Voice AI

The Regulated Finance Playbook for AI Voice Agents

Ramkumar Venkataraman

17 Sep 2025 • 13 min read

Playbook for voice agents

How Sei AI builds compliance into every call—without slowing you down

TL;DR

You don’t need to choose between great CX and compliance. You can have both if you design for regulation from day one.
For regulated finance, the rules that matter most for voice AI include TCPA/TSR, STIR/SHAKEN, state call-recording consent, FDCPA/Reg F (for collections), GLBA Safeguards, UDAAP, Reg E/EFTA, NACHA, PCI DSS, GDPR/UK GDPR/PECR, and the EU AI Act. We map each to concrete controls below.
Game-changer: Evidence Mode—Sei AI’s audit pack that auto-generates artifacts (policies, consent traces, model cards, prompt diffs, transcripts, redaction logs) for regulators and internal audit—on demand.
A realistic 90-day path to production is not only possible, it’s repeatable. We break it down week-by-week with owners, artifacts, and exit criteria.
This guide is written for banks, lenders, servicers, and insurers. We’ll be hands-on and specific, because that’s what compliance deserves.

Why compliance-by-design voice AI is a win for finance (not fear-mongering)

When I first dropped a voice agent into a live collections line, I’ll admit I hovered over the switch like it was a launch button. What calmed the nerves wasn’t a fancy model; it was having controls—consent gating, disclosures, live opt-out, audit logs—wired into the flow. The result: higher right-party contacts, faster resolutions, zero scramble when Legal asked for artifacts.

Here’s the non-alarmist reality:

AI voice agents complement existing teams. They take the predictable friction (identity verification, balance inquiries, due-date changes) so human agents can solve nuanced cases.
In regulated finance, controls outperform slogans. A clear evidence trail beats “responsible AI” statements.
Early adopters aren’t reckless; they’re the ones that codify controls early and scale with confidence later.

Where Sei AI fits: We build compliant AI chat & voice agents for financial institutions—trained on consumer protection rules and enforcement actions, with security and auditability front-and-center.

The regulatory map that actually matters (US, UK, EU)

If you deploy voice AI in a bank, lender, servicer, fintech, or insurer, this is the short list to operationalize. Each item links to a primary source and what it means for your build.

TCPA (47 CFR § 64.1200) & the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR).
- What it means: Consent type, disclosures, DNC hygiene, and opt-out mechanics vary by call purpose (marketing vs informational), number type (wireless vs landline), and message type (artificial/prerecorded).
- Action: Gate campaigns on consent provenance; segment line type; enforce disclosures and interactive opt-out.
STIR/SHAKEN & the Robocall Mitigation Database.
- What it means: Calls must be authenticated; attestation level influences answer rates and spam labeling.
- Action: Use carriers that file in the Robocall Mitigation Database and aim for A-level attestation with verified caller IDs.
State call-recording consent.
- What it means: Most states are one-party consent, several require all-party. You must present recording notices correctly.
- Action: Route disclosures by area code (and confirm actual device location if feasible); log consent in the transcript.
FDCPA & Regulation F (collections).
- What it means: Safe-harbor cadence (e.g., 7 calls in 7 days) and “limited-content” voicemail definitions.
- Action: Enforce cadence limits and voicemail templates; auto-suppress by debt and consumer.
GLBA Safeguards Rule (FTC).
- What it means: A written security program with change management, risk assessments, vendor oversight, and breach notice (≥500 consumers within 30 days).
- Action: Map data flows (voice, text, PII); maintain risk register; define 30-day breach notification workflows.
UDAAP (CFPB).
- What it means: Avoid unfair, deceptive, abusive practices—think clarity in scripts, cancellations, and fees.
- Action: Red-team for confusing or coercive language; prove transparency in artifacts.
Reg E / EFTA (payments & disputes).
- What it means: If you provide EFT services (including certain pass-through debit flows), you have error-resolution duties and specific disclosures.
- Action: Route payment flows to systems with Reg E coverage; capture authorization and receipts; triage disputes.
NACHA rules for ACH (including oral authorization & WEB debit validation).
- What it means: Oral authorizations are valid beyond “telephone calls,” and WEB debits require account validation on first use/change.
- Action: Support recorded oral authorization scripts and account validation before first debit.
PCI DSS for phone payments (DTMF masking/pause-resume).
- What it means: Card data must never hit recordings or agent desktops; DTMF masking can take your agent and VoIP out of PCI scope.
- Action: Enforce pause-resume and DTMF masking; segment networks; keep PAN out of LLM context.
E-SIGN / UETA (consent to electronic records, signature validity).
- What it means: Before going paperless, disclose hardware/software requirements; capture affirmative consent and permit paper copies.
- Action: Offer SMS/email links to disclosures; log consent and device evidence.
GDPR / UK GDPR (transparency, minimization, Art. 22 ADM) & PECR (UK marketing calls).
- What it means: Clear notices; minimize data; respect rights; in the UK, PECR governs live/automated marketing calls and TPS.
- Action: Present Article 13/14 notices; document purposes; check TPS; require prior consent for automated marketing calls.
EU AI Act (2024–2027 phased application).
- What it means: GPAI obligations apply Aug 2025; prohibitions and AI literacy Feb 2025; most high-risk obligations Aug 2026 (some embedded systems to Aug 2027).
- Action: Classify use cases, document risk controls, prepare technical documentation and post-market monitoring.

Note: None of this is legal advice. We’ve linked primary sources so your counsel can bless your design.

What “generative voice AI” really means in production—and where risk lives

Generative voice AI in finance isn’t a black box “bot.” It’s a system:

Telephony & identity: SIP trunks/carriers, caller ID registration, STIR/SHAKEN attestation, real-time CNAM, plus KBA/OTP for identity.
Orchestration: Session manager that handles barge-in, timeouts, retries, escalation to human agents, and consent capture.
NLP/LLM core: Streaming ASR, NLU, and a policy-steered LLM (often with RAG) so answers only draw from approved content.
Policy layer: Guardrails that enforce disclosures, call cadence, payment steps, and quiet zones (e.g., “don’t discuss fees we can’t legally quote”).
Data layer: PII redaction, tokenization, data minimization, encryption in transit/at rest, and retention schedules aligned to policy and law.
Observability & evidence: Prompt/version control, feature flags, prompts diffs, transcripts, audit logs, and drift/bias monitors.

Where risk concentrates:

Consent & purpose drift. A marketing consent doesn’t magically cover collections. Enforce purpose-bound routing (TSR/TCPA/PECR).
Automated decisions. If outcomes significantly affect a consumer (e.g., adverse actions), involve a human and document rationale (GDPR Art. 22/UK equivalents).
Payments & disputes. Keep PAN out of scope (PCI), and route Reg E obligations to covered systems with recorded receipts and dispute workflows.

A compliance-by-design architecture you can audit

When I implement voice AI for a servicer, the architecture looks like this:

Ingress & trust

Verified numbers with A-level STIR/SHAKEN; carrier registered in the Robocall Mitigation Database.
Branded CNAM where supported; answer-rate monitoring by attestation level.

Consent & disclosure

Purpose-bound consent gate (telemarketing vs informational vs collections).
Dynamic recording disclosures by jurisdiction (one-party vs all-party).
Live, automated opt-out that writes to CRM and your DNC/TPS workflow instantly.

Identity & scope

KBA with fallback to OTP.
Eligibility checks (e.g., don’t discuss debt with a third party) before revealing account specifics (Reg F hygiene).

Conversation & guardrails

RAG limited to approved policy, product, and rate content.
Red-teaming prompts that probe UDAAP risk; automated refusal patterns for unsafe topics.

Payments

DTMF masking or secure pay-by-link; pause-resume recording; no PAN in transcripts or LLM context.
ACH flows with oral authorization scripts and WEB debit validation when applicable.

Observability & evidence

Prompt/version control; change tickets and approvals.
Per-call artifacts: disclosures shown/spoken, consent timestamp, attestation level, policy pack hash, transcript with PII redaction log.
Post-market monitoring and incident workflow (GLBA Safeguards Rule).

Sei AI’s regulated-finance toolkit (12 controls we ship day one)

Best for: Banks, non-bank lenders, servicers, fintechs, and insurers that need audit-ready voice AI with minimal integration drama.

Why Sei AI: Purpose-built for regulated finance, trained on UDAAP, FCRA, TILA, HMDA and enforcement actions, with SOC 2–backed security and “100% auditability.”

1. Consent & Preference Orchestrator

Gate every call on consent type (telemarketing vs informational vs collections).
Enforce TSR/TCPA disclosure text and interactive opt-out.
Syncs DNC and internal suppressions; honors revocations in real time.
Purpose-binding ensures a marketing consent isn’t used for collections.
Stores consent artifacts with time, source, and script hash.
Exposes consent status to your dialer/CCaaS via API.

2. Caller Trust: STIR/SHAKEN + Branded Calling

Registers caller IDs; targets A-attestation for answer-rate lift.
Monitors reputation; rotates and warms numbers within policy.
Integrates carrier attestation telemetry into QA dashboards.
Supports brand name display where carriers allow.
Auto-halts campaigns if reputation drops below threshold.
Provides attestation evidence in the audit pack.

3. Recording & Disclosure Manager

Jurisdiction-aware recording prompts (one-party/all-party).
Plays visual disclosures for digital calls; voice for PSTN.
Logs acceptance or hang-up; retries on partial disclosures.
Stores disclosure audio snippets with transcript alignment.
Surfacing exceptions for QA review.
Evidence outputs per call and per campaign.

4. Collections Guard (Reg F-aware)

Enforces frequency/cadence guardrails (e.g., 7-in-7 per debt).
Validates limited-content voicemail templates.
Detects third-party presence and suppresses debt details.
Tracks consumer preferred channels and quiet hours.
Produces Reg F compliance summaries by portfolio.
Plays nicely with your existing letter/SMS vendors.

5. Payments SafeBox (PCI & ACH)

DTMF masking and pause-resume for card data; no PAN in transcripts.
Tokenization before LLM exposure; PCI scope reduction.
ACH oral authorization scripts + recording retention.
WEB debit account validation before first debit/changes.
Real-time receipts via SMS/email with metadata.
Dispute routing into Reg E workflows.

6. Privacy Guard (GLBA/GDPR/UK GDPR)

Data minimization and purpose tags at field level.
Article 13/14 notice presentation and logging.
PII redaction policies aligned to retention schedules.
Data-subject request (DSR) export tooling for transcripts and logs.
Vendor due-diligence pack with SOC 2 Type II controls.
Breach response runbook aligned to Safeguards Rule 30-day notice.

7. Prompt Governance & Change Control

Prompt library with approvals, versioning, and rollback.
Diff views between model versions and prompts.
Sandbox testing with synthetic conversations and red teams.
Release gates tied to risk score and test coverage.
Immutable change log for audit.
“What changed?” one-pager for regulators.

8. Model Risk Pack (SR 11-7 / OCC 2011-12-aligned)

Model inventory with intended use, inputs, assumptions.
Development/validation docs; performance, stability, drift.
Challenger runs; thresholds and human-in-the-loop criteria.
Third-party model review summaries.
Periodic review schedule and owners.
Exportable pack for risk committees.

9. Fairness & UDAAP Red-Team Harness

Synthetic probes for confusing/abusive language.
Targeted tests against vulnerable-consumer scenarios.
Clear-language rewrites and disclaimers injected contextually.
Scorecards with examples and remediation commits.
Monitors complaint themes for drift.
UDAAP mapping to test suites.

10. Identity & Scope Gate

KBA/OTP flows before revealing account data.
Scope checks (e.g., “not authorized third party”) mid-conversation.
Automatic topic narrowing for high-risk subjects.
Routing rules to human agents when risk threshold trips.
Leave-behind messages that avoid disclosing debt details.
Audit notes added to the account.

11. Evidence Mode (Audit Pack) — the game-changer

One click: export policies, prompts, model cards, training sources, change logs, attestation proofs, consent traces, disclosure audio, transcripts with redaction logs, cadence reports, and payment evidence.
Generates regulator-friendly indexes (by obligation, by campaign, by date).
Removes “treasure hunt” stress before audits and consent orders.
Reduces evidence prep from weeks to hours (in our experience).
Standardizes language across Legal, Risk, and Ops.
Produces both human-readable and machine-readable bundles.

12. Post-Market Monitoring & Incident Response

Drift, bias, and hallucination watch with warm-start prompts.
“Canary” campaigns before broad rollouts.
GLBA Safeguards Rule incident workflow & notification timers.
Root-cause analysis templates and corrective action plans.
Runbooks for hotfix vs rollback.
Quarterly control attestations for the risk committee.

A 90-day path to production (with owners, artifacts, and exit criteria)

Weeks 0–2: Discovery & design

Owners: Compliance, Risk, Ops, Legal, Product, IT/Telephony, Sei AI PM.
Artifacts: Use-case spec, legal basis matrix (purpose/consent), disclosure scripts by jurisdiction, cadence policy (collections), payment policy (PCI/Reg E), privacy notice plan.
Exit: Sign-off on regulatory map, success metrics, and Evidence Mode schema.

Weeks 3–5: Integration & trust

Owners: IT/Telecom, Security, CRM/CCaaS admins, Sei AI engineers.
Tasks: STIR/SHAKEN setup; caller ID registration; DNC/TPS sync; consent and suppression APIs; CRM/ticketing integration; payment rails (DTMF masking or pay-by-link); ACH validation.
Exit: Test calls with A-attestation, correct disclosures, live opt-out, PCI masking dry-runs, WEB debit validation passing.

Weeks 6–8: Pilot & guardrails

Owners: Ops, QA, Compliance, Sei AI.
Tasks: Limited cohort pilot; cadence guardrails (Reg F); UDAAP red-team; transcript sampling; fail-safes for escalation.
Exit: ≥90% disclosure compliance; ≤1% opt-out processing lag; cadence violations 0; payment evidence passing QA.

Weeks 9–12: Scale & evidence

Owners: Ops, Compliance, Risk, Sei AI.
Tasks: Expand segments; finalize Model Risk Pack; schedule Evidence Mode exports; rehearse incident drills (GLBA); publish FAQ for agents.
Exit: KPI targets met (see next section); Evidence Mode bundle reviewed by Legal; change-control cadence set.

We’ve seen teams hit full production in 8–12 weeks when owners are named and artifacts are created up front. (Yes, it’s achievable without heroics.)

Metrics that matter—and realistic expectations

You’ll see big claims in the market. Here’s how to frame outcomes credibly and tie them to controls:

Customer effort score (CES) & NPS. Expect lift when disclosures are smooth and answers are first-touch accurate. Sei’s site reports increases in NPS and significant handle-time reductions; your mileage depends on use case mix and routing rules.
Average Handle Time (AHT) / Containment. With self-service on predictable intents, 20–60% AHT reduction is realistic; hold yourself to intent-level scorecards (not just overall). Sei cites material reductions in handle time on core workflows.
Right-party contact (RPC). A-level attestation and branded calling improve answer rates; measure lift against your control groups.
Compliance exceptions per 1,000 calls. Track: missing disclosures, consent mismatches, cadence flags, UDAAP language hits, payment evidence gaps.
Evidence prep time. With Evidence Mode, aim for >80% reduction vs. manual hunts (internal benchmark—validate in your environment).
Complaint themes. Use complaint analysis as a live drift detector for UDAAP and fairness.

FAQ for Risk, Compliance, Security & IT

Q1. Can we use one consent for everything?

No. Consent is purpose-bound. Telemarketing, informational, and collections have different standards under TSR/TCPA (and PECR in the UK). Your orchestration should block cross-purpose reuse.

Q2. Do we need all-party consent everywhere for recording?

No. Most US states are one-party, but several require all-party. Handle disclosures by jurisdiction and store proof.

Q3. How do we avoid spam labeling and low answer rates?

Q4. How does Sei handle card payments over the phone?

We support DTMF masking and pause-resume so PAN never touches transcripts or LLM context, reducing PCI scope.

Q5. What about ACH authorizations captured by voice?

Use recorded oral authorization scripts and perform WEB debit account validation before first debit or account changes.

Q6. Are we “high-risk” under the EU AI Act?

It depends on the use case. Most contact center automations are not high-risk, but you may have transparency duties, and GPAI obligations kick in Aug 2025. Classify early and prepare technical documentation.

Q7. How do we document models for internal audit?

Follow SR 11-7/OCC 2011-12: model inventory, intended use, data, validation, monitoring, and change control. Sei’s Model Risk Pack mirrors these expectations.

Q8. What happens if there’s a security incident?

Your GLBA Safeguards program should define detection, assessment, and FTC notification within 30 days for incidents involving ≥500 consumers. Evidence Mode helps assemble what happened and where.

Q9. Can the agent make automated adverse decisions?

Avoid solely automated decisions that have legal/similar significant effects (GDPR/UK GDPR). Keep humans-in-the-loop and log rationale.

Q10. How do we keep UDAAP risk low?

Test for clarity, fee transparency, fair treatment of vulnerable consumers, and easy cancellations. Maintain a red-team suite and action findings within change control.

Buyer’s checklist: 20 questions to ask

any voice AI vendor

Show your consent & suppression logic for marketing vs informational vs collections calls.
How do you enforce TSR/TCPA disclosures and interactive opt-out?
What’s your STIR/SHAKEN attestation level on typical calls, and where are you registered?
How do you route recording disclosures by jurisdiction and store proof?
Can you prove Reg F cadence compliance at the debt/consumer level?
Show PCI controls: DTMF masking, pause-resume, redaction.
How do you handle ACH oral authorization and WEB debit validation?
Where do Article 13/14 notices appear, and how do you log them?
What’s in your Model Risk Pack (SR 11-7 alignment)?
Show your prompt change control and rollback process.
How do you prevent purpose drift in RAG?
What’s your breach response runbook (GLBA Safeguards Rule timing)?
What data minimization policies govern transcripts and embeddings?
Do you support branded calling and reputation monitoring?
How quickly can you generate an audit pack for a random call?
Where do human-in-the-loop decisions happen for high-impact outcomes?
How do you test for UDAAP risk and bias?
What’s your SOC 2 Type II status and data residency model?
How do you sandbox new prompts/models before release?
What’s your deprecation plan when regulations change?

Appendix: regulation-by-regulation cheat sheet (with links)

TCPA (47 CFR § 64.1200): Consent types, disclosures, opt-out; stricter for telemarketing; special rules for prerecorded/artificial voice.
Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR): DNC, robocall consent specifics, recorded authorizations for certain payments.
STIR/SHAKEN & Robocall Mitigation: Provider certifications and call authentication; aim for A attestation.
Call-recording consent (US states): One-party vs all-party; tailor disclosures.
FDCPA/Reg F: Cadence presumptions (e.g., 7 in 7); “limited-content” voicemail.
GLBA Safeguards Rule: Security program, vendor oversight, 30-day incident notice (≥500 consumers).
UDAAP: Avoid unfair/deceptive/abusive acts; transparency and cancellations often at issue.
Reg E/EFTA: Error resolution, EFT disclosures; coverage expands beyond banks in some flows.
NACHA Rules: Oral authorizations and WEB debit validation.
PCI DSS (telephone): DTMF masking; keep PAN out of recordings and AI context.
E-SIGN/UETA: Validity of e-records; prior hardware/software disclosures; affirmative consent.
GDPR/UK GDPR & PECR: Transparency (Art. 13/14), minimization, rights, and UK marketing call rules/TPS.
EU AI Act: Phased obligations (Feb 2025, Aug 2025, Aug 2026/27).
Model Risk (SR 11-7 / OCC 2011-12): Model inventory, validation, monitoring, and governance.

How Sei AI puts this into practice

Built for regulated finance. Models trained on UDAAP, FCRA, TILA, HMDA themes and enforcement actions; compliance-first guardrails; SOC 2 Type II program.
Products you can deploy now. Compliant AI chat & voice agents for inbound/outbound CX, collections, onboarding, and claims; QA & complaints analytics; underwriting/QC assistants.
Security and auditability. “100% auditability” ethos with per-call evidence; GDPR-ready posture and configurable data residency.

Putting it all together (and getting started)

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably juggling Legal’s risk matrix, Ops’ SLAs, and IT’s integration backlog. That’s normal. The way through is controls + evidence. Pick two or three high-leverage intents (ID&V, payment promises, due-date changes), run the 90-day plan, and let Evidence Mode shoulder the audit burden.

Sources & notes

We’ve cited primary sources for the most load-bearing claims (statutes, rules, regulator FAQs, and official timelines). Policies change; this post is current as of September 17, 2025. Always involve counsel for jurisdiction-specific interpretations.

TCPA/TSR: 47 CFR §64.1200; FTC TSR guidance.
STIR/SHAKEN & Robocall Mitigation: FCC guidance; attestation mechanics.
Call-recording consent (US states): 50-state overviews.
FDCPA/Reg F: CFPB guidance and FAQs.
GLBA Safeguards Rule: FTC brief and incident notice rule.
UDAAP: CFPB procedures/circulars.
Reg E/EFTA: CFPB FAQs & regulation.
NACHA: Oral authorization & WEB debit validation.
PCI DSS (telephone): PCI SSC guidance