The “Compliance Hat” Mindset for Marketers with Kat Wong, Director of Marketing at Adro

In this episode of the COMPLY Podcast, I’m joined by Kat Wong, Director of Marketing at Adro, a fintech that helps international students and workers access essential banking products in the U.S. Kat shares how she bridges the gap between marketing and compliance, ensuring clear, trustworthy messaging without getting lost in legal jargon.

Drawing on her experience across industries—from major brands to fast-growing startups—Kat explains how understanding compliance isn’t just a legal team’s job. Instead, it’s a shared responsibility where marketers play a key role in translating complex regulatory requirements into accessible, consumer-friendly language.

We discuss:

• How compliance can empower marketing and other teams to think with a “compliance hat”
• How marketing can transform complex legal jargon into clear, compliant messaging to foster consumer trust
• Practical advice for marketers on building strong relationships with compliance teams

Show Notes

• Driving Marketing and Compliance Collaboration with Technology: https://performline.com/blog-post/driving-marketing-and-compliance-collaboration-with-technology/
• Connect with Kat: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwongtooyen/
• Connect with Rhonda: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhonda-mcgill/

Transcript

Rhonda:
Hey there, COMPLY Podcast listeners this is your host Rhonda McGill from PerformLine and I want to welcome you to this week’s episode. In this episode, I’m joined by Kat Wong, Director of Marketing at Adro, as she shares how marketers can put on their “compliance hats,” collaborate effectively with legal teams, and turn complex legal jargon into clear, accessible messaging to foster consumer trust and loyalty. Thanks for listening, and enjoy!

Rhonda:
Greetings to our COMPLY Podcast listeners, and thank you for joining us for this week’s episode. I would like to welcome Kat Wong, the Director of Marketing at Adro. Adro is a New York City FinTech that helps international students and workers in the U.S. access banking products as they transition to their new space in the U.S., making that process a little less stressful. Adro also sits at an important intersection between FinTech, banking, credit card offerings, and international affairs, such as immigration, visas, and international student education.

So, Kat, I’m sure you can definitely expand on what you do over there, but thank you for taking some time out of your day to join us for the COMPLY Podcast.

Kat:
Thank you so much for having me, Rhonda.

Rhonda:
Absolutely. So why don’t you introduce yourself, tell folks a little bit more about your background, and maybe fill in anything I may have missed about what you all are doing at Adro—because it’s really exciting. It’s way more exciting than I could describe.

Kat:
Sure. I’ve worked in marketing for the last 10 years across different industries—from advertising to sports and entertainment, media, and banking. So a very, very wide range. During that time, I’ve been fortunate to work with a lot of major brands like Chevrolet, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Toronto Raptors, as well as early-stage startups like Adro, which is the FinTech company I currently work for.

At Adro, we help newcomers moving to the U.S. open their first checking account and their first credit card. One of the really cool things we offer is that you can start opening your account right from your home country—before you even set foot on the plane. This means you can start spending and accessing your money as soon as you land in the U.S.

For anyone who has ever moved to a new country, think back to the anxiety you might have felt, wondering, “Will my bank card work? Will my credit card work when I get to the airport? Can I rent a car? Can I book a hotel room?” We aim to reduce some of that anxiety.

Going back to my previous experience, as I mentioned, I’ve worked with a lot of different brands, and regardless of the industry, legal and compliance disclaimers are a constant—there’s really no avoiding them. As a marketing leader, if you can establish strong working relationships with the compliance and legal teams in-house, and use tools like PerformLine to streamline the approval process, it can make your day-to-day a lot smoother.

Rhonda:
Absolutely. And that’s what we aim to do. So tell us a little bit about some of the aspects of your work that you find most compelling. I’m sure there are many.

Kat:
Honestly, one of the most compelling aspects is what we’re building at Adro. I’m based in Toronto, Canada, but I spent about six to seven months living in Norway. That experience taught me just how stressful it can be to move to a new country—figuring out where you’re going to live, where you’ll get groceries, but most importantly, how you’ll access your funds.

For me, working at Adro is about making sure that, especially for international students who are opening their first account, everything is clear, easy to understand, and accessible.

Rhonda:
That’s great. Do you mostly work with students, or do you also work with professionals coming to the U.S. for jobs?

Kat:
We launched in mid-2024, initially focusing on international students. Since then, we’ve expanded to support international workers as well. Basically, if you’re on one of the 75+ U.S. visas, we can help you set up your first checking account and credit card in the U.S.

Rhonda:
Wow, that’s interesting. So, how do people even find out that you exist? I mean, as the Director of Marketing, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of ways, but communicating that to so many different countries has to be quite the undertaking.

Kat:
It really is. What’s helped is working with organizations, nonprofits, and community groups that support newcomers to the U.S. University offices also have resources specifically for international students. These groups have been incredibly supportive of what we’re building, providing valuable feedback as we plan our product roadmap.

Rhonda:
That’s great. So, challenges—I always love to talk a little bit about challenges. You’re on the marketing side, and I know you probably work very closely with your compliance folks because of all the different disclaimers and disclosures. What do you see as some of the biggest challenges you face as a marketing person trying to work within that realm of compliance?

Kat:
Absolutely. I’ve worked with a lot of compliance teams over the years, and they are some of the smartest people. They have fantastic attention to detail, and I think they do an amazing job of protecting marketers—making sure we don’t say anything we shouldn’t or accidentally mislead consumers. That’s so important.

But one of the biggest challenges is that compliance professionals are very comfortable with legal language and industry jargon. Sometimes, they may forget that the average consumer who doesn’t work in that industry won’t necessarily understand that type of language.

This is where I think marketing and compliance can really work together. Compliance knows the regulations and the fine print inside and out, while marketing’s role is to translate that for consumers. Our job is to ensure that when consumers land on a homepage and see a paragraph of disclaimer text—like one accompanying an interest rate, for example—they can actually understand it in a way that is clear, relatable, and approachable.

So, I think that’s one of the biggest challenges we face: balancing legal accuracy with consumer understanding.

Rhonda:
I completely agree with you—one hundred percent. I actually have a compliance background, but now working in marketing, I’m always trying to find ways to simplify things and really make them digestible. It’s always a huge challenge, but it’s also what I love about marketing. It really pushes you to think things through, asking, “How would you say this so the average user gets it?”

Kat:
Exactly. It’s a bit of a balance. On one hand, from a compliance perspective, you want to make sure you’ve covered all the angles that the company is protected, and that there’s as little risk as possible. But from a marketing perspective, you have to acknowledge that if you put a 10-page document full of legal scenarios on your homepage, you’ll scare away every single customer. They’re going to take one look and leave, never coming back.

Rhonda:
Well, yes. No, I totally agree with you there. So, what advice would you give to companies? And I’m asking because you work so closely with your compliance team. What are some of the biggest pieces of advice you would give for creating a successful compliance program, especially when it intersects with marketing?

Kat:
Yeah, that’s a really good question. I think, in terms of having a successful compliance program, it starts with getting everyone in the company to buy into the idea and understand that compliance should be part of their role—even if they don’t have “compliance officer” in their job title or aren’t officially part of the compliance department.

Compliance isn’t just something that falls on the compliance team to enforce or look out for. The best compliance teams I’ve worked with spend a lot of time educating different functions around the company on how compliance applies to their day-to-day work.

For example, I work in marketing. The compliance team should be working with me to say, “Hey, here are the most common things you should be aware of to ensure we’re getting our message out clearly while also following all the relevant regulatory guidelines.” The same goes for people in QA and testing, software development, product management—every role is equally important.

A successful compliance program should account for the fact that every person has a slightly different perspective. If everyone can “wear their compliance hat” as part of their day-to-day tasks, the program will be much stronger as a result.

Rhonda:
That’s a great answer. So, what tools and software do you use to make sure things keep flowing smoothly?

Kat:
I won’t mention specific programs, but I can talk about them in general. I work fully remotely, so tools like Slack or Teams are super important for quick communication. If you’re trying to get approval and alignment between marketing and compliance, doing it through email can be difficult—it’s so easy to misinterpret tone or miss key points.

I find it’s much easier to jump on a quick huddle, have a real-time conversation, and just hash things out. It’s also a good reminder that you’re working with a human on the other end. It’s not about marketing versus compliance—it’s marketing and compliance working together to get the message across.

Another essential tool is some sort of ticketing system. Marketing and compliance often have multiple projects running concurrently, and neither side wants to be the blocker that prevents something from launching. A ticketing system makes it easier to track progress and ensure nothing falls through the cracks. I always believe in over-communicating rather than under-communicating, and a ticketing system helps with that.

Rhonda:
That’s great. So, is there anything you’d like to share with our audience about some of the things you are working on at Adro that you think are really cool? Any new launches or exciting things we should hear about?

Kat:
Absolutely. As I mentioned earlier, Adro is focused on helping newcomers moving to the U.S. open their first checking account and credit card. But something we’re working on right now—and will be launching very soon—is our business accounts.

If you’re a business owner in another country—say, India, China, or the UK—and you want to open a U.S. account because you pay suppliers in U.S. dollars or receive earnings in U.S. dollars, you’ll now be able to open a deposit-insured U.S. account with us. This can help you avoid the hassle of currency conversions between USD and your home country’s currency and hopefully save on conversion fees.

Rhonda:
How exciting! You guys are doing some really great things over there. I was a fan from the moment I saw your first YouTube video—you were out in a park, talking to different folks, and I thought, “Oh my gosh, this is really exciting.”

So thank you so much for giving us the inside scoop on what’s coming from Adro. For our last question, we always love to ask all of our guests: What is your superpower? Your secret superpower? What’s something you’re just really, really good at that you’d like to share with folks?

Kat:
My secret superpower? I’m able to read really quickly, which is super helpful in a role like this—especially in marketing, where you have to parse through a lot of text.

For example, I think the biggest Harry Potter book—Book 5, if I remember correctly—is the longest one, and I read that in about two, two and a half hours.

Rhonda:
Wow! That’s amazing.

Kat:
Yeah, it’s one of those things that has come in handy over the years. It was really helpful back in university when I had to study and cram for exams, and it’s still helpful now in the real world.

Rhonda:
And you’re absorbing everything you’re reading?

Kat:
Yes.

Rhonda:
Oh my gosh. Amazing.

Kat:
One final thing I wanted to quickly mention, just to share with the podcast listeners—if that’s okay—is a bit of advice for new marketers joining a company for the first time.

It’s common to introduce yourself to your marketing team, maybe go out for coffee with them. But I also recommend doing the same with your legal and compliance teams—especially before you make your first marketing request or start flinging tickets over the fence.

In your first few days or your first week, take the time to go ask your compliance people out for coffee, get a face to the name. It can make your job a whole lot easier when you’re starting a new role as a marketer. Building a positive relationship with your compliance and legal teams right from the start can save you a lot of headaches.

Rhonda:
That is excellent advice. I think people definitely need to do that more often because it’s so easy to get stuck in your silo. And it’s important to crisscross—especially with the folks you’ll be working with the most and asking the most questions from.

Like you said, compliance and legal folks are probably the smartest people around, and they really understand the potential risks. Building that relationship is critical.

Kat:
Absolutely.

Rhonda:
Awesome. Well, Kat, I want to thank you so much. It has been such a pleasure to have you with us today.

Thank you for sharing a bit about what you all are doing, who you are, and your background. I think it’s always helpful for our listeners to know that folks come from so many different backgrounds and have so many different lived experiences.

It’s always a pleasure to have folks like yourself join the COMPLY Podcast. Thank you so much for your time today.

Kat:
Thanks for having me.

Rhonda:
Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of the COMPLY Podcast! As always for the latest content on all things marketing compliance you can head to performline.com/resources. And for the most up-to-date pieces of industry news, events, and content be sure to follow PerformLine on LinkedIn. Thanks again for listening and we’ll see you next time!