A sector in continuous transformation

How CPSL’s simultaneous conference interpreting service met the multilingual training needs of a retail banking organisation

The banking and financial sector is one of several industries that has been undergoing increasing digitalisation and globalisation. Banking applications and software help us make payments, and perform simple tasks, that could previously only be carried out by the bank itself, and required you to physically visit a branch. Now, the data flow generated by applications and software, and the resulting multilingual documents, have to be handled in accordance with the requirements imposed by international bodies and central banks. At the same time, security and confidentiality must be guaranteed, and banking institutions continue to play a significant role in an increasingly competitive industry.

Banks need to fulfil the expectations of customers located in different countries, and to keep on top of large volumes of documents and data, in compliance with criteria set by regulators. Financial statements, annual accounts and audit reports should be multilingual in order to ensure transparency and regulatory compliance. To meet these goals, banking staff must be properly prepared and keep up-to-date with the latest developments. It may even be necessary to upskill or reskill staff, or even create new expertise to ensure that employees are able to keep fulfilling the objectives of their organisation.

Executive summary

Our client, a real team player in the banking sector:

One of our clients, a banking organisation, was seeking a main supplier for their interpreting needs. The financial institution working with CPSL’s simultaneous conference interpreting operates in 10 main markets, which generated profits of EUR 6,515 million in 2019 and provides financial services to individuals, companies and institutions. The group is structured into different business areas to market its products and services. Our client develops products and services to meet the needs of banking customers. They make full use of their global experience and tailor every product to the specific markets in which they operate.

The bank is active in 10 main markets, where they control high market shares (Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and the United States) and, thanks to their longstanding global expertise, they have achieved stable growth over the years. In other countries, they have a presence as a consumer financing business or through wholesale banking and consumer finance business (China).

Challenges

Our client was looking for a simultaneous interpreting service for their international meetings, which mainly focused on employee training (HR, sales, financial etc). It was crucial that attendees at the meeting be able to understand all the content. They selected CPSL to provide simultaneous, consecutive and chuchotage interpreting for the working languages of English, Portuguese, German, Polish, French, Italian, and occasionally Chinese, Japanese, Arabic and Russian.

CPSL was able to set up a professional team of interpreters, who specialise in finance and banking, in various language combinations. Not only can CPSL manage regular requests, but we are also able to handle last-minute and rush interpreting assignments for the retail banking organisation.

Additionally, to all the Vendor Management work in finding the right resources, CPSL has to supervised the logistics for events, which usually take place behind the scenes of interpreting assignments.

With the widespread implementation of virtual events, CPSL has had to readjust agendas and some of the methodologies in interpreting services. One example refers to in-person events, which are in the minority due to health restrictions and for which interpreters have had to get PCR tests. If their test result is positive, substitutes must be available to take over. Another limitation has been the handover between interpreters after the conclusion of services, which has been solved using mobile devices.

Regarding equipment adaptations, CPSL has updated its procedures and ensures that all speakers and active participants use headsets with microphones that have a minimum Internet speed of 5 Mbps, thereby ensuring optimum sound quality during interpretation. Interpreters must also use headsets with microphones, for which a stable Internet connection (via Ethernet cable) at a minimum speed of 30 Mbps is provided, in addition to a PC with a camera.

How CPSL helped?

Our client wanted to create an interpreting team with both the required language combinations and specialist skills in finance/banking.

In order to meet the client’s requirements, we developed an internal process, the most significant element of which was a thorough analysis of client expectations – the process was chiefly conducted by our vendor management and production departments. After this evaluation step, the vendor management team, which is responsible for recruiting specific teams in order to guarantee the quality standards required by our clients, was able to establish a team of 20 interpreters after verifying all their references according the sector. CPSL has also supervised the logistics for events, which usually take place behind the scenes of interpreting assignments. Our project managers and coordinators check that venues and equipment are, in fact, suitable for hosting interpreters, and can provide support in the event of any urgent requirements arising, to ensure the successful outcome of the interpreting events.

By using this approach to establish and manage the team of interpreters, CPSL has helped to meet the client’s need, and their employees are now able to understand all the content of their meetings. The client has now been happily using CPSL’s interpreting team for eight years.

In addition to the simultaneous conference interpreting service, CPSL has introduced the client to a new interpreting solution, known as Remote Interpreting Technology (RIT), which is especially useful when meeting participants cannot physically attend a meeting, because it allows them to follow the meeting from any location.

Results, Return on Investment and Future Plans

The successful collaboration between CPSL and this banking group has allowed communication gaps to be bridged appropriately, and CPSL has been the client’s main benchmark for interpreting services since 2012.

The high standard of the services provided has confirmed CPSL as a leading provider of multilingual services to prominent clients at national and international events, with teams of 20 to 50 interpreters.

In recent years, CPSL has been appointed as the official interpreting supplier of some of the principal companies in the automotive, medical and institutional sectors, and has worked for several medical congresses. Additionally, the LSP provides interpreting services for the company meetings of the European Work Council (EWC and IWC).

CPSL has proven expertise in successfully delivering consecutive and simultaneous conference interpreting services and remote interpreting management, for which the demand is constantly increasing. If you have any interpreting requests, there is no need to panic: CPSL has the necessary expertise to make your event a guaranteed success.