Why you should train your employees

Most mistakes that MSBs make in their businesses are directly related to their lack of employee training.

Many mistakes can be avoided, and your business doesn’t have to suffer by being held back. But it takes a little bit of time and energy invested into best practices to create an environment that is geared towards training. 

We see some MSBs focusing their time and attention in other places too often which leaves their employees unsure about how to handle certain situations. The result can come in the form of fines, slowed growth, losing your MSB license and even losing their banking relationship. 

Another major reason to train employees is to fully utilize your resources and assets. For example, you are using a software for check cashing. Are you using just the surface level features or are you using it to its fullest potential? This software offers a lot of features that can make your employees’ jobs much easier and can create efficiencies that map to profitability. This asset alone could bring improvements that impact your business tremendously in the short and long term.

Employee training should be held as a high priority and taken seriously. If so, the result is a smooth operation, less drag on resources and time spent fixing mistakes and less worry about being in business in the coming months or years.

Taking employee training seriously is the first step to sustainable growth in your MSB business. It’s the foundation of everything you do and the bedrock of your business. 

How to train your employees

One of the four pillars of BSA is required employee training. 

Naturally, if training is not considered a high priority in your business, employees will find ways to fulfill this requirement without becoming more knowledgeable or getting better in their role. People are generally going to take the path of least resistance when it is offered to them unless you are creating an environment with a higher standard.

Taking a basic test online to fulfill training requirements isn’t always going to achieve the desired result. You’re not doing training just to say you completed it. The purpose of completing the training is to stay compliant, get better and avoid costly mistakes that can put you out of business.

Besides completing a standardized test to confirm your knowledge of the subject, employee training best practices include several other factors. We’ve listed some of them here. 

Stay up to speed on current events that are happening in your industry, in your part of the region and in the world. This will give you context to trends you should be aware of and things to consider as suspicious activity. 

Keeping yourself updated on topics like anti-money laundering, terrorist financing is a great place to spend some time once a week, reading articles and staying aware. 

Looking up fines that other MSBs have had recently is a great way to stay on top of activities you should look out for in your business. Learning from others mistakes is a great mindset for protecting your business, not just staying compliant.

The WSJ has a section titled “compliance”. This is a great resource for keeping track of current day activities and what to look out for in your business. 

The bottom line is that you should want to be the best at being compliant, because it’s a huge component to the business you’re in. To be the best, you have to seek out knowledge and resources to get better and instill that mentality in all of your employees.

As we seek to be the best in what we do, we want to be one of those resources and extend that knowledge to you so you can grow wisely. 

If you have questions about employee training, please reach out to our team. 

Resources for Training:

Anti-Money Laundering – https://www.acams.org/en

https://www.fincen.gov/resources/advisoriesbulletinsfact-sheets/advisories

https://www.fincen.gov/news-room/enforcement-actions