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There's a certain kind of calculus that happens in compliance leadership. The one where you know there's a better way to handle mobile communications, but the immediate pressure to keep things running means "better" gets pushed to next quarter. Then the quarter after that.
We get it. You're busy managing daily alerts, prepping for exams, and putting out fires. The current system works - sort of. And overhauling mobile communications compliance feels like a project for when you have breathing room.
But here's what waiting is actually costing you.
The State of Mobile Compliance in 2025
Our recent Mobile Communications Benchmark Report surveyed 200 senior compliance decision-makers across US financial services firms. What we found wasn't just concerning - it was quantifiable, measurable, and accelerating.
$232,457 per year. The average cost of inefficiencies around false positives alone. That's not your compliance technology budget. That's pure waste - burned hours, distracted teams, and diluted focus on genuine risk.
308 hours annually. That's how long the average compliance team spends managing mobile communications surveillance. Nearly two full months of professional time that should focus on strategic risk management, not wading through false positives and clearing obvious non-issues.
84% of employees are concerned that mobile compliance solutions capture their personal conversations. When your workforce doesn't trust your oversight approach, they don't just worry - they actively work around it, undermining the very compliance framework you've built. The morale cost alone is significant, but the compliance risk is even worse.
14% of firms still allow personal device usage for business communications without any compliance oversight whatsoever. They're one regulatory examination away from a headline they don't want to make.
These aren't projections or worst-case scenarios. This is happening right now, across the industry, while firms wait for the "right time" to address mobile compliance properly.
The Compounding Problem
What makes these figures particularly concerning is that they represent ongoing, accelerating costs. Every day you wait:
- The average team burns another six hours on manual processes
- Another $636 disappears into false positive investigation
- Employee trust in your compliance program erodes a bit further
- The compliance gap between what you're capturing and what you should be capturing widens
These costs don't remain steady; they grow. As mobile communication volumes increase, as your team's efficiency decreases under mounting pressure, the resource drain intensifies.
What's Next
Over the coming weeks, we'll dive deep into each of these costs, showing not just the numbers, but the real operational impact and, crucially, how intelligent technology solves these problems without creating new ones.
These costs are avoidable. Sentinel’s intelligent supervision reduces false positives by up to 90%, turning weeks of manual review into hours of strategic risk management. Meanwhile, Trusted Contacts respects employee privacy while maintaining robust oversight.
Your CFO is already asking questions about compliance spend. Your team is already drowning in alerts. Your employees are already finding workarounds. The real cost of waiting isn't just measured in dollars or hours. It's measured in missed opportunities, eroded trust, and risks that compound daily. The only question is: how much longer can you afford to wait?
Coming in this series:
- Where 308 hours disappears (and what it could accomplish instead)
- How false positives drain $232K annually, and how to reclaim it
- How surveillance anxiety undermines the compliance culture you're trying to build
- The reputational risk: why unmonitored devices are a headline waiting to happen
These costs demand smarter technology. Download our new eBook: Don't Just Trust It - The Case for Explainable AI in Compliance
