Safeguard Your Business Against Breaches and Fines with virsaic™
The regulatory landscape for Australian financial services, superannuation, banking, and insurance industries has evolved significantly.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has placed increasing emphasis on ensuring business continuity, and holding businesses accountable for the actions of their vendors and partners.
This mandates compliance and the ability to demonstrate compliance comprehensively during audits.
Organisations must now shift from assumed delivery—hoping their vendors meet service levels—to assured or guaranteed delivery, where robust systems provide proof of performance, compliance, and business continuity.
APRA’s Mandate: Consumer Protection and Business Continuity
APRA’s increasing regulatory oversight reflects its mission to protect consumers from service disruptions and subpar performance. Key APRA standards—CPS 231 (Outsourcing) and CPS 232 (Business Continuity Management)—require businesses to ensure the continuity of critical operations, even when outsourced. APRA’s demands include:
- Guaranteed Service Delivery
Organisations must adhere to strict timelines for communications such as superannuation statements or insurance policy renewals. For example, a bank statement must reach customers within five business days, and insurance renewals require a six-week notice. - Portability of Providers
Businesses must demonstrate the ability to seamlessly switch vendors to avoid service disruptions. For example, if one mail house faces capacity issues, the work must be rerouted to another provider immediately. - Proof of Compliance
Annual audits require organisations to provide a comprehensive audit trail, proving that communications were delivered on time and through the appropriate channels. This includes tracking delivery failures and documenting remediation efforts.
The Risks of Non-Compliance
Non-compliance with APRA’s standards can result in significant penalties and operational setbacks. Examples include:
- Hefty Fines: APRA levies hundreds of thousands of dollars for breaches. For example, a well-known energy provider previously faced substantial penalties for non-compliance in areas not governed by virsaic™.
- Liability Exposure: Failure to deliver critical documents, such as insurance renewals, can leave consumers vulnerable and expose organisations to liability.
- Operational Downtime: Issues such as slow response times, a lack of digital channels, and vendor failures disrupt service delivery and damage brand reputation.
- Poor Customer Service: Failure to provide essential customer communications (like statements, notices, invoices, etc) promptly may impact customer finances and insurance coverage.
How virsaic™ Delivers Assured Compliance
In this high-stakes environment, virsaic™ offers a proven solution to help businesses navigate these challenges and avoid the steep penalties associated with non-compliance.
virsaic™ provides businesses with the tools to meet and exceed APRA’s requirements, ensuring compliance, customer satisfaction, and operational resilience.
- Seamless Vendor Portability
virsaic™’s platform ensures businesses can instantly reroute work between vendors. If a primary mail house experiences a disruption, communications are automatically redirected to a secondary provider, maintaining service levels without delay. - Omnichannel Delivery
virsaic™ enables organisations to deliver communications across multiple channels—email, print, SMS, and web. This reduces the risk of delivery breaches, as customers can engage with communications via their preferred channel. - Comprehensive Audit Trail
With virsaic™, businesses can track every communication from creation to delivery – even print channels. It’s the only platform that integrates with Australia Post’s Electronic Lodgement Management System (ELMS) to provide assured physical delivery, linking each communication to a unique postage manifest. For digital channels, virsaic™ offers detailed read receipts and engagement tracking. - Scalable Automation and Redundancy
virsaic™ supports complete redundancy in digital and physical communication workflows. By integrating with multiple providers, such as SendGrid and Twilio, It ensures uninterrupted delivery, even during vendor outages. - Control Over Intellectual Property (IP)
virsaic™ empowers businesses to regain control of their communication templates, business rules, and workflows. By insourcing the management of templates, organisations eliminate dependency on third-party vendors for critical tasks, ensuring greater flexibility and compliance.
A Trusted Partner for Regulated Industries
virsaic™’s impact is evident across industries:
- Insurance Providers: The turnaround for policy generation improved from 14 days to 1 day, resulting in a 15% revenue uplift.
- Superannuation Funds: Transitioned communication campaigns from 6 weeks to 6 days, achieving a 90% cost reduction.
- Financial Services: Enhanced compliance maturity and operational excellence through automated workflows and omnichannel communication.
Go from Assumed Delivery to Assured Delivery
APRA’s expectations demand more than basic compliance—they require businesses to prove they can consistently deliver a high standard of service, regardless of vendor or channel. virsaic™ provides the framework to achieve this, offering:
- Guaranteed business continuity through seamless redundancy.
- Enhanced customer experience via omni-channel communication.
- Comprehensive proof of compliance with a detailed audit trail.
Business continuity is not an ‘option’ in highly regulated industries—it’s a mandate. virsaic™ equips organisations with the tools to move from assumed delivery to assured delivery, ensuring they remain compliant, resilient, and competitive.
Avoid fines. Avoid service failures. Deliver with confidence.
virsaic™
Absolute Compliance and Continuity Assurance
virsaic™ gives you the tools to shift control back to you. It is the only secure, cloud-based Customer Experience Management (CXM) platform designed to meet the complex needs of highly regulated industries.
With a suite of pre-packaged applications, virsaic™ accelerates digital transformation by simplifying workflows and ensuring compliance at every step. Key features include:
- Highly Configurable Automation Workflows: Streamline processes and ensure consistent compliance with APRA and ASIC requirements, reducing manual effort and error risks.
- Machine Learning and AI Integration: Leverage predictive insights and automated decision-making to enhance operational efficiency and customer engagement.
- Omnichannel Communication: We deliver seamless, personalised communications across email, SMS, print, and the web, ensuring customer preferences are met.
- Dynamic Reporting: Generate detailed, real-time insights into communication performance, compliance metrics, and delivery outcomes for enhanced governance and decision-making.
- Comprehensive API Integration: virsaic™ can be easily integrated with existing CRM, ERP, and financial systems, ensuring smooth data flow and continuity across all business functions.
By reducing the complexities and aligning with industry regulations, virsaic™ empowers your organisation to deliver a superior customer experience while safeguarding compliance and business continuity.Contact virsaic™ today to future-proof your business and protect your reputation.
