Assessing Banking Product Risks to Improve KYC Programs

Know Your Customer protocols have traditionally focused on account-level verification, but examining KYC at the product level can help financial institutions assess risk more accurately. Asking targeted questions based on product risk enables institutions to detect potential financial crimes such as money laundering, said Gabriella Bussien, CEO of Trapets.

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Banks need to consider the unique risks each product presents, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach, she said. “Are you – from an internal perspective – asking the right questions to your customers, not only on the account level but even on a product level?” Bussien said.

“What risk do they pose for us as a business, and how can we be exploited by offering these products? For example, if you have an offering, like a savings account or a car loan, these are two very different products, which means that they can also be exploited for money laundering in two different ways.”

Collaboration between anti-money laundering and fraud teams is crucial for identifying and preventing fraud, she said, enabling banks to respond quickly to risks and address sophisticated crime patterns. “I’m a true believer that collaboration is a must,” she said.

In this video interview with Information Security Media Group, Bussien also discussed:

• The role of automation and machine learning in reducing compliance workloads;
• The importance of using external data sources to enhance KYC effectiveness;
• Emerging trends in KYC, AML and fraud detection for 2025.

Bussien has more than 20 years of experience scaling businesses and managing risk at organizations including Morgan Stanley and Thomson Reuters. She has long focused on optimizing KYC through expanded tech adoption and data analysis and is working towards a more collaborative, transnational approach to fighting the evolving threat of financial crime.