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Why Embracing Advanced Technology is Key to Ensuring Compliance in Insurance and Financial Services

21st November 2024

Writer's quote about the power of RegTech in collecting and analysing data

Why Embracing Advanced Technology is Key to Ensuring Compliance in Insurance and Financial Services

The insurance and financial services industries are undergoing a profound transformation, driven by the need to navigate shifting regulatory landscapes, meet rising customer expectations, and unlock opportunities for greater operational efficiency. However, without embracing innovative technology, these sectors risk falling behind—missing vital updates, stifling growth potential, and failing to capitalise on emerging opportunities.

 

The use of tech in insurance
The insurance and financial services market is gradually improving its adoption of technology to streamline regulatory processes and operations. However, many firms remain cautious with their current tech stack and are seeking more robust and reliable solutions.. For example, in the US, less than 25% of enterprise insurance firms are confident about their current technology’s compliance support, with a remarkable 77% only find it helpful sometimes. This underscores the need for improved adoption of more advanced, dependable technologies to enhance efficiency and compliance across the industry.

So, what are the challenges around current technology use, and how can adopting innovative and new technologies help them stay ahead of the curve? 

the factors that led the insurance market to adopt new technology
Factors Influencing Tech Adoption
1. The Regulatory Pressure

Regulatory bodies are tightening their grip on the insurance and financial services industries, demanding greater transparency, improved risk management, and stronger consumer protection. While these regulations are essential for maintaining market integrity and safeguarding consumers, they also place a heavy burden on firms, requiring substantial resources and careful compliance efforts. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), in particular, has been proactive in enforcing rules that require firms to demonstrate fair treatment of customers and effective risk management. As a result, the need for robust compliance technology, such as RegTech software, has never been more critical. RegTech can help financial and insurance firms streamline the process of submitting fair value assessments, ensuring faster compliance with Consumer Duty Law and mitigating the risk of non-compliance.

2. Changing Customer Expectations

Today’s consumers demand more personalised, seamless, and efficient services. The rise of digital-native generations has significantly raised expectations, with customers seeking instant access to financial services and insurance products through intuitive, digital platforms. They expect quick policy issuance, rapid claims processing, and tailored financial advice. In fact, 72% of customers view personalisation as “highly important” for financial services, and 77% of business leaders acknowledge that deeper personalisation drives higher customer retention. To meet these growing demands, firms must embrace technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), which enable automation and enhance processes, benefiting both businesses and their customers.

3. Risk Management and Fraud Prevention

Managing risk and preventing fraud are critical concerns for both financial services and insurance companies. The complexity and sophistication of financial crimes have increased, requiring the use of advanced software for effective risk management and fraud detection. Anti Money Laundering (AML) compliance also necessitates the use of sophisticated technology to mitigate the potential financial repercussions and reputation damages. Thankfully, the rise of AI and machine learning have enabled the identification and mitigation of fraud risks by examining large amounts of data to spot abnormal behaviours and patterns that could indicate a potential financial crime. 

4. Operational And Cost Efficiency

The need for maximising productivity and reducing costs is a key accelerator of modern technology adoption. Manual processes are often time-consuming, error-prone, and costly. By automating routine tasks, due diligence checks, regulatory processes and leveraging data analytics, companies can significantly improve their operational efficiency and reduce costs. For example, robotic process automation (RPA) can handle repetitive tasks such as data entry and processing, freeing up human resources for more strategic activities. Moreover, big data analytics allows insurance and financial services firms to optimise their operations by providing insights into customer behaviour, market trends and internal processes, enabling better decision-making and faster trading partners’ onboarding. Thus, businesses can focus on what’s more important and let technology do the most mundane tasks. 

The principal challenges around legacy technology financial firms and insurers are still using
Challenges in Upholding Compliance

Legacy technology remains a significant barrier to progress for many insurance and financial services firms, hindering their ability to adapt and succeed in an increasingly fast-paced market. While some may feel that replacing outdated systems isn’t urgent, the rapid pace of technological advancement and market change means that staying reliant on these legacy systems could have serious consequences.

In fact, investing in modern technology is often more affordable than firms expect, as it allows teams to focus on strategic initiatives and relationship-building rather than spending valuable time and resources on manual tasks that could be automated with reliable, advanced software. The costs of maintaining legacy systems, however, can be far more detrimental. According to PwC, around 70% of an insurer’s annual tech budget is consumed by maintaining outdated systems that can’t support more advanced processes. By adopting modern technology, firms can redirect those funds into driving growth, employee training, and R&D, which can have a far greater long-term impact.

With regulatory bodies like the FCA constantly updating their requirements, companies must adapt by implementing new processes and more sophisticated technology to stay compliant while ensuring data security and preventing cyber threats. Legacy systems contribute to data siloes and team fragmentation, making it difficult to collect and analyse data accurately. Our research reveals that 28% of firms in the financial services and general insurance sectors face significant challenges with manual processes and data siloes. To keep up with the complexities of modern compliance and enhance operational efficiency, it’s essential for firms to embrace RegTech platforms. These platforms provide seamless data integration, helping firms break free from the costly and burdensome constraints of manual compliance processes while ensuring they remain agile, compliant, and competitive.

How can RegTech help the insurance and financial services sectors stay ahead and efficient
How RegTech Transforms Compliance Adherence
1. Streamlining Compliance and Strengthening Relationships

By adopting RegTech, businesses can efficiently meet regulatory requirements with greater accuracy and less manual effort. Tasks like identity verification, due diligence, and compliance checks—once time-consuming and prone to error—are now automated for faster, more accurate results, reducing reliance on cumbersome processes and enhancing compliance adherence. This streamlining leads to quicker onboarding and more seamless relationship building. A great example of this comes from CNA Hardy’s use of RegTech, with Andy Clements, Head of Distribution, Sales & Marketing emphasising; “The REG Network has helped us to dramatically improve the efficiency of our broker onboarding process, oversight and customer experience.”

Furthermore, automated compliance processes extend throughout the entire customer lifecycle, offering continuous counterparty risk monitoring and 24/7 due diligence on trading partners. By leveraging real-time data and automated checks, businesses can maintain an ongoing, proactive view of their relationships, ensuring they stay compliant at all times. This continuous oversight not only mitigates risks associated with trading partners but also ensures that regulatory obligations are met without disruption.

As Clements adds; “The efficiency saving is being reinvested in more time spent with brokers and clients, strengthening relationships and delivering our specialist solutions. It’s a great example of how technology can greatly enhance outcomes for insurers, intermediaries and policy holders.” This level of ongoing risk monitoring fosters faster, smarter and safer trading, with the peace of mind that comes from knowing counterparty relationships are constantly being assessed. Ultimately, this enhances long-term business relationships, providing a solid foundation for sustained success.

2. Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financial Crime

Insurance and financial services firms are required to comply with both national and international regulations, with one of the key requirements being the prevention of money laundering to avoid heavy penalties and reputational damage. For example, in December 2022, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) fined firms a total of £3.2 million for breaching Anti-Money Laundering (AML) rules. If left unchecked, money laundering can pose serious risks to both national and international security.

Fortunately, technological advancements have made it significantly easier for the insurance industry to stay vigilant against financial crime, particularly when assessing counterparties. Key to effective Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks is the ability to conduct thorough and continuous monitoring of potential risks. This includes several crucial components such as sanction screening, Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) screening, and adverse media screening.

RegTech platforms are ideal for AML efforts, automating much of the manual workload that would otherwise take months to complete. By speeding up the identification and investigation of potential risks, these tools not only enhance compliance but also reduce the administrative burden on financial and insurance professionals, helping them stay proactive in the fight against financial crime. This allows firms to focus on managing risk and protecting their reputation without sacrificing efficiency.

3. Advanced Analytics and Reporting

RegTech is revolutionising the accuracy of compliance reporting for regulated businesses. By automating data collection and analysis, these tools eliminate the risk of human error or fraud, which can go unnoticed in manual processes. The integration of machine learning ensures consistent, error-free reporting by standardising formats, helping insurance and financial services firms maintain compliance with regulatory demands without the risk of oversight.

Additionally, RegTech platforms offer detailed, interactive dashboards that streamline data gathering, while also automating agency applications and management processes. The real value for regulated companies is the ability to rely on accurate, real-time data to make informed business decisions—freeing up more time for strategic activities and driving greater operational efficiency.

4. A Predictive Power

RegTech not only helps financial and insurance firms stay compliant with current regulations, but it also anticipates future regulatory changes, ensuring businesses never miss a crucial update. With access to vast amounts of data that would be challenging to gather manually, RegTech can automatically detect emerging trends and predict shifts in the regulatory landscape.

For insurance professionals, this means having the insights they need without the time-consuming process of sifting through extensive data manually, a task that could take months. The integration of AI further enhances RegTech’s predictive capabilities, enabling early detection of potential compliance risks and providing deeper insights into evolving challenges. Beyond compliance, predictive analytics empowers firms to conduct sophisticated risk assessments, identifying financial hazards before they materialise and helping businesses take proactive steps to mitigate them.

Leveraging the right tech is the only way to go for the insurance market
Conclusion

Regulatory pressure is intensifying, with new laws and updates from regulators continuously reshaping the market to better protect firms and customers alike. Without the right technology in place, companies risk falling into compliance pitfalls that can lead to irreversible breaches, penalties, and significant reputational damage. On a positive note, many in the insurance and financial services sectors recognise the importance of adopting sophisticated technology. Moving away from outdated legacy systems and embracing RegTech solutions that enable them to react quickly and streamline processes will only set the market up for sustained success.

Speak to one of our experts to learn how REG Technologies can help you.

This article was published by:

Article author:

Victoria Slade

Victoria Slade is our Head of Sales at REG Technologies. Victoria helps insurance businesses adopt RegTech solutions, to manage existing and emerging regulatory and legal risks efficiently.

020 3946 2880

info@reg.uk.com

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