By Nermeen Nabil 
As messaging apps become more popular, businesses and registered investment advisors will want to reach their customers there. But it raises compliance issues that SnippetSentry addresses.
The mobile communications compliance solutions provider recently launched a fully customizable and scalable service for messaging app compliance. The SaaS-based product prioritizes streamlined processes, intuitive guidance, and quick access to enterprise-ready tools. Onboarding can be completed in three steps and less than three minutes.
Compliance is here to stay, so make it convenient
CEO Eddie Green said SnippetSentry’s vision begins by acknowledging that the focus on compliance will remain a priority. SnippetSentry also knows that people love using mobile communication apps, so understandably, companies want to serve them where they spend much of their time.
That convenience extends to downloading the solution onto your device. Green said it takes only a few minutes. Once added, it works in the background, with the user experience unchanged. That practicality benefits companies of all sizes but serves smaller businesses or sole proprietors who don’t have compliance staff.
That up-front simplicity took some effort on the back end. Green said SnippetSentry had to be a native capture solution, not another app the user would have to download. The design team then prioritized the four most popular messaging services – WeChat, SMS, iMessage and WhatsApp. They account for most messaging traffic. Others provide a diminished return for the effort.
“We want everybody to be able to come in and, within three minutes, enroll and be done,” Green said. “It can only happen if it’s completely hands off; if it’s fully automated end to end. That’s what we focused on.”
Fully encrypted messages are passed through SnippetSentry and onto an archive company. They perform compliance checks and flag any concerns.
The regulatory focus is shifting
Green sees greater regulatory scrutiny on industry communications. It began with the big banks and is filtering down to mid-market players and even RIAs.
“I don’t think it’ll go quite as far as GDPR in Europe, but there we think it will be continued regulation and scrutiny,” Green said. “But as the workforce gets younger, it’s not reasonable to forego the efficiency people could otherwise have in our business because they have this exposure.
“Recognizing that, that’s where we came in. The landscape is going to continue to evolve. We ought to be out in front of it, and we ought to just make it so that it’s simple to pass everything through and be confident you’re 100% compliant.”
There are limits on how and where people use their phones
Green sees a significant change in how companies approach cell phone use vis-a-vis compliance. It was assumed that employees would want to use their own phones for work, given their strong attachment to those devices.
“Originally, when we were first developing this product, we heard that most people are going to use their personal phones,” Green said. “That’s now reversed dramatically to almost without exception, we’re going with a corporate phone. We’re getting too much pushback from the younger employees.”
Tech and talk – the best ways to improve your product
As he watches for technologies that can improve service, Green breaks SnippetSentry’s service into four basic actions – capture, observe, engage and dispatch. Each is considered individually.
Observe and engage benefit the most from artificial intelligence. The focus is on accessing a sufficiently large enough body of information that captures the nuances of financial terminology.
“Everybody in the industry is struggling with how to get something that’s robust and well-rounded,” Green said.
In addition to considering technology, the other way to improve your product is to listen to customers. Green said they provide the best insights. Take those problems and apply them to technology instead of vice versa.
“Everybody is using AI, so it’s almost become a parody of a buzzword,” Green said. “AI is terrific, but you must know exactly what problem you’re applying AI to. Identify the problem first.
“I’ve been doing venture capital for 28 years. I’ve seen many AI business plans come in, and frankly, half of them are completely ridiculous. “It’s a thought looking for a problem.”
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The use of messaging apps raises compliance issues that SnipperSentry addresses. This issue is not going away for fintechs and banks.
Nermeen Nabil Khear