Banks globally are doubling down on workflow automation and seamless integration to reduce compliance friction. When selecting customer‑screening tools, 58% of banks prioritise automation and workflow support, and 54% highlight ease of integration according to an LSEG Risk Intelligence survey of compliance professionals.
Across customer screening for sanctions, PEPs and adverse media, manual review workload and false positives remain pervasive pain points, compounded by integration limitations and data freshness issues. The research finds 77% cite manual remediation burden, 75% report high false positives, 73% face integration issues and 63% experience delays in data updates – underscoring why banks are prioritising automation and robust, API‑first integrations.
Banks also see real‑time access to sanctions and risk data as critical to decision-making. Nearly all institutions deem real‑time important (99%), and it is strongly linked to faster onboarding, continuous risk monitoring, and better operational outcomes. The most cited benefits of real‑time include avoiding outdated data (48%), continuous monitoring (51%), supporting real‑time compliance decisions (49%), reducing false positives (40%) and lowering manual review workload (33%) – benefits that map directly to the sector’s pressure points.
For banks operating in EMEA, the survey also indicates EU Instant Payments Regulation (IPR) readiness is already a board‑level topic: 75% of banks rate IPR readiness as a high or top priority – connecting real‑time sanctions/risk coverage to instant payment flows and operational service level agreements.
Vishal Relhan, EMEA Lead for LSEG Risk Intelligence, commented:
“Banks are telling us exactly what they need – automation that reduces false positives and manual effort, real‑time data that isn’t stale, and integrations that fit their architecture. That combination is how you speed up onboarding and payments without raising risk. Our focus at LSEG is delivering precisely that: trusted, explainable data, real‑time coverage, and workflow tooling that helps compliance teams move faster with confidence.”
