Hearsay Systems on Tuesday launched what it called the "first and only" automated compliance supervision solution specifically for text messaging to proactively protect companies from financial service and telecommunication industry requirements.
The short message service solution for financial advisors "leverages industry-specific keyword lexicons powered by" Hearsay's next-generation enterprise compliance platform that features a risk meter powered by artificial intelligence, the San Francisco technology firm said.
The new solution is "part of the compliance layer of our platform, which compliance administrators can access via the Hearsay web app solution," Chris Fernandes, head of legal and compliance for Hearsay Systems, told ThinkAdvisor. Advisors can text clients via the Hearsay mobile app that's available via Android and iOS devices, he said.
The solution "can be priced separately based on the organization's specific requirements or part of a larger annual compliance package," he noted.
The new offering features a set of prebuilt lexicon lists that the firm said "align with firm, industry, and federally mandated advertising regulations." Intelligent classifiers are used to automatically detect any forbidden keywords in text messages sent by employees, it noted. Any texts that include a match from those lexicon lists are then either blocked or an AI-driven risk alert is created for compliance review, Hearsay said, noting that prevents any advisor or agent from "willingly or unwittingly engaging in unscrupulous practices via text."
In addition to specific regulatory matches, the pre-built lexicon lists were also developed to "discourage specific behavior patterns that would run afoul" of privacy and consumer protection regulations, including direct solicitation, Hearsay said.