can eliminate the need to ask prospective customers to provide documentation, and everything can be done securely from wherever staff happen to be working. For those that want the reassurance
that comes from seeing the whites of their customers’ eyes, we also now offer an additional facial recognition feature which allows them to do just that. This provides an extra layer of security that clients have told us they value – which brings me to a further important point about technology: it needs to respond to what users want as well as what they need, and it needs to be backed up by good customer service I tend to call this ‘old-fashioned’ customer
Firms have glimpsed a future where they no longer spend a small fortune on expensive business premises, while employees will have noticed the benefits of no longer spending hours of every day just getting to and from work
www.CCRMagazine.com
service, and very often tech companies can give the impression that they view it as just that. In reality, though, it has never been more necessary. We are all making a transition to a world that could end up looking very different from what we are used to. Embracing technological solutions and learning how to make them work for you is part of that. Inevitably, some of us will need a helping hand to get there. CCR
June 2020
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