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So you finally finished an ad for your bank’s new mortgage rates. It’s a lot of work putting together the copy and images and making sure everything is advertised as it should be. But it’s finished, and you're proud of it.
Now it’s time to send the file to the Compliance department (named "final_v3_ACTUALFINAL_NOREALLY.pdf") and let them do their thing.
You’re supposed to start running the ad this week, and the clock is ticking. But a day passes, then two, then three…
What’s going on? What’s so hard about reviewing one little ad?
More importantly, why is your bank’s compliance approval process so slow?
What a Slow Compliance Approval Process Costs
Beyond a few frustrating days, a slow compliance approval process doesn’t sound like a huge deal. But slow approvals can have a significant impact on the Marketing team, the Compliance team, and the institution as a whole.
A 2025 industry benchmark report found that 56% of respondents describe their marketing compliance review process as time-consuming and requiring multiple rounds of approval. The survey covered consumer finance companies broadly (banks, credit unions, fintechs, and mortgage lenders), which suggests this isn't a problem unique to your institution. If anything, the regulation-heavy nature of bank and credit union marketing likely makes the bottleneck worse, not better.
Here is what a slow compliance approval process actually costs you:
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Campaign windows and revenue opportunities are missed
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Launch deadlines are pushed back
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Compliance feels rushed or unappreciated
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Marketing feels like a nuisance
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Rework piles up when rushed approvals let mistakes slip through
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Marketing starts publishing unapproved materials to avoid the hassle
Before long, you end up publishing a brochure with missing disclosures. Someone notices, calls out your institution, and tattles to your regulator. Now you’re in some hot water, and you really wish this could have been avoided.
Fortunately, it can.
A note on working with the Compliance team
Let’s get one thing clear. The Compliance team is not the enemy.
That’s right. The Compliance team is NOT the enemy.
From your perspective, it can be easy to get caught up in the end results. You want this ad to start running. You want to post that picture on Facebook. You want to check “Complete” and wipe your hands of the whole campaign.
And guess what? Compliance wants that, too. But just like it’s your job to write copy, design ads, and get your institution in front of as many people as possible, it’s Compliance’s job to make sure your institution is…well, compliant.
So if you’ve had tension with the Compliance team, please cut them some slack. Without them, your institution would be full of risk, regulators, and red tape. If you think of it that way, the Compliance team is actually making your job easier. Imagine that…
What Causes a Slow Approval Process
There are many reasons your institution’s compliance review process might be slower than you’d like.
No single source of truth
When different versions of one brochure live in email, Slack, a shared drive, and someone’s desktop, things are bound to get messy. When it bounces around like this, little changes can be overlooked, and pretty soon that brochure you thought was ready for review is missing a disclosure statement and has a typo in the bank name. Oops.
When it’s time for Compliance to review the brochure, having no single source of truth makes it challenging not only to find the file, but also to know that it’s the correct one. Viewing the comment history and tracking people’s changes becomes a 1,000-piece puzzle.
All of this slows things down and contributes to a slow approval process. You can’t expect Compliance to quickly review something they have to track down, can you?
Unclear ownership
Every piece of marketing collateral should have a clear owner at every stage. If nobody knows who’s in charge of the piece, then it’s easy to overlook and push its review back.
Ownership can (and probably should) change with each step in the process. Copy, design, marketing review, and compliance approval may all have different owners. But a specific person should be assigned at each stage so the piece never gets left behind.
No approval workflow
Along those same lines, you need to have a clear (ideally automated) approval workflow. Even if the goal is clear ownership, that’s difficult to enforce when ownership is changed manually or the piece sits in someone’s inbox for a week.
Instead, choose a marketing approval software that lets you set up automatic workflows. As soon as someone marks their task complete, the next task should automatically be assigned and the appropriate person notified.
When set up properly, an approval workflow can drastically speed up the compliance review process. Instead of each team wondering where a project stands, they should be able to see where it is and who is currently assigned at a glance.
If you’re looking for a marketing compliance approval software built specifically for financial institutions, Kadince is a great fit!
No clear deadlines
If reviews regularly come back later than Marketing expects, the problem may simply be that expectations weren’t clearly set, or that Marketing and Compliance have different definitions of “on time.” Agree on reasonable turnaround expectations for different types of materials, then make those due dates visible in your workflow.
Without a solid date, it’s no wonder the Compliance team is prioritizing other projects. They’ve got a lot going on, and you can’t expect them to review something that doesn’t look urgent.
Always make sure each needed review has a clear date attached to it. If the Compliance team still keeps reviewing materials late, then there are other issues at play.
Incomplete approval requests
Sometimes, Compliance gets the marketing material but not everything they need to review it.
They may be missing the intended audience, campaign dates, product details, supporting documentation, or even the final version of the asset. Then the review stops while someone tracks down the missing information.
A standardized submission form or checklist helps ensure Compliance has the context they need to start reviewing immediately, without another round of follow-up questions.
How to Improve Your Compliance Approval Process
Once you put some time, thought, and effort into improving your process, slow compliance approvals can be a thing of the past. And none of this is super complicated. Here are some simple steps you can take to make both teams’ jobs easier.
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Keep Compliance in the loop
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Standardize what you submit
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Agree on turnaround expectations
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Build a workflow with clear owners
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Share your marketing calendar
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Find the actual bottlenecks
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Keep all marketing materials and approval requests in one system
Keep Compliance in the loop
Here’s an idea: Don’t wait until a campaign is finished to show it to Compliance.
For new products, complex promotions, or unfamiliar claims, involving Compliance earlier can uncover potential issues before your team invests too much effort writing final copy and designing.
This doesn’t mean you have to invite Compliance to every brainstorming session. They just need enough visibility to catch problems before they create bigger ones.
Standardize what you submit
Make sure to give Compliance the information they need to review an asset the first time.
Create a standard checklist that might include the audience, channel, campaign dates, product details, disclosures, supporting documentation, and final creative.
The fewer questions Compliance has to ask before reviewing, the faster the process can move.
Agree on turnaround expectations
Marketing and Compliance may have very different definitions of “on time.”
You should always set reasonable turnaround expectations for different types of materials and include a clear due date with every request. This helps Marketing plan ahead and Compliance prioritize its workload.
And remember: “ASAP” is not a deadline.
Build a workflow with clear owners
As mentioned above, every stage of the approval process should have an owner.
When one person finishes a task, the next person should automatically be assigned and notified. That keeps projects from sitting in inboxes while Marketing wonders what’s going on.
A tool like Kadince can automate these handoffs while keeping files, feedback, deadlines, and approval history in one place.
Share your marketing calendar
Instead of surprising Compliance with five urgent requests at once, you might try giving them access to your marketing calendar and upcoming campaigns.
Sharing your marketing calendar helps Compliance anticipate busy periods, plan its workload, and flag potential concerns earlier.
And when you give them fewer surprises, the Compliance team can usually review materials more quickly with fewer follow-up questions.
Find the actual bottlenecks
Don’t assume Compliance is what’s slowing the process down.
Look at how long projects spend waiting for review, missing information, revisions, handoffs, and final approval. You may find the actual review takes relatively little time compared to everything happening around it.
Once you know where projects get stuck, you can fix the bottleneck instead of simply asking everyone to work faster.
Keep all marketing materials and approval requests in one system
One of the best ways to speed up a slow compliance review process is by keeping all materials and approvals in one system. No more digging through email threads, hunting for past versions, or hearing “Sorry, I never saw the request come through.”
Instead, your institution can use Kadince software to:
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Manage all marketing projects in a streamlined system
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Route marketing assets for Compliance’s review and approval
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Request edits and keep an activity log of all changes
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Utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to remain compliant
On average, Kadince customers report spending 28% less time reviewing assets for compliance approval.* And when your job depends on quick turnaround of compliance-approved materials, that time adds up—and gives Marketing and Compliance more room to focus on the work that actually requires their attention.
To see how Kadince can help your institution speed up the compliance review process, schedule a 30-minute demo.
*Based on a Kadince Customer Usage Survey conducted in 2025
None of Kadince, Inc., its affiliates, or its respective employees, directors, officers, and agents (collectively, “Kadince”) are responsible or liable for any content or information incorporated herein. Read full disclosure.
