The daily flood of letters, dusty piles of files and impenetrable document jungle are a thing of the past! The digital transformation and modernization of finance have begun, and that pleases not only employees and customers, but is also good for the environment. Especially when it comes to highly sensitive data and finances, the security aspect must not be disregarded under any circumstances: compliance, data protection and data security have a particularly high priority in the financial industry. We explain how the balancing act between digitization and data security can be achieved.
CONCESSION TO THE DIGITAL NATIVES
Digitalization offers various new opportunities for the financial sector: More communication channels, faster contact with customers, fewer mountains of paperwork, automation of processes, and much more. But as technology advances, so do customer expectations. As far as possible, services should be available around the clock and everywhere, regardless of time and place. Customers want to do their banking on the go, take care of insurance matters from their sofa, and no longer have to run to the post office for every little thing like a change of address. Digital natives in particular expect their financial service providers to provide a service that is fully in line with the digital time: contactless payment via smartphone and smartwatch, online banking, management and communication via app. And all of this, if possible, without account management fees or other fixed costs. Quite impossible for companies that – to put it bluntly – are still positioned technically and in terms of personnel as they were before the invention of the smartphone.
In concrete terms, companies in the financial sector would have to streamline the processing operations involving workers in favor of a digital infrastructure – on the one hand, in order to meet these expectations. On the other hand, however, to be able to work more efficiently again. This is because the focus can be directed more towards advising and supporting customers and less towards administrative activities.
SPECIAL CHALLENGES FOR THE FINANCIAL INDUSTRY: CYBERSECURITY AND DATA PROTECTION
However, with all the convenience for customers and less administrative work for the companies themselves, it is important not to forget: we are talking here about personal and – identifying information – highly sensitive data. In the area of security, the financial sector must therefore primarily address the four challenges of data privacy (legal), data protection (technical), authentication, and IT and data security. Cybersecurity. The greater the reliance on IT systems, the greater the risk of falling victim to a cyberattack. The smallest security vulnerability is a lure for criminals, and the damage might be enormous – not only for the customers and the affected company. Uncovered data breaches can, under certain circumstances, lead to a loss of trust that calls into question the digitalization of the entire financial industry.
In addition, the industry is becoming increasingly regulated. As recently as May of this year, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA issued a mandatory reporting requirement for cyberattacks – as a direct consequence of the increase in attacks since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
So, even more than anything else, the transformation agenda for financial service providers should include addressing the issues of IT security, data protection, data security and compliance in time and in detail, as well as consolidating internal processes and responsibilities. This is because, in addition to technical tools, organizational measures such as employee training and awareness or a regularly conducted cyber risk assessment are becoming increasingly important. Only with the right technical equipment is digitalization only half done.
We support you in an advisory capacity as well as in the execution of your digital transformation. Thanks to our many years of experience with customers in the financial sector and with FINMA regulations, we can guide your company safely through this minefield of risks and rules. Dinotronic also specializes in information security and data protection as well as modern solutions from the public cloud. Feel free to contact us, we will advise and accompany you in your digitalization.
