RegTech To The Rescue: How BCT Digital Is Powering Compliance For Indian Banks

Indian banks are now expected to serve a highly diverse customer base, "handle massive data volumes, and meet evolving regulatory standards, all in real time," says Jaya Vaidhayanathan, CEO, of BCT Digital in an exclusive interaction with Bizz Buzz

What are the key compliance challenges banks face today, and how can tech simplify them?

Banks today are navigating an unprecedentedly complex, rapidly evolving, and globally interconnected regulatory landscape. Compliance isn't just about ticking boxes, it requires agility to keep up with shifting rules across jurisdictions. From GDPR to ESG disclosures to cyber resilience standards, and evolving capital adequacy norms, banks are under continuous pressure to maintain high levels of governance and accountability.

Legacy systems make this harder. Many banks still rely on siloed, rigid infrastructures not built for today's real-time demands. Fragmented processes slow response times and increase risk, especially as digital transformation expands exposure across cloud, mobile, and digital channels.

Technology is becoming a game changer. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are transforming compliance by enabling faster and more accurate detection of risks in areas such as anti-money laundering (AML), fraud, and anomalies. These tools process massive volumes of data to surface threats, reduce false positives, and accelerate investigations.

Automation also reduces human dependency in repetitive tasks such as document verification, audit trails, and reporting, resulting in improved accuracy and timeliness. Real-time compliance monitoring becomes possible, allowing banks to be audit-ready at all times rather than scrambling to comply retroactively.

RegTech (Regulatory Technology) is redefining the compliance landscape. Once a back-office function, it is now a strategic enabler. By embedding compliance within daily banking operations, RegTech minimizes human error, improves transparency, optimizes cost, and enhances the ability to comply with ever-changing global regulations.

With the right tech stack, banks can turn regulatory complexity into a competitive edge, achieving resilience, trust, and long-term advantage in a high-stakes environment.

In what ways can banks use analytics and automation to move from reactive to proactive risk management?

In today's volatile and interconnected financial ecosystem, reactive risk management is no longer enough. Financial institutions must adopt a proactive, intelligence-driven approach to detect threats before they escalate. Proactive risk management is no longer optional, it is imperative for ensuring operational continuity, regulatory compliance, and customer trust.

Advanced analytics is key to this shift. By leveraging big data, banks can analyse vast amounts of structured and unstructured data from internal systems, third-party sources, and even public domain inputs like news sentiment and social media. These insights can uncover previously hidden patterns, forecast credit risks, predict fraud, and detect early indicators of financial stress in customers or markets.

Automation complements analytics by streamlining repetitive processes like risk scoring, compliance checks, and alerts. It ensures continuous risk monitoring without manual intervention, reducing turnaround time and increasing response speed. Real-time dashboards and automated alerts give decision-makers the tools to act swiftly when issues arise.

The integration of AI, particularly agentic or context-aware AI, adds another layer of intelligence. These intelligent systems don't merely flag risks; they learn from patterns, adapt to new data, and offer context-specific recommendations. Whether it's dynamically adjusting credit limits, suggesting intervention strategies, or reprioritizing workflows based on emerging threats, these systems provide a dynamic and evolving layer of intelligence that static controls simply cannot.

Together, analytics, automation, and AI are redefining risk management. What was once a back-office function focused on damage control is now a strategic enabler. It equips banks to be more resilient, agile, and data-informed, instilling greater confidence among regulators, investors, and customers.

What unique needs do banks have, and how are companies like BCT Digital tailoring their offerings to serve them?

Banking is a highly regulated, risk-sensitive industry operating at a massive scale with little room for error. Unlike other sectors, banks manage continuous transaction flows, evolving compliance mandates, and constant exposure to risks like fraud, cyber threats, and systemic disruptions. Balancing financial performance with regulatory requirements demands more than generic digital solutions, it calls for purpose-built platforms tailored to the intricacies of banking.

Banks must handle traditional risks—credit, market, and liquidity, while also navigating newer challenges such as cybersecurity, ESG compliance, operational resilience, and reputational risks. The convergence of these demands makes real-time decision-making and integrated risk management essential.

At BCT Digital, we understand these sector-specific challenges. Our platforms are not generic tech overlays, they are domain-driven, purpose-built solutions created specifically for banking environments. Every product we design aligns with banking workflows, regulatory frameworks, and operational needs from the ground up.

Our risk and compliance solutions offer real-time monitoring, predictive alerts, contextual analytics, and automated regulatory reporting. These capabilities are embedded within the bank's existing ecosystem, transforming risk and compliance from siloed functions into integrated business enablers. This embedded intelligence allows banks to act swiftly, backed by relevant insights and automation.

What sets BCT Digital apart is our commitment to risk intelligence, treating risk not as a barrier but as a strategic input. We empower banks to make agile decisions, improve governance, and build stakeholder trust. By embedding resilience into daily operations, we help financial institutions achieve not just compliance, but sustainable growth and competitive advantage.

How will AI and Big Data shape the future of risk management in Indian banking?

The future of risk management in Indian banking is intrinsically linked to how well institutions harness AI and Big Data. With rapid digital adoption across urban and rural India, the traditional tools and frameworks of risk management are being rendered obsolete. Indian banks are now expected to serve a highly diverse customer base, handle massive data volumes, and meet evolving regulatory standards, all in real-time.

Big Data provides the raw material for this transformation. It enables banks to consolidate and analyse structured and unstructured data from myriad sources—core banking systems, payment gateways, customer interactions, market feeds, and even digital footprints like mobile usage and social media sentiment. This comprehensive view allows for the construction of rich, multi-dimensional risk profiles for customers, branches, products, and geographies.

AI brings this data to life through intelligent analysis. It detects anomalies, flags suspicious behaviour, uncovers hidden correlations, and predicts potential defaults or breaches, often with greater speed and accuracy than human analysts. Whether it's in intelligent credit scoring, fraud detection, or regulatory compliance, AI is making processes faster, smarter, and more reliable.

Indian banks, in particular, stand to benefit enormously from this shift. As they navigate priorities such as financial inclusion, digital innovation, and regulatory adherence, AI and Big Data offer scalable solutions to manage these competing demands. They also help democratize risk insights, enabling even smaller and regional banks to access world-class capabilities without extensive infrastructure investment.

Ultimately, these technologies are not just enhancing risk management, they are redefining it. They are enabling a shift from compliance-led governance to intelligence-led operations, laying the foundation for a more secure, agile, and inclusive financial system in India.