A sector in continuous transformation

How CPSL’s simultaneous conference interpreting service -now remote- meets the multilingual training needs of a banking organization

The banking and financial sector is one of several industries that has been undergoing increasing digitalization and globalization. Banking applications and software help us make payments, and perform simple tasks, whilst in the past it was only possible to do this by physically visiting 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 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 organization.

Executive summary

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

One of our clients, a banking group, 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 conference 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 specialize 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 organization. Additionally, to all the Vendor Management work in finding the right resources, CPSL has to supervise 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, conditioned by the fact that if a test result is positive, substitutes must be available. Another limitation has been the hand-over 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 good 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 then supervised the logistics that is often unseen in the organization of interpreting events. Project managers and coordinators have checked that venues and equipment were actually suitable to host interpreters and have given support for any urgent requirement to ensure the successful outcome of the interpreting events.

By using this approach to establish the team of interpreters and to manage it, 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

Communication gaps have been opportunely bridged by the fruitful collaboration between this banking group and CPSL, having  become their prime referent 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 is involved and provides interpreting services for the company meetings of  the European Work Council.

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.