How prepared are financial institutions for cyber attack? A new report from PYMTS states that less than half of all companies surveyed have the capacity to spot major cyber-attack within an hour and less than one-third are unable to suppress major cyber-attack within same time frame. Additionally, cyber treats continue to increase with the advent of Innovative technologies.

Also, a recent survey by ITPRO found that only a third of companies in the UK have financial strategy in place against a cyber attack. 65% of companies surveyed indicated a recovery period will be up to 6 months while 18% stated a recovery period of 1 year or more. Only 53% of the companies often discuss cyber security matters at board meetings. Cyber security should be discussed during executive meetings for adequate budgeting to reduce risk and ensure a prevention posture rather than recovery. Company executives may consider purchasing security insurance to stay afloat in the event of an attack.

Similarly, a new report from IBM states that humans are the weakest link in maintaining a poised cyber security infrastructure. The report found that employee errors are the reasons for 424% increase in cloud related cyberattacks in 2017. Errors ranging from improper handling of sensitive company data to phishing emails. Therefore, companies must put in place adequate education and security awareness to resolve cybersecurity ignorance amongst employees.

In addition, another report from MEDICI stated that financial institutions must continuously meet compliance requirements and provide customers with secure and innovative ways to access services. Therefore, financial institutions would need to automate network security management processes to ensure pro-activeness, steady compliance, and secure deployment of innovative products.

Crypto Jacking is on the rise

Crypto jacking is becoming an important concern to businesses. A recent Symantec report found 8,500% increase in crypto jacking cyberattacks in q4 of 2017. 24% of all the attacks focused on hijacking CPU power to mine cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Monero, mostly on mobiles, desktop systems and the cloud which has significant financial implications to companies. As cryptocurrencies become more popular; coin mining malware attacks continue to rise.

National Security Centre in the U.K. found 55 percent of businesses all over the world experienced crypto mining attacks in December 2017, a PYMNTS report states.

Similarly, the National Security Centre in the U.K. found 55 percent of businesses all over the world experienced crypto mining attacks in December 2017, a PYMNTS report states.In addition, a ZDNet report, highlighted new mode of attack. Hackers are putting malicious codes into ad platforms to mine cryptocurrencies.

The report found miner traffic from AOL ad with MSN informing computers to mine crypto currencies. Also, a new report from PYMNTS, highlighted blockchain-as-a service (BaaS) platform is being developed by a Chinese eCommerce company. The platform will provide developers with tools for a broad range of apps that supports multiple need areas such as tracking of supply chain data and insurance fraud prevention.

mWallet Adoption is rising

A recent finextra report stated that financial inclusion around the world is rising following the spiral use of mobile phones and internet. The report found 3.8 billion people around the world now owns a bank account while 1.7 billion adults around the world are still unbanked. Mobile Wallets provide a suitable solution for financial institutions to allow customers make payments for their expenses with greater ease. It provides a competitive advantage in customer acquisition and retention.

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FI’s can leverage the use of mWallets in ensuring awareness and availability of services especially in areas with no accessibility to financial services.Similarly, a new study by Juniper highlighted over 1.6 billion consumers worldwide use Mobile wallet at the end of 2017. The report also stated that a minimum of 2.1 billion consumers worldwide will use mWallet to make payments by 2019. A significant mWallet consideration for consumers is the availability of security offered by merchants. JETHRO’s jRealmPay – is an efficient mobile wallet solution for your enterprise.

Six Digital Growth Strategies

A recent mckinsey report highlighted six digital strategies banks can explore for future growth:

• Financial institutions must move beyond pertinent offerings by partnering with other companies to provide innovative services that delivers value across industries. For instance. Several banks are providing both banking and non-banking offerings like partnering with health insurance providers to deliver billing platforms for customer payments. FI’s should aim to deliver customer centric services that delivers values and at low cost.
• Should provide a combination of internal and third-party offerings on a single connected platform. This enable customers to easily access all available offerings at their convenience. “A supermarket approach can allow banks without a strong position in such areas to grow in these segments as a complement to their current offerings”.
• FI’s would need to deliver value at every stage of the customer journey. For instance, engaging with customers to advice on suitable options for retirement or loan. Customer engagement provides a platform for income generation.
• Several companies are now monetizing data. Financial institutions would need to utilize Business Intelligence and analytics to efficiently utilize its data for operations. Consequently, they would need to create new offerings from BI and AI results. JETHRO‘s jBI Suite is an efficient Business Intelligence solution for your enterprise.
• FI’s with remarkable back-end assets can deliver services to smaller banks or business via partnerships since several small banks might not have core banking assets and may not have the capacity to procure such assets. This will result in income generation and expansion. For instance, banks can assist retailers in processing their credit.
• By adopting digital platforms for the deployment of services, FI’s can swiftly penetrate a location or market to create awareness and deliver banking services. This result in cost reduction compared to setting up of branches and customer acquisition and retention. JETHRO’s jCollect is a field collection solution for your enterprise.