Compliance Automation: Benefits and Use Cases

Compliance automation is among the most important technologies for compliance professionals. While implementing advanced tech can be intimidating, these tools are quickly becoming a necessity for compliance teams. That’s why it’s essential to understand them.

What is compliance automation?

Compliance automation is a computer process that completes complex and often repetitive procedures with minimal human intervention by using predetermined settings and rules. This is also commonly referred to as robotic process automation (RPA). 

In our recent study conducted in conjunction with Arlington Research, we discovered that many Compliance/Legal professionals are curious about how intelligent technology can be integrated into their workflows. For example, 93% of Legal/Compliance professionals believe artificial intelligence (AI) could support a more effective marketing and advertising compliance review process. (For comparison, 95% of Marketers agreed.)

Various aspects of compliance are already benefiting from technology; however, certain processes that traditionally have not seen much investment in improvement, may now be ripe for enhancement, here’s why.

6 benefits of compliance automation

Compliance automation makes it easy to improve accuracy and efficiency. Compliance managers tend to appreciate the automation of menial and repetitive compliance tasks because it releases resources to deal with complex or pressing issues. As an example, according to our study, 85% of compliance professionals believe it would be much easier to get marketing and advertising compliance reviews completed if they did not have to check the basics repeatedly. Here are six further benefits of compliance automation:

1. Real-time data

Compliance automation gives you access to real-time data for risk management and prevention. Users no longer have to wait for a co-worker to provide a compliance update report by the “end of day.”

2. Instant compliance reports

Instantly download a snapshot summary of all compliance processes across every department instead of piecing it together throughout the week. Stakeholders will no longer need to rely on manual processes to get a status overview of compliance risks and wins.

3. Centralized dashboard

Reports are available via a centralized dashboard, which keeps everyone on the same page and creates a culture of transparency and visibility. Clear records of task ownership and completion also make it easy to prepare for the audit process when necessary.

4. Full audit trail

Panicking about audits can be a thing of the past when teams can instantly create a paper trail that includes all relevant information. This will reduce the amount of manual work required and also save time and energy for compliance officers, creating value in the long run.

5. Reduced labor costs

While it’s impossible to entirely automate compliance monitoring procedures, it is possible to take some of the pressure off of human workers. Automating simple tasks frees up more time and energy for compliance officers to focus on higher-value work. For example, a compliance manager automating the review of boilerplate language might free up an hour or two to address FINRA requests or break down unprecedented language with a new potential investor to close a deal faster. 

6. Improved accuracy

Even the most accomplished and seasoned compliance officers still make mistakes, and those human errors can end up being costly. Minimize non-compliance and subjectivity by reviewing documents automatically before sending them to the local regulatory organization. 

6 potential use cases for compliance automation

There are a variety of practical ways that compliance automation could be used to operational advantage:

1. Risk assessment
2. Anti-money laundering (AML) alerts
3. KYC onboarding
4. Mortgage remediation
5. Reconciliation
6. Marketing compliance reviews

Automation can flag specific words and phrases that compliance marketers need to pay special attention to — which, in turn, simplifies work for compliance professionals. This could include high-risk language, like superlative words, or any numbers that need to be approved. Red Marker takes this automation a step further with AI and can cross reference all communications against local regulatory requirements and laws to automatically identify risky language. Our generative AI feature, RiskGPT, also suggests compliant language replacements, simplifying the process of marketing compliance.

Take your marketing compliance to the next level with automation

Our recent study asked: “What would be some of the most important aspects to significantly improve the compliance review process for marketing content in your company?”

Legal/Compliance : “Using technology to create a more efficient process with less manual handling.”

Marketers : “Automatically generated ‘suggested changes’ for compliant content so marketers can replace risky content.”

Red Marker automates marketing compliance to accomplish both of these goals. We strive to make compliance procedures easier to maintain with a simple solution.

Click here to book a 30-minute discovery call to walk through your marketing compliance review process and discover where you can benefit from efficiency.