Background Checks For Financial Services: A Complete Guide For Employers In 2021

The field of financial services is a highly sensitive one. Since one is handling the finances of many different people, there is a certain level of security that is required. The handling of sensitive information needs to be done carefully. Otherwise, the clients, their information, and their finances can come under threat of financial crimes.

Keeping this in mind, you have to make sure that every employee you hire is vetted properly and can be trusted. Because even one bad seed can cost you a lot of money and cause irreparable damage to the finances of your clients and your trust with those clients. This is where background checks come in. These financial background checks are absolutely vital to making sure that you are hiring the correct person for your organisation.

The financial services field requires background checks that are more extensive than normal background checks, and as such, more advanced kinds of screenings are done that explore a candidate’s background.

But before you consider hiring financial background checkers, let’s consider a routine background check and the kind of limitations that it has:

Routine Background Checks – The Limitations

Though there is some variation in background checks that vary across organisations, the main steps stay the same. Identity verification and criminal history checks are done to bring up any potential red flags that the candidate might have. But such a simple routine check is not enough. Since the candidate is looking for a job in the financial sector, then their educational credentials or licenses might need to be verified.

Credit Checks

A credit check is vital in the field of financial services, because if the candidate themselves is financially risk on a personal level, then how can you entrust them with the finances of your precious clients on a professional level. Credit checks can help minimise the risk of theft, fraud or embezzlement. A credit check can be vital to ensuring that you are hiring someone with a good financial instinct that you can trust.

Educational Credentials & License Check

Financial service jobs usually require specific certifications, licenses and degrees that allow the candidate to work in that position. And so, it makes sense to order checks that verify those credentials and licenses. A fake degree or forged license can have severe effects on the integrity of the work that your employee might do or even the capability to do any work altogether, and therefore affect the overall integrity of your entire organisation.

Other Checks

There are other kinds of screenings of an advanced nature that an employer can request for their candidate if you really want to go in-depth. Such as social media screening, international screening and such. These will give you a more in depth full view of the candidate and whether they will be a good fit for your organisation.

• Social Media Screening

Any publicly available information on social media about your candidate that might be relevant to the position that they are applying for can be done through this.

• International Screening

If your candidate has lived overseas in the past, then this check can give you a view into the general activity of their life in that country and see if it might affect their eligibility for the job.

Conclusion

The importance of the field and the kind of work done in it requires advanced checks specific for that field. The importance and sensitivity of the financial services field cannot be overstated. And you can’t afford to make a mistake in the hiring process. Advanced screening might seem like a hassle and will take more time than a routine check but the money that it will save you, in the long run, is more than worth it and most of all keep you and your organisation compliant.

If you are looking for financial background check services in the UK, then get in contact with our team of experts at Background Checker and we will help you out.