Payments Compliance

The Benefits of an ‘INQUIRO’ Mind

In recent years, payments compliance has become increasingly onerous for corporates due to a proliferation of regulations, growing international sanctions, and the speed at which money now moves around the globe. Vincent Calderara, Senior Project Manager, BNP Paribas, explains how the bank’s innovative and highly regarded ‘INQUIRO by BNP Paribas’ platform is helping treasurers avoid many of the headaches associated with payments processing.

Rapid digitalisation coupled with the growth of instant payments have transformed how consumers, corporates and financial institutions engage with the global digital payments landscape. They can now transact much faster, more efficiently, and at volume. The pace of development in this space, however, has also sparked interest from regulators, most notably around the potential for financial crime, such as fraud to proliferate. Sanctions violations are also a mounting concern with money moving at breakneck speed.

INQUIRO by BNP Paribas has gone from strength to strength. We continue to invest in its development to keep pace with regulatory and technological change, as well as the needs of end users.

Not surprisingly, regulators and supervisory bodies have looked to address those apprehensions by rolling out new regulations and guidelines, as well as adding to sanctions lists. In turn, this has meant more onerous payments compliance processes for corporates. And with treasurers already stretched across multiple facets of the organisation, this additional burden is proving challenging for many.

Making life easier

But BNP Paribas has been especially quick to recognise the hurdles associated with these compliance issues. In 2016, the bank developed INQUIRO by BNP Paribas, a novel web-based enquiry app that facilitates digital compliance requests between the bank and its clients. The app helps organisations to ensure payments are fully compliant by digitalising the entire transaction process, from notification of a new request to the receipt of an update on the status of a payment.

Speaking seven years on from its launch, Calderara says INQUIRO by BNP Paribas has more than proved itself in the market and is a perfect example of the benefits that bank innovation can bring. “Since going live, INQUIRO by BNP Paribas has gone from strength to strength. We continue to invest in its development to keep pace with regulatory and technological change, as well as the needs of end users. As a proprietary innovation by BNP Paribas, where we were early to market and invested heavily from the get-go, it has been a tremendous success.”

He explains that in helping organisations handle compliance requests for international payments INQUIRO by BNP Paribas makes the process more efficient, notably removing emails about red flags, which can result not only in payment delays but also additional, time-consuming administration. “It can take weeks for a bank to resolve issues with suspended payments to enable their release. Traditional email-driven alerts, which many banks send, could also mean potential exposure of sensitive data to cyber threats. With INQUIRO by BNP Paribas, this data is held on the secure platform, not in correspondence.”

He adds: “INQUIRO by BNP Paribas offers many advantages in terms of efficiency, transparency, and digitalisation. These include instant notifications, payment status updates, audit trailing, and a centralised dashboard with search functionality. The highly secure solution also helps to centralise and manage compliance requests, providing better visibility. In especially complex cases, it can even help us at the bank to know when to intervene so that we can provide additional support to the client if necessary.”

Collaborating with clients

The clear benefits of this solution result from significant efforts on behalf of the bank, but also its clients. Indeed, Calderara says one of the most important aspects of BNP Paribas’ innovation process for the platform has been the input from corporates. “INQUIRO by BNP Paribas has been co-created in partnership with clients and that has been extremely valuable in building a resilient, effective solution that really addresses their payment pain points and, importantly, evolves as those demands change.”

The result of this co-creation is reflected in impressive satisfaction levels for the app. Calderara says that more than 99% of clients implementing the solution conclude it is a good fit for their organisation’s needs and continue to use it year after year.

More specifically, he reports that data gathered shows that INQUIRO by BNP Paribas can reduce overall payment processing time within organisations by 50%. And in certain cases where payment processing requirements are highly complex and very time consuming to action, the solution has helped slash processing times by up to 75%.

Other productivity benefits that flow directly from that acceleration and transparency include the bank having the ability to relay enquiries directly to the right personnel within the organisation. The platform also provides a global overview of all communication between the bank and the end user and highlights flags that are occurring repeatedly for the same reason, considerably speeding up their resolution.

“We have plenty of evidence to show that INQUIRO by BNP Paribas is having a positive impact on payment processing pain points. It is a global success story for us, a feather in BNP Paribas’ cap, with many of our biggest clients onboarded and highly satisfied with its capabilities.”

While highly proactive in responding to clients using the app with specific day-to-day issues, the bank is also constantly looking to further improve the platform’s functionality. Calderara continues: “Where we see an opportunity to improve the due diligence capabilities of the solution or observe some specific and recurrent issues, we explore them, and see if we can make the processing even leaner. We also continually analyse statistics on the use of the platform and if we see marked deviation from what we would regard as optimum, we take action.”

INQUIRO by BNP Paribas offers many advantages in terms of efficiency, transparency, and digitalisation.

Having such a feedback regime is vital in an environment where the compliance landscape is rapidly changing, he explains. “If there is a new sanction put in place, for example, we contact clients that we believe could be heavily exposed, discuss how best to handle it from the bank’s perspective as well as the client’s in terms of building the right control framework.

“It’s a proactive approach made possible because of INQUIRO by BNP Paribas being a centralised platform. Clients greatly value that direct, added-value contact. After all, the platform being great is one thing, but we must match that excellence with our support operation too. Effective, rapid in-app communication between the two parties is key.”

Integrating ISO 20022

As well as keeping on top of regulations and sanctions, the solution is also being updated to encompass the latest standards in the payments space, notably ISO 20022.

Calderara says: “Adapting the platform to ISO 20022 and taking advantage of its benefits for both the bank and our corporate clients, is underway. We were early adopters and have already incorporated some elements of ISO 20022.”

He goes on to explain that one of ISO 20022’s most cited benefits is that it enables richer, better structured data to be carried in payments messages. Here, ‘structured data’ means that in every ISO 20022 payment, message information will appear in the same place in a specific format, while ‘richer data’ provides the opportunity to include more information within that structured format.

As a result, some of the biggest advantages of ISO 20022 messaging will be felt in the real-time payments arena. The structured and data-rich common language characteristics the format offers mean messages using it have the potential to be readily and smoothly exchanged across corporates and banking systems.

ISO 20022 messages will also provide the opportunity for enhanced analytics, which can help organisations offer valuable new levels of payment services to their customers,” he notes.

“All of these and many other benefits of ISO 20022 for banks and corporates will, of course, take time to flow through over the medium to long term and we fully intend to make sure INQUIRO by BNP Paribas is in step as it all evolves.”

Innovation never sleeps

Looking ahead to other developments being considered for the compliance request solution, the bank is currently exploring ways of speeding up certain aspects of the platform. Most notably the ability for clients to have more direct access to data – an ambition that could mean the platform leveraging additional API technology.

The bank is also looking to introduce a self- service administrative element into the platform. Calderara explains that such a facility would aim to give clients the ability to make modifications in response to changes in their organisation that directly impact INQUIRO by BNP Paribas, for example changes in the personnel engaging with it. Such a development would avoid the need for the bank to intervene on behalf of the client to make
the changes.

Further ahead, Calderara would also be open to seeing the platform integrated with wider industry developments in this space. “BNP Paribas was ahead of the game when we launched the solution in 2016. But it would be great if we could all work together to find a common platform, a mutualised tool that can be deployed industry-wide and internationally. But we would insist that a common solution must offer, at the minimum, the same level of service and functionality as our platform does.”

For now, though, Calderara urges treasurers looking to resolve payments compliance pain points to take a close look at INQUIRO by BNP Paribas. He concludes: “When it comes to simplicity, transparency, and security of sensitive data, our platform is an innovation that delivers – in spades. And treasurers can be confident that it is a solution we continue to invest in, ensuring it remains fit for purpose and maintains or even exceeds its already high levels of service.”

All of these and many other benefits of ISO 20022 for banks and corporates will, of course, take time to flow through over the medium to long term.