Financial institutions print and mail tens of millions of banking statements every month. These confidential and regulated customer communications must meet compliance requirements to protect data. Those mailings must be accurate, as well. With bank statement printing, you can achieve both while reducing costs.
What Is Bank Statement Printing?
In this context, bank statement printing refers to using a third-party print and mail company to produce those documents. You supply the data files, and the provider takes care of all the logistics with a focus on compliance, security, accuracy, and quality.
What Type of Statements Can You Outsource?
Whether a checking, savings, or other financial account, you can transition from in-house printing to working with a provider.
You simply batch up the content for each recipient, and transactional print and mail companies have defined workflows. One framework used is the White Paper Factory. Operators feed rolls of white paper into commercial printers. Each statement prints uniquely based on the data in the files. Every area of the document is customizable, creating less waste and no need for inserts.
Does Third-Party Statement Printing Ensure Compliance?
Not every print and mail business has the same compliance ecosystem. Some may mix their jobs—transactional and promotional. That can be a risk factor. However, there are companies dedicated to compliance-regulated communications.
In evaluating compliance, be sure they have certification in FISMA, SOC I & II, and PCI DSS. Additionally, the organization should have a Compliance Officer and staff who keep up with changing regulations.
Find out how they fine-tune their operations around compliance. Lean Manufacturing is a mechanism for this. With this approach, companies create standard works, which document every step in processes. Every location and operator abides by these for consistency.
You can also track a job from submission to delivery to the recipient. The entire workflow is transparent, delivering all the information you need to document compliance.
What’s the Likelihood of Mis-Mailings in Banking Statement Printing?
It’s impossible to achieve 100% accuracy, but there are ways to get close. Mis-mailings can lead to non-compliance claims and reputational harm. To ensure the fewest possible, intelligent insertion has become a necessity.
Intelligent insertion involves printing 2D barcodes on every statement page. A camera scans these, informing the inserter which pages to fold into each envelope. A separate camera records this for verification.
With this system, PCI Group has achieved an industry-leading accuracy rating of 99.9999%!
What Data Security Safeguards Are in Place?
Submitting data to a vendor that includes protected information requires strict security protocols. The most secure option is via SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol).
Once you upload the data through a secure portal, the files move to a secure, private cloud. Encryption is in place at transit and at rest to satisfy regulatory rules.
In addition to this, savvy print and mail companies have layers of security practices, including:
- Endpoint security
- True redundancy of all data and applications
- Firewalls
- Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS)
- User-level policies
- Vulnerability scanning
- Penetration testing
- Business continuity and disaster recovery plans
How Does Bank Statement Printing Reduce Costs?
Printing and mailing statements is expensive. You have capital expenditures and operating expenses. Outsourcing allows you to decrease your monthly costs significantly. You won’t need to purchase paper, ink, toner, technology, or equipment.
You can also eliminate all overhead and labor costs. Finally, you’ll see a better rate for postage since professional mail houses presort, commingle, and optimize to secure the lowest costs for First Class letters.
Banking Statement Printing with PCI Group
It’s a great time to cut costs while also enhancing accuracy and compliance. You can do that by working with us. We have decades of experience working with financial institutions. Let’s talk about it. Schedule a no-cost consultation today.
