Banking on Security
Enabling mobile banking while keeping customers’ safe
Mobile has changed everything we do—from how we read a book, get a ride to the airport or buy clothes. With so many mobile services available on-demand, we are increasingly glued to our smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. In 2015 alone, users spent at least three hours of day on mobile devices—up 300% from an hour a day in 2010. Read another way, you could also say that mobile users were exposed to about 300 times the risk compared to just five years before, as criminals increasingly target mobile vulnerabilities.
Customers are trusting banks to keep up with mobile security requirements
The shift to mobile, and the need for robust, mobile-optimized security, is affecting many industries. But it is especially impacting financial services providers, with more and more sensitive banking activities happening on mobile devices. According to a study by the Pew Research Center, 32% of U.S. adults bank using mobile devices. While financial services firms continue to invest in mobile technologies to address changing customer expectations and behaviors, investing in mobile security measures is of equal, if not greater, importance.
Even as banks double down on security, the number of identity theft cases and data breaches is growing. Millions of Americans are victims of identity theft each year—in 2014, nearly 18 million of us had our credit cards or bank accounts breached. Increasingly-sophisticated cybercriminals and attacks are costing consumers over $100 billion a year, and can do immense damage to customers’ and banks’ reputations. The sensitive nature of financial data means a breach can quickly lead to the erosion of trust in a banking relationship. As a result, financial services providers are looking for solutions that reduce risk and ensure customer data is protected, no matter what device a customer is using.
| Data breaches are so commonplace these days that it’s no longer surprising news. Tens of millions of names, social security numbers and credit card accounts have been compromised in a number of high-profile data breaches affecting major insurance companies, retailers and more in recent years. These data breaches can be expensive: aftermath from these events can cost companies hundreds of millions of dollars resulting from lawsuits filed for negligence, providing customers with identify fraud protection or reimbursing customers for fraudulent charges. An additional sting: these data breaches often damage the relationship between customers and companies. Given what’s at stake, it’s no wonder banks are investing millions of dollars in cybersecurity initiatives. |
Leveraging the cloud to support today’s mobile and security demands
Meeting customer demands for flexibility and the latest mobile capabilities, while ensuring end-to-end security, is no small feat. Increasingly, innovative banks are turning to cloud solutions to deliver on both of these requirements.
Considering the complexity and scope of regulations in the financial services industry, it’s understandable that some financial services organizations are hesitant to fully embrace the cloud. Banks must ensure privacy, retain data ownership and control, meet data sovereignty standards, and fulfill a bevy of other, similar requirements. Not every cloud provider can meet these needs.
Security and compliance are embedded into the development of Azure
Microsoft has partnered with many of the world’s largest financial services providers to build out cloud platforms that have the security, privacy, compliance and transparency required for the financial services industry. By maintaining an open line of communication with our financial services partners, we stay up-to-date on the latest threats and are constantly working to bolster our cloud offering in response.
Financial services providers can rest assured with Microsoft’s unmatched experience in running online services, and they can be confident that Microsoft Azure will meet higher levels of security, privacy and compliance than most could achieve on their own.
To help organizations comply with national, regional, and industry-specific requirements governing the collection and use of individuals’ data, Microsoft offers the most comprehensive set of compliance certifications across international and industry-specific standards than any other cloud provider to date. Read more about Azure’s commitment to security and privacy.
Get started
Keeping up with new business demands requires agility and flexibility. Learn how you can modernize your datacenter in order to reduce costs and complexity with the power of hybrid cloud capabilities from Microsoft Azure.
Want to learn more? Download ‘Microsoft’s Perspective on the Digital Bank‘
