With the rise of digital channels in bank marketing, the pressure to keep marketing compliant becomes even greater. Marketing compliance isn’t just about avoiding fines—it’s about building and maintaining customer trust. Whether you are a bank directly marketing your products online or a sponsor bank offering Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) solutions to fintech partners, it is imperative to protect your reputation and ensure long-term success. COMMON COMPLIANCE PITFALLS Imagine you’re the head of marketing at a small but rapidly growing bank. You’ve just launched a new digital campaign, confident that it will attract a wave of new customers. But then, you receive a call from the regulators. They’ve flagged one of your recent advertisements promoting a “free checking account.” The issue? The fine print about associated fees wasn’t clear enough. For regulators, this could be interpreted as misleading and not protecting the consumer’s interests. And for financial institutions, consumer trust is everything. Losing trust due to non-compliant marketing is difficult to recover from, making it crucial for banks to prioritize compliance as part of their overall strategy. Here are three common pitfalls in marketing compliance and how they typically unfold: 1. Misleading Advertising: One of the earliest and most frequent issues is the use of misleading or unclear language. It’s an easy trap to fall into. You want to attract attention, so you use phrases like “free checking account.” But without clear disclosures, customers may feel misled, and that’s when the regulators step in. Transparency isn’t just a good practice— it’s a requirement. 2. Lack of Transparency: As your marketing campaigns evolve, so do the complexities of your offerings. But if you’re not meticulous about clearly communicating all terms and conditions, including interest rates and fees, you could find yourself under the regulatory microscope. What started as a small oversight can quickly snowball into a significant issue. 3. Inconsistent Monitoring: Over time, marketing materials can become outdated or unchecked. Now, picture this: a blog post from 2022 is still live on your partner’s website, but new regulations implemented in 2023 make the content non-compliant. Without regular monitoring, such discrepancies can slip through the cracks, creating compliance risks that are easily overlooked. BEST PRACTICES FOR STAYING COMPLIANT To help you navigate these challenges, we’ve put together a short step-by-step approach to keeping your marketing efforts compliant: 1. Set Clear Compliance Policies: Start by developing comprehensive compliance policies that everyone in your bank understands. These policies should clearly outline all marketing requirements, ensuring there’s no ambiguity about what’s expected. Julia Wild is the Director of Strategic Partners at Fintel Connect, a leading partner marketing platform, network, compliance tool and agency for financial institutions. Fintel Connect proudly serves 80+ leading financial brands and is an NJBankers endorsed provider. Julia Wild 2. Invest in Training: Regularly train your marketing teams on the latest regulations and best practices. Continuous education fosters a culture of compliance where everyone is aware of the rules and their importance. 3. Automate Compliance Monitoring: As your marketing efforts grow, consider using tools to automate the monitoring process. We found this is one of the most time-intensive components of compliance, which is what motivated us to build our Fintel Check tool to help automate these functions for our team and our clients. 4. Regular Audits and Reviews: Schedule periodic audits of your marketing materials to identify and address potential compliance issues before they escalate. Regular reviews help ensure that all content remains up to date with current regulations. Tip: Have a way to capture and store records of these campaigns to make audits that much easier. 5. Plan for Scalability: As your institution grows, so will the volume of your marketing materials. Ensure that your compliance processes can scale accordingly. And this doesn’t always mean growing your headcount. WRAPPING UP: COMPLIANCE AS A GROWTH ENABLER It may seem counterintuitive, but a thorough approach to compliance can actually be the key to scaling your digital marketing efforts safely. Marketing compliance is more than just a regulatory requirement—it’s a key element of building a trustworthy and sustainable brand. By setting clear policies, investing in training, automating compliance monitoring, and conducting regular audits, you can ensure that your marketing efforts are both compliant and effective in driving growth. 19 feature
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