Every day, millions and millions of financial services communications make their way through the mail stream. These letters, documents, and statements contain critical and protected information. Because of their nature, they require specific guardrails to ensure accuracy, security, quality, and compliance.
These highly regulated mailings can be complex and expensive for financial organizations to manage internally. In a pursuit to boost efficiency and decrease costs, companies are eager to outsource.
It can be a wise decision, but not every print and mail company is the same. As you evaluate options, there are key things to know along the way.
1. Financial Services Communications Are Transactional
What does transactional mean in terms of print and mail? It’s a subset of business to customer or patient documents that contain PII (personally identifiable information) and/or PHI (protected health information).
This protected data has restrictions and mandates about handling it to ensure privacy and security. If there’s any exposure leading to a data breach, the company must meet multiple requirements.
Ideally, you want to avoid any type of noncompliance. That’s why it’s critical to work with an outsourcing partner that specializes in transactional print and mail. If that’s their sole focus, they’ll have advanced security measures and compliance built into every process.
A standard commercial printer may meet minimum guidelines, which may increase risk.
2. Outsourcing Can Apply to Any Type of Financial Communication
Within finance, there are many types of mailings sent that fall under the transactional category. There really are no limitations to what you can outsource. Examples include credit card and bank statements, collection letters, privacy notices, and other disclosures.
You don’t have to parcel out specific types of financial services mailings. You can send them all to one dedicated provider.
3. Data Security Standards Should Cover the Lifecycle of the Communication
The window for risk opens when you send data to the printer and goes all the way through to delivery. If there are gaps in the workflow, your exposure becomes greater. In assessing options, ask about every part of the process and what security provisions are in place.
Some indicators that the company has layered and proactive security include:
- Using SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) for secure file processing
- Applying encryption while data is at rest and in transit
- A multi-tiered architecture that separates traffic
- Advanced firewalls and an IPS (Intrusion Prevention System)
- Regular vulnerability scanning and penetration testing
4. Compliance Should Be Integrated into Every Task
Compliance cannot be an afterthought in financial services communications. You must abide by things like FISMA (Federal Information Security Management Act) and the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). There may be additional requirements depending on the content or where the addressee lives.
The workflow from data transmission to delivery should have compliance checks along the way. One of the most critical involves accuracy. Each envelope must only have the pages for that recipient. Should a mis-mailing occur, a noncompliance complaint could occur.
Can any company be 100% accurate? Probably not, but they can use advanced technology and smart workflows to come pretty close. PCI Group has a 99.9999% accuracy rating. The key to holding this industry-leading score is intelligent insertion.
Intelligent insertion works by cameras scanning 2D barcodes printed on each page. The information within the barcode tells the inserter which pages go into the envelope. An additional camera records the insertion for verification.
5. A Smooth Onboarding Requires an Experienced Provider
Moving from internal operations to outsourcing can be a journey. For it to be as streamlined as possible, you need to choose a company that has experience doing so. They should have a defined plan for onboarding with responsibilities and timelines.
The best in the business have been facilitating these transitions for decades and have proven workflows to ease burdens. They’ll also audit your current processes and mailings to find ways to optimize and improve.
6. Outsourcing Financial Communications Is an Opportunity for Engagement
Statements and documents you send to customers often get their attention. There’s vital information relevant to their finances. Capitalize on this engagement with dynamic printing.
Professional printers use a framework called the White Paper Factory (WPF) to enable this. It marries fully digitally composed files with in-line print production. Each document can contain unique messaging and images for that customer. The content could include upsells, cross-sells, or important notifications.
Ready to Talk About Outsourcing Financial Services Communications?
If you want to unburden your company from the complexity and cost of financial communications, outsourcing is right for you. Do your due diligence when evaluating partners, remembering these six things discussed above.
If you’d like to start the conversation, get in touch with our team today.
