Which work is commonly outsourced?
- Online and mobile banking help: login problems, navigation, feature questions
- Account servicing: address changes, statements, standing orders, following verification
- Card support: activation, replacement requests, transaction queries
- Loan and mortgage servicing: application status, document collection, payment questions
- Back office: data entry, document indexing, reconciliation support
What stays with your licensed staff?
Anything that requires a licence, a regulated judgement or a compliance determination: credit and underwriting decisions, investment and financial advice, AML investigations and suspicious activity reporting, and complaint outcomes where your rules require senior review. The outsourced team prepares and routes these cases; your staff decide.
What do regulators usually expect from outsourcing?
Financial regulators generally expect institutions to remain fully responsible for outsourced activities. That typically means documented due diligence on the provider, a written agreement with audit and access rights, data protection and business continuity arrangements, an exit plan, and ongoing oversight. Check the specific guidance from your own regulator; requirements differ by country and by how critical the function is.
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How should oversight work in practice?
- A named relationship owner on your side, with the authority to escalate
- Monthly service reviews covering KPIs, complaints, incidents and audit findings
- Quality reviews that include verification and disclosure compliance
- Annual reassessment of risk, controls and the continuity plan
- Access for your internal audit to review processes and evidence
How is customer financial data protected?
- Least-privilege access: agents see only the fields their tasks need
- Masking of full account and card numbers in screens and recordings
- Named accounts with multi-factor authentication; no shared logins
- Logging and monitoring of access and actions, with regular reviews
- Controlled office environments and restricted devices for sensitive work
Which metrics should be reported?
- Service levels by channel and priority
- First contact resolution and repeat contacts
- Complaints received, resolved in time and root causes
- Quality and compliance scores from reviews
- Processing accuracy and turnaround for back-office work