Interview with Shilki Eesha: Head of Operations and Compliance at Cheqly

Welcome to the Employee Spotlight Series. In this edition, we’ve Shilki Eesha, the Head of Operations and Compliance at Cheqly, a cutting-edge neobank dedicated to empowering startups and SMEs. As an integral part of the Cheqly team, Shilki has played a pivotal role in redefining how businesses handle their banking and finances, with a strong focus on compliance and operational excellence.

Q1: Hello Shilki! Thank you for joining us in this employee spotlight series. Please tell us about yourself and your role at Cheqly.

I have 13 years of work experience in Legal and Compliance. I have worked in APAC, Europe and the United States. At Cheqly, I am fortunate to be heading the Operations and Compliance teams. It is challenging and exciting at the same time. Everyday, we are working towards adding new features and functionalities, and at the same time working on developing new products for our customers.

Q2: Can you explain what a neobank is and how it differs from a traditional bank?

A neobank, also called a digital bank or a 100% online bank, is a financial institution that operates exclusively through  mobile apps and websites. It has no physical branch locations. Neobanks offers innovative features, such as real-time transaction notifications, expense tracking, and budgeting tools. Neobanks are quite a hit among tech-savvy consumers who are looking for better banking and customer experience as compared to traditional banking. Traditional banks are not customer centric whereas Neobanks like Cheqly innovate products based on its customers’ need and demand.

Q3: What unique features does Cheqly offer its customers that set it apart from traditional banks and other neobanks? 

Cheqly offers:

• Same-day business account opening
• No monthly or annual account fee
• No minimum balance
• Easy and fast domestic and international wires
• $250,000 – FDIC-insured accounts

What sets us apart from traditional banks and other neobanks is our 1) Transparent Pricing – we do not have any hidden fees and 2) Customer Service – We believe in creating relationship with our customers.

Q4: Operating in the fintech industry comes with various regulations. How does Cheqly ensure compliance while maintaining a seamless user experience for its clients? 

We, at Cheqly, take compliance very seriously. We have a very experienced and dedicated team who handle day to day compliance efficiently. We use automated compliance softwares to detect cases like fraud, money laundering, identity theft etc. We provide clear and transparent compliance requirements and any changes to our customers.

Q5: In terms of financial services, security is paramount. How does Cheqly safeguard its customers’ financial data and transactions in an age of increasing cybersecurity threats? 

Security is Cheqly’s top priority. These are some of the things we do:

• Requiring HTTPS on all pages, and use HSTS to ensure browsers only ever connect to us over a secure connection.
• Employing a third party to perform penetration testing each year to check for vulnerabilities.
• Storing passwords hashed with the bcrypt algorithm. We never store or log your plaintext password.
• Using Time-based One Time Passwords for two-factor authentication. We never send authentication codes via insecure channels like SMS.
• Encrypting database and all uploaded images. We employ additional encryption for sensitive data, like social security numbers.
• Never storing debit card number. Only the last 4 digits are stored for the identification purpose.

Q6: What advice do you have for individuals aspiring to pursue a fintech career, particularly in operations and compliance roles?  

Fintech career can be both rewarding and challenging. My foremost advice would be that one should “Be Open to change” whether it is a career or life. Be ready to learn new things and be willing to adapt to new processes and technologies. 

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Shilki, we want to express our heartfelt gratitude for sharing your valuable insights and experiences with us today. We’re excited to see the continued success of Cheqly and its partnership with Eqvista as they lead the charge in transforming how startups and SMEs handle their finances.