For the next five days, we're going to highlight BSA professionals and their biggest BSA/AML wins as we countdown to National Financial Crime Fighter Day on October 26. Today, we have the honor of celebrating the work Amy Woolsey, CBAP, CAFP has done as a BSA officer at Legend Bank in Bowie, Texas.
Years in industry: 14 years in banking, 4 in BSA/AML
How did she get her start?: She’s always wanted to work at Legend Bank since she was a little kid getting Tootsie Rolls at the drive-thru. The ladies working the drive-thru are always so nice, and she thought, “How cool it must be to give out candy and money all day?!” While attending college, she began her start in banking as a teller. After graduating college, she moved back to her hometown of Bowie, TX and 3 years later was hired as a teller at Legend Bank and was promoted to the Compliance Department as a BSA/Compliance Analyst in 2014. She was promoted again in 2016 to the position of BSA Officer.
What does she love about her job?: Amy loves feeling like she’s done some good in the world when doing her work in BSA/AML. She admits it is a lot of tedious and detailed work day in and day out, but when law enforcement reaches out, she really feels like her work means something. She is proud to be able to assist law enforcement with cases and help protect the integrity of the U.S. currency.
Amy is also happy to work for a company that has instituted a true culture of compliance from the top down. They do annual training for their entire staff both in-person and online. She is able to pull real-life examples of BSA/AML cases from webinars and workshops to better explain to the staff why the BSA department is so important. She noted that putting it in real-life terms helps the staff to know that they are doing good work on a daily basis. Having a staff that works together to support and enhance the BSA department helps them all work more efficiently and makes it easier to determine what actually is suspicious activity. She says every day is a bad day for someone somewhere at their job, but she loves the work she gets to do at Legend Bank and the people she gets to do the work with.
What is her biggest BSA/AML win?: Amy has had a lot of “BSA/AML wins” over her banking career, but the biggest ones that stand out to her are when wire scams are prevented. She said that usually with a wire transfer, once the wire is sent, it is gone and it is very difficult to get the funds back. It really makes her sad when she notices a customer might be a victim of wire fraud and has wired out money that they may not get back. She recently received word from a law enforcement official that they were able to track down and return most of the money a customer thought they had lost to a scammer. Amy said the bank employees know most of their customers personally, so it really has an impact when they’re able to help them out and stop financial criminals. She loves that BSA/AML wins like that also help their customers feel more comfortable banking with them, knowing that they are constantly watching out for the best interests of Legend Bank customers which is truly a privilege.
On behalf of Abrigo, thank you, Amy, for all that you do! Now, let’s celebrate!
For more information on BSA/AML Day visit the website at BSAAMLDAY.com.
Learn more about our BSA/AML and fraud prevention software, BAM+, and how it can help you in your continued fight against financial crime.
