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The Bottom Line

The Pew Research Center defines Generation Z as anyone born in 1996 or later. A watershed event occurred in 2007 with the introduction of the first iPhone, which maps well to the generational differentiator about Gen Z having little experience with pre-smartphone technology.  

Sports are one of America’s greatest pastimes, and anyone spending even half an hour watching them will likely exclaim, “How did that player do that?” Indeed, with the help of science, today’s athletes are dieted and trained to have bodies “made” for their sport. Modern athletes can achieve heights not previously seen. However, science alone does not guarantee the modern athlete’s success. 

Vendors, compliance, risk – OH MY! The burden of vetting vendors and ensuring that they do not introduce unacceptable risk to the organization falls squarely on the shoulders of financial institutions.

The cost of regulatory compliance in financial services is far from stagnant. In a report by Thompson Reuters, 54% of the respondents in the United States expected increases in cost to their compliance budget. As the time and money for regulatory compliance grows, what if vendor contract management could save you money (or even make you money) instead of always being that loud “sucking sound” you hear? 

Vendor invoices in the financial services industry are complicated, with some listing over 500 line items. Further, annually auditing these invoices is a time-consuming task and, in the face of that kind of resource drain, many financial institutions tend to compare one month’s invoice to the last. If the amounts are similar, the invoice is approved. 

This may sound rather casual, but even when banks and credit unions commit the time required to manually review vendor invoices, human error compromises the value of that effort. Further, human errors made during the manual review process can become self-perpetuating, compounding over time without the institution’s knowledge.