RelyComply and the Building Societies Association partner to combat financial crime

RelyComply is pleased to announce its official partnership with the Building Societies Association (BSA), a leading UK trade body representing building societies and large credit unions.

The partnership strengthens RelyComply’s engagement with the UK mutual sector, while contributing specialist AML and financial crime expertise to initiatives supporting member-owned institutions navigating evolving regulatory expectations.

This collaboration focuses on strengthening financial crime resilience across the UK building society sector by combining the BSA’s deep sector knowledge with RelyComply’s lifecycle-aware AML capabilities spanning customer onboarding, transaction monitoring, and ongoing risk management.

Together, the partnership supports building societies in managing financial crime risk in a way that reflects their unique operating model – balancing robust compliance requirements with the need to maintain trust, accessibility, and strong member relationships.

The Partnership: Strengthening the mutual sector

Building societies operate within a distinct financial services model, characterised by member ownership, community focus, and long-term customer relationships.

The Building Societies Association plays a central role in representing the interests of mutual organisations, facilitating engagement with regulators, and supporting members in responding to regulatory developments including AML, fraud prevention, and financial crime risk management.

For RelyComply, partnership with the BSA provides direct insight into the operational realities, risk priorities, and regulatory pressures facing mutual institutions – ensuring its technology remains aligned with the needs of building societies rather than designed solely for traditional banking models.

Building Societies Association brings:

Through this partnership, Building Societies Association provides structured engagement with the mutual sector and the regulatory conversations shaping financial crime compliance expectations:

• Access to a network of UK building societies and credit unions operating within a member-owned governance structure
• Insight into regulatory priorities impacting the mutual sector, including FCA and JMLSG financial crime guidance
• Opportunities to contribute technical perspectives to sector discussions on AML, KYC, and fraud prevention
• Collaboration opportunities through specialist groups focused on financial crime, compliance, and risk
• Participation in dialogue shaping practical approaches to financial crime controls for community-focused institutions
  

RelyComply brings:

As part of the ecosystem, RelyComply contributes practical insight into how building societies can operationalise AML controls efficiently while maintaining customer-centric service models:

• Expertise in lifecycle-aware AML approaches supporting onboarding, transaction monitoring, and ongoing customer risk management
• Experience supporting regulated financial institutions implementing risk-based compliance frameworks aligned with FCA and JMLSG expectations
• Insight into how mutual organisations can modernise financial crime controls without disrupting trusted member relationships
• Technical perspective on AI-enabled monitoring approaches designed to adapt to evolving fraud and money laundering typologies
• Contribution to industry dialogue focused on strengthening financial crime resilience across the mutual sector

A unified approach to financial crime

At the core of this partnership is a shared understanding that effective financial crime prevention must reflect the structure and values of the institutions it supports.

By combining the sector insight and convening role of Building Societies Association with RelyComply’s compliance technology expertise, the partnership supports approaches to AML that are both operationally practical and aligned with regulatory expectations.

Together, RelyComply and the BSA aim to support building societies in strengthening financial crime frameworks, improving risk visibility, and enhancing monitoring capabilities – while preserving the member-focused experience that differentiates the mutual sector.

Demonstrating collaboration in practice

As part of its engagement with the Building Societies Association, RelyComply has already contributed to industry dialogue through expert-led discussion focused on the role of AI in strengthening the mutual sector.

In January, RelyComply participated in the BSA OneBanx event:

Mutual intelligence: How AI can strengthen purpose, people and performance

The session explored how AI can support mutual organisations in balancing innovation with trust, strengthening operational efficiency while maintaining strong member relationships.

RelyComply will also participate in the upcoming Building Societies Annual Conference 2026, taking place on 28–29 April in Edinburgh.

The conference is the flagship event for the UK mutual sector, bringing together senior decision-makers from building societies, credit unions, regulators, professional services firms, and technology providers. With over 1,200 delegates attending in previous years, the event provides a key forum for discussion on regulatory developments, operational priorities, and emerging risks impacting the sector.

RelyComply’s participation reflects its commitment to supporting the mutual sector through knowledge-sharing, dialogue, and collaboration on approaches to managing financial crime risk in an evolving regulatory environment.

Looking ahead

RelyComply looks forward to contributing to Building Societies Association initiatives, sharing insight with industry stakeholders, and supporting dialogue on financial crime challenges affecting building societies and credit unions.

As financial crime risks evolve, collaboration between sector bodies and technology providers plays an important role in ensuring compliance approaches remain aligned with the operational realities of mutual financial institutions.