Financial communications hold more knowledge than firms use
Every client conversation contains more than the transaction it may lead to. A client mentions a planned business succession, expresses concern about interest rates or asks in passing about sustainable investments. These signals can provide valuable insights for advice, product development and risk management.
In practice, however, this information rarely reaches the people who need it. Phone calls, Microsoft Teams meetings and messaging conversations are captured and archived to meet regulatory or internal requirements. They are often reviewed only when a complaint, an audit or a suspected breach makes it necessary.
The Consequences of a Lack of Transparency for Financial Institutions
If relevant information from customer communications goes unused, it affects several areas of the business.
Swiss Financial Market: Strict Requirements for Transparency and Documentation
For Swiss banks and wealth managers, financial communications are particularly important. Private banking and wealth management are characterized by long-term client relationships, personalized advice, and high standards of confidentiality and transparency.
At the same time, the regulatory environment imposes clear requirements for the documentation of financial services. The Financial Services Act (FIDLEG) requires financial service providers, among other things, to document relevant information regarding client advice and the rationale behind specific investment recommendations in a transparent manner. Furthermore, FINMA Circular 2025/2 specifies key conduct requirements.
In addition to regulatory requirements, the Swiss market presents further unique challenges. Client communication often takes place across various channels and in multiple languages. Swiss German, Standard German, French, Italian, and English place additional demands on the transcription and analysis of spoken content.
For financial institutions, the challenge therefore lies not only in reliably documenting their communications. It is also crucial to make relevant information accessible across all channels, identify potential risks early on, and use these insights to improve customer service.
From data to relevant information: What needs to change
More records alone do not create any additional value. The key is to organize existing communication data in such a way that it can be used in a targeted manner.
This starts with the question of where communication actually takes place. A customer calls their advisor, discusses details in a Teams meeting, and then sends a short message to their cell phone. As long as these channels are stored in separate archives, a complete overview is missing. A shared, traceable, and secure database provides the foundation for viewing information in context.
The next step is to make spoken language accessible. Without additional processing, audio files can only be searched for content or systematically analyzed to a limited extent. Transcription makes spoken content searchable and lays the groundwork for further analysis.
Finally, information needs the right context: Which customer, which advisor, which product, and what potential risk are at the center of the matter? Only through this contextualization can content be found specifically, connections be identified, and relevant insights be derived.
In this way, the communications archive evolves from a mere documentation tool into a valuable source of information for the entire institution.
How AI can make communications more useful
Artificial intelligence makes it possible to analyze large amounts of communication data more efficiently and to systematically extract relevant information. Tasks that were previously often limited to manual spot checks can now be evaluated in a much more comprehensive manner.
The right information for the right people
Not every insight is equally relevant to everyone in the company. Real added value is created only when information is available where it is needed and in a format that suits the task at hand.
This requires clearly defined access rights and the responsible handling of confidential information. Not every piece of information should automatically be made available to all parties involved. Only by combining transparency with controlled access can the potential of communication data be harnessed securely.
Transparency as the foundation for compliance and better decision-making
Compliance and business value are not mutually exclusive. The same transparency that supports regulatory reporting requirements also lays the foundation for better advice and well-informed decisions.
Financial institutions that systematically analyze their communication data can identify risks earlier, better understand customer needs, and continuously improve their processes. The key is not only to securely store existing information but also to make it usable in the right context.
With the ASC Communications Compliance Platform, ASC Technologies helps financial institutions reliably record and archive communications data and analyze it in a targeted manner using Agentic AI. This transforms previously untapped information into valuable insights for compliance, customer service, and strategic decision-making.