For decades, financial institutions have been locked in a costly race against financial crime. Spending on Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) has climbed steadily, sometimes by as much as 10% per year1. Yet results remain underwhelming. Interpol estimates that just 2% of global financial crime flows are detected1, despite the billions poured into compliance.
McKinsey’s latest research makes it clear: the current model of compliance is unsustainable. Manual checks, fragmented data, and repetitive tasks continue to drain resources and frustrate customers. It is time for a new paradigm. One where KYC automation powered by AI transforms compliance from a regulatory burden into a strategic advantage.
Banks typically allocate 10–15% of their workforce1 to KYC and AML, but automation levels remain low. Compliance teams spend valuable time collecting documents, reconciling data, and processing routine alerts. These tasks do little to move the needle on actual risk reduction. Customers, meanwhile, face delays, repeated document requests, and poor onboarding experiences.
This mismatch highlights why KYC automation for banks is no longer optional. It is essential. Efficiency and compliance cannot be achieved with human effort alone.
According to McKinsey, AI in financial services is evolving across three tiers:
Analytical AI: Improves monitoring by reducing false positives and enhancing customer risk models.
Generative AI: Accelerates investigations by extracting, summarizing, and drafting from structured and unstructured data.
Agentic AI: The breakthrough. Autonomous agents carry out full KYC processes, from automated customer onboarding to transaction monitoring, while humans provide oversight and handle exceptions.
The shift to agentic AI compliance is transformative. Unlike analytical or generative AI, agentic systems function as a true digital workforce. With one human able to supervise 20 or more AI agents, McKinsey’s research points to productivity uplifts of 200% to 2,000%1. This comes with higher quality, consistency, and speed.
The implications for financial services are profound. With KYC automation tools, institutions can unlock:
Stronger outcomes: Higher-quality, consistent reviews across every customer segment.
Radical efficiency: Human talent focused on only the most complex workflows, while AI handles the rest.
Cost transformation: Leaner compliance functions powered by KYC automation software that scales effortlessly.
Customer trust: Smoother, faster journeys that eliminate the pain of repetitive checks.
This is not just about saving costs. It is about building trust and resilience. Combined with AML automation, banks can move toward true KYC/AML automation, closing the gap between regulatory pressure and operational capability.
McKinsey’s research offers practical guidance for financial institutions ready to embark on this journey:
Rewire the entire domain: Do not just automate steps. Reimagine end-to-end customer journeys.
Adopt a role-based AI model: Assign distinct responsibilities to AI agents, mirroring human compliance teams.
Elevate data quality: Use AI to detect and remediate inconsistencies across fragmented data sources.
Redesign operating models: Reserve human expertise for validation and coaching, not routine casework.
Lead with change management: Reskill teams to manage and supervise an AI-powered workforce.
In short, success lies not in tinkering with individual tools but in building a digital factory of AI agents. This integrated ecosystem delivers both regulatory compliance and business advantage.
At Unique, one of our main priorities is building a fully autonomous and compliant KYC Agent, a perfect embodiment of the principles described above.
Our KYC Agents can preform various tasks:
In practice, that translates to a 30% reduction in KYC effort and around 2 hours saved per case when compared to traditional manual workflows.
It’s KYC automation reimagined, making compliance faster, smarter, and more scalable.
The fight against financial crime is intensifying. Regulators are demanding more, while criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Traditional compliance models cannot keep pace. The future lies in AI in KYC and AML, where AI compliance automation reshapes how banks approach risk, customer experience, and efficiency.
At Unique, we believe this is more than a compliance story. It is a chance for financial institutions to lead with innovation, to show customers and regulators alike that compliance can be proactive, intelligent, and value-creating. By embracing KYC automation for banks today, institutions can achieve stronger compliance efficiency fintech outcomes tomorrow. They can ultimately redefine what it means to be trusted in financial services.
References:
1. McKinsey & Co: How agentic AI can change the way banks fight financial crime