To start us off, can you tell us about yourself and your role at KBC Bank NV, Rotterdam?
A little about myself, born in the Caribbean, with a legal and business background, international experience and for the last four (4) years working as Chief Compliance Officer in the Netherlands, the city of Rotterdam for a Belgian Bank insurer which is registered at the Euronext.
If I contemplate my role today, I note a paradigm shift towards advice, support, and guidance. Naturally, the classic requirements of the role are still part of the day today. These being monitoring, translation of policy and the provision of training and awareness. Next to this I am a board member and the officer that communicates with the regulator.
As noted, the branch is part of KBC Bank NV and also from that angle I have a reporting and participation obligations
Can you outline some of the challenges of embedding friction intelligently into the customer journey so that fraud is detected without driving legitimate customers away?
In the last two (2) years I observe that there is a high degree of public awareness in the Netherlands. Especially where it concerns outside fraud. There are a number of public awareness campaigns mostly related to the natural person in the public domain. I work in a corporate environment and for the corporate entity the controls and the requirements sometimes are considered cumbersome. For this environment being a victim of a fraud scheme can bring a feeling of awkwardness. The biggest challenge I consider is connecting to the right person without delay so that the (possible) damage can be minimized.
When delays occur due to fraud checks, what strategies have been found to be effective in maintaining customer trust?
Open and honest communication, taking the customer with you in the investigative journey. No chatbots, but a warm body to answer concerns
What approaches can help financial institutions design onboarding journeys that feel smooth for customers while still meeting strong KYC requirements?
- Education, education, the why you need data
- Ask for the minimum requirements, remember that when data is outdated it should be disposed of correctly
- Do not use software if you are not aware of the risks
- Be open for criticism from the client. There is always a lesson learned there
- Do not forward a genuine concern to a chatbot
What are the benefits of calibrating controls to specific customer types, behaviours, and risk profiles, and can you provide a brief insight as to how do financial institutions put this into practice?
In terms of high level, I would say:
- Know what type of customers you are willing to service
- What their business purpose is, can you comply with their need?
- Is your customer aware of its risks and what has it done to keep them under control?
- When looking at the customer’s value chain, are you comfortable with the chain, the countries, the volumes?
- How are you communicating with the customer as to its risks and controls?
- Are you open to discuss risk triggers with the customer and if yes what will you do with the data?