Coface Strengthens Global Risk Screening and Compliance with FinScan
- FinScan
- 4d
- 3 min read
As a global leading player in trade credit risk management for 80 years, Coface helps companies grow and navigate in an uncertain and volatile environment supporting 100,000 clients across some 200 markets by providing them with essential information on credit risk and commercial relationships. Coface requires a consistent and reliable process for vetting its suppliers, customers and partners with nearly 400 Coface employees involved in the process across 100 countries.
Since adopting FinScan in 2017 for customer onboarding—and later transitioning to a cloud-based SaaS deployment—Coface has streamlined its compliance processes, improved data access, and enhanced user efficiency across its global network.
Challenges & Goals
Managing Global Risk Across Complex Counterparty Networks
Operating at the center of global trade, Coface must evaluate risk across a wide range of entities, including suppliers, policyholders, business partners, and beneficial owners. This requires comprehensive screening against sanctions lists, politically exposed persons (PEPs), and adverse media.
However, several operational challenges emerged:
Global scale and complexity: Screening entities across 162 countries and multiple business lines required consistent processes across regions.
Data management inefficiencies: Maintaining and updating third-party data sources was time-consuming and prone to technical issues in legacy environments.
Decentralized operations: With compliance teams distributed globally, ensuring consistent access, usability, and reporting standards was critical.
User adoption barriers: Tools needed to be intuitive for a broad base of non-technical users.
At the same time, Coface required detailed, audit-ready reporting and the ability to assess not only companies but also their beneficial owners and associated risks.
The Solution
A Flexible, User-Friendly Screening Platform with Global Reach
Coface selected FinScan for customer onboarding for its list-agnostic architecture, configurable matching capabilities, and ease of use—key factors for supporting a diverse, global user base.
"FinScan is very user-friendly. It’s easy for users to understand, access reports, and make decisions or escalate when needed." - Anne Thenevin, Group Compliance Manager, Coface
The organization implemented FinScan to support:
Comprehensive counterparty screening: Evaluating suppliers, customers, and partners—including beneficial owners—against sanctions, PEPs, and adverse media data sets.
Integration with internal systems: Embedding screening workflows within CRM processes to support onboarding and decision-making.
Detailed reporting and auditability: Generating list results and profile reports that provide clear, actionable intelligence for compliance teams.
Centralized oversight with local execution: Enabling compliance officers in each country to screen entities while maintaining centralized visibility and governance at headquarters.
In 2022, Coface transitioned from an on-premise deployment to a fully hosted SaaS environment. This shift delivered greater control over matching rules, improved system stability, and significantly reduced operational friction associated with data updates and maintenance.
Results
Improved Efficiency, Scalability, and Global Consistency
With FinScan deployed across its global operations, Coface has achieved significant improvements in both efficiency, usability, and scale:
Streamlined data management
Eliminated manual challenges associated with list uploads and maintenance, reducing reliance on technical support.
Enhanced user adoption
An intuitive interface enables hundreds of users worldwide to perform screenings and interpret results with minimal training.
Stronger audit and reporting capabilities
Easy generation of detailed PDF reports and audit trails supports internal governance and regulatory requirements.
Scalable global deployment
Successfully expanded to approximately 400 users across 100 locations, with consistent access and performance across regions.
High-volume screening support
Conducts hundreds of thousands of searches annually, supporting onboarding and ongoing monitoring activities.
Reduced operational friction
Fewer support tickets and faster issue resolution following the transition from on-premise to SaaS.
"Since moving to FinScan in a SaaS environment, we have had no issues with data updates. This type of reliability is very important to us, and it’s made a big difference in our productivity and efficiency." - Anne Thenevin, Group Compliance Manager, Coface
Additionally, Coface benefits from FinScan’s responsive, knowledgeable support and ongoing collaboration, ensuring the platform continues to align with evolving compliance needs.
By combining flexible configuration, global scalability, and a user-centric design, FinScan enables Coface to confidently assess counterparty risk, maintain compliance across jurisdictions, and support its mission of facilitating safe and secure global trade.
