The benefits of end-to-end AML solutions delivered as a service

Many Chief Compliance Officers at midsized financial institutions sense that streamlining their anti-money laundering systems will lead to increased efficiency and effectiveness across their AML programs, but they wonder where to start.

We suggest they consider what we like to call “AML Cloud Convergence”: Using a single, integrated, cloud-based software as a service that delivers all essential functions of AML compliance (Know Your Customer, Customer Screening, Transaction Monitoring, and Regulatory Reporting). But what does integrated AML as a service look like, and what are its advantages over using disparate systems?

Here are a few key elements to look for in a best-in-class service:

1. A single browser user interface for your entire AML team: Look for an AML cloud service that provides everyone on your team with a single, easy-to-use browser user interface – this means fewer clicks for everyone.

• The browser user interface should allow your system administrators to set up your data pipeline very quickly and to have a centralized view of integration points into different data sources.
• It should give system administrators IT operational insights at their fingertips and let them manage upgrades with ease.
• It will allow AML Managers and Analysts to easily configure user roles and workflows, automate processes, design custom scenarios, access a catalog of pre-built scenarios, and perform threshold simulation, tuning and back-testing.

Everything should be highly configurable and easy to update as policies, best practices, and regulations change.

2. Centralized case management and a common data model: With a centralized case management and a common data model across all your AML applications, an AML cloud service can provide a holistic view of each customer or counterparty and a 360-degree view of their risk. The benefits of centralized case management extend beyond risk assessment; efficiency is improved as well as it helps streamline approaches across teams and drive collaboration for more rapid investigations and faster decisions, especially if it provides the ability to work on multiple cases and break out of a linear case workflow.

3. One single point of contact for all your AML needs: Many midsized financial institutions currently use different vendors for transaction monitoring, KYC, case management, etc. This can strain resources, as your IT department must manage integrations and stay up to date with various roadmaps. Midsized financial institutions can reduce these inefficiencies by working with a single vendor.

The benefits of end-to-end ‘AML as a Service’ versus cloud-based hosted applications

While some AML solution providers offer cloud-based “hosted” applications (i.e., where a customer purchases and owns software, each customer is treated separately, and software is installed via a hosting center), an on-demand Software as a Service (SaaS) solution is accessible over the web. A true cloud service offers all the benefits that come with SaaS solutions in general:

• Ease of deployment
• Reduced time to benefit
• Increased scalability
• Subscription-based pricing

And whereas a subscription to a cloud-based hosted application may not include upgrades and maintenance, they are typically included in a SaaS subscription.

Oracle’s Financial Crime and Compliance Management Cloud Service

This fall, Oracle launched Financial Crime and Compliance Management Cloud Service (FCCM Cloud Service), an end-to-end suite of cloud-based anti-money laundering applications for midsized financial institutions. This is the first time Oracle is delivering ‘AML as a Service’ via the cloud, and you could say it represents a convergence of sorts in a few ways:

1. Four separate applications which together provide a one-stop solution for all the AML compliance needs of a midsized financial institution. FCCM Cloud Service offers the single browser interface, centralized case management, and common data model mentioned above as characteristics of a best-in-class AML cloud service.
2. Oracle Financial Crime and Compliance Management (FCCM) with Oracle’s SaaS layer. As a SaaS solution from Oracle (i.e. an Oracle Cloud Native solution), FCCM Cloud Service comes with benefits that are unique to Oracle’s SaaS applications:
   • Easy to manage: All features of FCCM Cloud Service are managed within the single, easy-to-use browser user interface mentioned above. The browser user interface was built using the latest Oracle JET Check out this video for more on how Oracle is working to enhance user experience across its applications.
   • Easy to integrate: Use REST APIs built using open standards to import your data into our data model in real time. REST APIs also allow you to integrate and automate with your existing applications. Additionally, FCCM Cloud Service is pre-integrated with Oracle’s other SaaS applications, which include Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP, Oracle Cloud CX, and more (Oracle has more cloud applications with more features than any other enterprise application provider—cloud or on premises).
   • Efficiency: FCCM Cloud Service has a micro-services architecture and was written from the ground up using the latest cloud native patterns, so fault isolation and scalability are improved versus other vendors that offer older applications.
   • Highly available: FCCM Cloud Service provides a highly available environment with built-in backup/disaster recovery that is backed by a 99.5% SLA and 24/7 support.
   • Hardened security: Oracle takes a “defense in depth” approach to building, managing and deploying its SaaS applications. By having full control of the hardware, firmware, hypervisor, operating system, network, database, middleware, and applications components, Oracle has a distinct security advantage because we have complete visibility into the data and processing paths. When the entire stack is static, strictly defined, and monitored with configuration controls, end-to-end security is increased.
3. Because Oracle FCCM Cloud Service runs on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, it is a convergence of FCCM with Oracle’s Gen 2 Cloud. FCCM Cloud Service is unique in that it delivered on Oracle’s Gen 2 Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), which offers unique benefits versus other cloud infrastructure providers:
   • High performance infrastructure that will grow with you: Our multi-tenant Oracle database provides complete isolation at the tenant level.
   • Security: OCI was designed with security first principles and complies with major global standards, so your IT department is likely to approve FCCM Cloud Service.
   • Efficiency: Because we play in all layers of the cloud (the application layer, the SaaS layer, and the infrastructure layer)—and are continually adding integrations between the layers—we are in a unique position to help. For example, we can perform patching faster than other SaaS application vendors that run on third-party cloud providers.

The benefits of end-to-end ‘AML as a Service’ from Oracle, on Oracle

Finally, FCCM Cloud Service is unique in that it delivered on Oracle’s Gen 2 Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), which offers unique benefits versus other cloud infrastructure providers:

• High performance infrastructure that will grow with you: Our multi-tenant Oracle database provides complete isolation at the tenant level.
• Security: OCI was designed with security first principles and complies with major global standards, so your IT department is likely to approve FCCM Cloud Service.
• Efficiency: Because we play in all layers of the cloud (the application layer, the SaaS layer, and the infrastructure layer)—and are continually adding integrations between the layers—we are in a unique position to help. For example, we can perform patching faster than other SaaS application vendors that run on third-party cloud providers.

FCCM Cloud Service provides benefits beyond cloud convergence

By offering end-to-end anti-money laundering as a service on OCI, Oracle Financial Crime and Compliance Management is helping midsized financial institutions improve effectiveness and efficiency across their AML programs while leveraging all the benefits of Oracle’s leadership and innovation in the cloud. The convergence of end-to-end AML with the cloud isn’t the only reason to consider FCCM Cloud Service, however. I encourage you to check out this blog post to learn more about the benefits of our continually growing catalog of ready-to-use, industry-accepted anti-money laundering scenarios, our out-of-box regulatory reporting templates, and more.

Please join our webinar on Jan 21 to learn more about AML Cloud Convergence and Oracle’s FCCM Cloud. Register here.