How Mystery Shopping Can Help Banks Meet Compliance Standards
We all know how banks are usually a bit strict because of the mandatory regulations they need to uphold as well as the important assets they need to take care of. So making sure that their employees are also following the same procedures can pose some tough challenges on their end. This is where a mystery shoppers bank comes in, and it continues to be an effective tool to improve customer service and employee training in banks.
But how does it work? Let’s dive into how mystery shopping is an important tool in helping banks meet their recommended compliance in a way that is easy to understand.
What is Mystery Shopping?
Mystery shopping is like you are in a situation where you blend yourself in; in this case, mystery shoppers are hired to act like regular customers to walk in a branch of a bank, use the services that need paying attention to, and be there to observe how the staff handle the situations being thrown at them. After which, the mystery shoppers evaluate their experience and give their valuable insights to the situation so they can address the gaps in compliance and the delivery of service in that said branch.
Ensuring Adherence to Regulatory Standards
Unknown to most of us, because bank policies and regulations are there and the employees are trained to follow them, it is safe to say that there is fair treatment to every client and our data is safe, but that’s not always the case. The role of the mystery shopper here is to give the banks a real-time insight on whether their compliance policies are followed at the branch level, usually paying attention to the right step-by-step process, as this is what the regulatory standards are asking of them.
Enhancing Anti-Money Laundering Compliance
The banks are the frontliners of money laundering, and detecting suspicious activities sounds easy, but it’s actually not. Recognising the red flags, even the most subtle ones, requires training. So usually, what the mystery shopper attempts to do is act out a scenario to raise suspicion to the management so that they can identify the gaps and fine-tune whatever needs to adjust in employee training.
Improving Customer Experience While Meeting Compliance
With all of this information, we come to realise that strict compliance and good customer service can coexist because, as long as the step-by-step procedures are correct, banks and even their branches can meet the compliance standards and still deliver a positive experience to clients.
Mystery shopping brings training to life.
Bank employees know that they need to stay sharp all the time, especially because the real world is not exactly what is happening inside the traditional training. The feedback done by mystery shopping is practical and real-life scenarios that will reinforce the training by getting insights on actual customer interactions. In this kind of industry where the smallest of mistakes can make grave penalties in the future, mystery shopping helps banks to always stay a step ahead to keep customers feel safe too.