How HTB deployed an agile, scalable transaction monitoring, payment and customer screening program

The company

Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) is a specialist bank based in the UK that provides business finance, mortgage and development finance solutions. It also offers savings accounts to individuals and businesses. 

The challenge

HTB is working to stay ahead of the rapidly evolving financial crime landscape, and the growing sophistication of fraudsters. To support this work it was looking for a transaction monitoring and screening solution that would meet the needs of its growing customer base while safeguarding the bank’s reputation.

HTB’s compliance team recognized how the transformation of digital technology could enable the bank to achieve its strategic objectives.

To select the right vendor for its business, HTB ran an extensive RFP process, including a cost-benefit analysis and input from multiple line of business (LOB) stakeholders. The decision making group wanted to understand how the solution they chose would work in practice, to strike the right balance across operational and risk control variables. 

The solution

HTB selected the transaction monitoring and screening solutions from ComplyAdvantage because they offered flexibility in a number of areas:

• The extensive data sources – including adverse media – utilized by ComplyAdvantage provide a comprehensive screening solution in a single place. This means HTB can achieve wide-ranging checks in a single pass, with peace of mind that all possible sources are being reviewed.
• Proprietary data ensures HTB does not have to integrate with a third-party supplier, ensuring a simple, effective single partnership in this critical area. 
• Ongoing monitoring means a constant eye is cast over any potential financial crime risks, so they can be mitigated effectively.
• As a hosted, supplied solution managed by ComplyAdvantage, HTB can focus on reducing the risk of financial crime, while ComplyAdvantage manages the technical side of the platform.
• By adopting a risk-based approach that includes tailoring its rule set to the users of its products, HTB was able to work with the implementation team at ComplyAdvantage to configure appropriate rules, mitigate risk and reduce false positive rates. For example, the team is looking at how to optimize the application of its rules for charities, who operate their accounts in a different way to other business customers. 

These features enable what Robin Jeffery, Head of Transformation at Hampshire Trust Bank, refers to as “a platform which supports a constant cycle of learning and evolving, able to adapt in line with the changing behavior of both customers and criminals.” He added: “Other products we reviewed on the market were more rigid. ComplyAdvantage enables us to focus on continual improvement, adapting the platform as we learn and as the world evolves.”

Another key benefit of the partnership with ComplyAdvantage has been the collaborative approach throughout the implementation process. “It didn’t matter who worked for HTB and who worked for ComplyAdvantage. We had a single team, driving forward the delivery with a focus on achieving the outcome.” 

Next steps

Now that HTB has implemented ComplyAdvantage’s screening and monitoring solutions, it is aiming to use the single alert dashboard view to present new insights that can drive the bank’s digital transformation process. However, successful deployment is only the beginning of the partnership. Regular calls with the customer success team at ComplyAdvantage ensure HTB has access to the latest updates and features, and helps keep the team up-to-speed on industry best practices. 

Both ComplyAdvantage and HTB know that the biggest challenge they face is the continued evolution of both customer and criminal behavior. An informed compliance strategy and a modern, agile and flexible technology stack is HTB’s answer to this challenge.

Find out more about our transaction risk management solutions.