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Showing posts with label financial Sector. Show all posts
Showing posts with label financial Sector. Show all posts

Wednesday, 15 April 2020

07:41

How Financial Organisations can Improve Cybersecurity

How Financial Organisations can Improve Cybersecurity
How Financial Organisations can Improve Cybersecurity
BFSI sector, NCIIPC
The financial industry experiences 35 percent of all data breaches. It houses high-value data and assets that are attractive to attackers for obvious reasons. The US National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) divide financial institutions into four levels of cybersecurity maturity. 
Partial: At this level the organisation cybersecurity risk management practices aren’t formalized and risk is managed
in an ad hoc (and sometimes reactive) manner.
Informed: This maturity level is characterized by institutions where management has approved risk management
practices, but these practices are not established as policy across the organization.
Repeatable: At this maturity level, an organization’s risk management practices are formally approved and expressed
as policy.
Adaptive: At this highest maturity level, organizations adapt cybersecurity practices “based on lessons learned and
predictive indicators derived from previous and current cybersecurity activities.”
Forbes advises financial institutions to apply some thought to three different steps to verify greater data security and minimize
legal exposure. Firstly, they ought to draft internal policies, procedures and contractual provisions associated with the
investigation, and remediation and reporting of breaches. Next, institutions should obtain appropriate insurance sum for various
varieties of cyber risks and consider the adequacy of existing insurance programs. Not only will this help to mitigate risk if an
institution is successfully attacked, but organizations may end up proactively improving their cybersecurity environments
because it is the easiest way to increase coverage or lower their premiums. Finally, financial institutions should seek out thirdparty cybersecurity partners that will help them manage their security environments and forestall data breaches
References:
[1] https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2020/01/how-financialservices-firms-can-improve-cybersecurity

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Sunday, 19 March 2017

11:34

Chained Finance:BlockChain

Chained Finance:BlockChain

Chinese online lender Dianrong and iPhone manufacturer FnConn this week announced the launch of Chained Finance, the first-ever blockchain platform for supply chain finance. 
The new platform leverages advanced financial technology to meet the hugely underserved needs of supply chain finance in China.
Supply chain finance companies have been limited by existing technology and, to date, have only served about 15 percent of suppliers needing financial resources.  As a result, the vast majority of the 40 million SMEs in China remain unserved.  Chained Finance enables supply chain finance to deliver needed capital to smaller supply chain suppliers and provide large multinational manufacturers with enhanced visibility and transparency.
The two companies recently completed a successful pilot and proof of concept of Chained Finance by securing funding for small and medium enterprises in China that were otherwise unable to secure needed capital.  Chained Finance originated US$6.5 million in loans for these SME supply chain operators.
Chained Finance is initially targeting three major industries: electronics, auto and garment manufacturing.  It is expected that Chained Finance could help supply chain finance operators potentially triple the number of SME supply chain operators with access to funding in China.
“Blockchain is revolutionizing the finance industry and offers seamless solutions to any company operating and financing complicated supply chains,”
said Soul Htite, Founder and CEO of Dianrong.
“The complexity and scale of supply chain finance has posed major challenges in ensuring adequate funding and efficient operations.  Chained Finance creates a unique ecosystem that will provide supply chains with easier access to funding at competitive rates.”
This notable use for blockchain could have global significance, for example in the construction sector where subcontractor chains are notoriously long.

Source:NextMoney



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Wednesday, 15 February 2017

16:34

PayPal takes aim at banks with new acquisition

PayPal takes aim at banks with new acquisition

PayPal and TIO Networks announced today that PayPal would be acquiring TIO for $233 million. With this acquisition, PayPal accesses TIO’s 14 million customer accounts, and a network of agents, including Global Express, ACE Cash Express, and Moneygram.

TIO is a bill-payment processing service for those who don’t necessarily use bank accounts for their financial transactions. With its API, you can pay your utility and telecom bills from your phone, computer, or a self-service kiosk without having to go through a bank.

Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal, said:

Worldwide, more than 2 billion people do not have affordable access to basic financial services, making it difficult and expensive for consumers to carry out basic financial tasks, including bill payment. TIO’s digital platform, and physical network of agent locations make paying bills simpler, faster, and more affordable.

Could PayPal be making a move into the self-service world?

The company already has a cash-card based system that lets you add cash directly into your account. Partnering with TIO would be the next step to move your cash directly from your hand to your bill collector’s.

The acquisition is expected to close some time later this year.

via TechCrunch

Source:TheNextweb
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Thursday, 29 September 2016

07:29

Digital Banking

Digital Banking

‘We need banking but we don’t need banks anymore. Digital technology provides a low-cost way for people in developing countries to send money to each other, buy and sell goods, borrow and save as long as the financial-regulation environment is supportive.’

Bill Gates
Introduction
Financial Inclusion is considered to be the core objective of many developing countries since last decade as many research findings correlate the direct link between financial exclusion and the poverty prevailing in developing nations. According to World Bank report ‘Financial inclusion, or broad access to financial services, is defined as an absence of price or non price barriers in the use of financial services’. The term Financial Inclusion needs to be interpreted in a relative dimension. Depending on the stage of development, the degree of financial inclusion differs among countries. It has been a surprising fact that India ranks second in the world in terms of financially excluded households after China. For the inclusive growth process of economy the Reserve Bank and Government have provided high importance to the financial inclusion.

Financial inclusion or inclusive financing is the delivery of financial services, at affordable costs, to sections of disadvantaged and low income segments of society. There have been many formidable challenges in financial inclusion area such as bringing the gap between the sections of society that are financially excluded within the ambit of the formal financial system, providing financial literacy and strengthening credit delivery mechanisms so as to improvise the financial economic growth.

Thus the term ‘Financial Inclusion’ can be defined as the process of ensuring access to financial services, timely, and adequate credit where needed by vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low income groups at an affordable cost.

This provision of access to banking services to nearly 47 percent of the reportedly unbanked population in India has the potential to unfold huge growth opportunities for financial services players. In this context, digital platforms are likely to deliver financial services to both the unbanked and the underbanked population, especially in rural / remote regions, at a low cost, and subsequently increase digital financial access to provide high quality, affordable financial services. By using digital channels, transaction costs could be lower than those incurred through traditional channels by as much as 90 percent, thereby bringing down break-even costs.

Though digital banking is in its nascent stage, demand side drivers indicate that suppliers of financial services are lagging in creating digital value propositions. Digital banking is likely to provide huge impetus to financial inclusion.

Mobile phones affect the lives of billions of people around the globe, including the poor. The changing mobile technology has revealed opportunities and allowed nearly three billion people without bank accounts to access financial services.

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Sunday, 6 March 2016

07:47

SWIFT financial messaging service launched in India

SWIFT financial messaging service launched in India

Financial messaging services provider SWIFT launched its services in India on Thursday, bringing with it a unified messaging protocol that can link banks, financial intermediaries, regulators, and stock exchanges and clearing agencies through one suit that can secure transactions by keeping records in a dematerialised form.

While the services do not facilitate transactions per se, it generates encrypted messages for every transactions made, thereby minimising chances of fraud and easy reconciliation of accounts.

Newly formed Bandhan Bank, IDFC Bank and Tata Consultancy Services were among 13 clients which signed up for the services on the first day.
fi
SWIFT India is a joint venture between SWIFT SCRL and nine Indian banks — State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Union Bank of India. The entity will be regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the data centre will be located in India, which is a departure from SWIFT’s usual practice.

Under the conditions laid down by RBI, SWIFT would be ready to share data with the regulator, but will not do so as a practice, said Alain Raes, chief executive EMEA and Asia Pacific, SWIFT.

RBI has opted to be in the Euro Zone grouping as the group has stricter data sharing norms. Since the data centre will be located in India, SWIFT will not oblige any country seeking transaction data of Indian banks but will have to approach RBI first.

SWIFT works in over 200 countries, and has clients in 10,800 banks, securities institutions and corporate customers. About 90 per cent of the transactions generate in the domestic market of the operation.


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Saturday, 20 February 2016

05:48

Citigroup to exit retail banking in Brazil, Argentina

Citigroup to exit retail banking in Brazil, Argentina

Citigroup Inc (C.N) said it plans to exit its retail banking and credit card operations in Brazil, Argentina and Colombia as part of its efforts to cut costs and boost profitability.

Shares of the bank, which has operated in Argentina and Brazil for more than a century, were down 1.3 percent at $38.40 in early trading on Friday.

The U.S. bank, built with a series of acquisitions dating back to the 1980s, has been trying to slim down since the financial crisis to be as profitable as its rivals.

Barely six months into his tenure as the chief executive, Michael Corbat counted at least 21 markets with exceptionally low returns on assets and substandard operating efficiency as candidates for restructuring.

The Wall Street bank, like its peers, has had to resort to aggressive cost controls as near-zero interest rates, a slump in oil prices and investor cautiousness due to worries about slowing growth in China have hurt its revenue growth.

Citi's consumer business accounts for about half of the company and is heavily weighted towards U.S. credit cards.

Citi executives have been paring the company's international consumer banking operations since at least 2012.

Brazil accounted for about 9 percent of total consumer loans in Latin America at the end of 2015, while Mexico accounted for about 80 percent.

Citigroup has always struggled to compete with bigger Brazilian banks in the retail business, but things got worse in 2013 when the U.S. bank sold its profitable credit-card unit Credicard SA.

"We have decided to focus our efforts on opportunities with our institutional clients in these countries and throughout the wider region," Corbat said.

The businesses being sold are a part of its consumer banking operations and will be transferred to Citi Holdings. They will report financial results as part of Citi Holdings from the first quarter, the bank said.

Citi Holdings is the division that holds all non-core assets that the bank is winding down or selling.

By shifting the Latin American businesses to the Citi Holdings run-off portfolio, Corbat will move closer to his target even before the units are sold or closed.

At the end of the fourth quarter, Citi Holdings had $74 billion in assets, 43 percent lower than a year earlier, and represented about 4 percent of total Citigroup assets.

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Sunday, 14 February 2016

08:22

RBI asks banks to submit proforma Ind AS financial statements from September

RBI asks banks to submit proforma Ind AS financial statements from September

In a clear pointer to RBI wanting banks to go the IFRS way, the central bank has issued new directives on the implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) converged Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) by banks.

Banks have been asked to submit proforma Ind AS financial statements to the RBI from the half-year ended September 30, 2016, onwards.

The implementation of Ind AS is expected to significantly impact the financial position of banks, including the adequacy of capital, taking into account Basel-III capital requirements. Banks have now been advised to place quarterly progress reports before their boards.

Also, each bank will now be required to set up a steering committee — headed by an executive director — comprising members from cross-functional areas of the bank to immediately initiate the implementation process.
The RBI also wants the audit committee of the bank's board to oversee the projects of the Ind AS implementation process.

IND AS ROADMAP
According to the roadmap announced by the Government, banks have to comply with Ind AS for financial statements for the accounting periods beginning from April 1, 2018.

Ind AS will be applicable to both standalone as well as consolidated financial statements.
Banks are permitted to adopt Ind AS only as per the specified timelines and not earlier.

EXPERT TAKE
Commenting on the latest RBI directives, Charanjit Attra, Partner in member firm of EY Global, said this was definitely a positive move.

"The banking regulator wants banks to gear up for IFRS converged Ind AS and enable them to become internationally competitive," he said.
Attra, however, noted that the short time period available for providing proforma financial statements may turn out to be a challenge for banks.

Indian banks are at varying stages of preparedness when it came to adoption of Ind AS. "Low-to-medium level" is how Attra described the state of preparedness.
Some private sector banks have reached out to consultants to enable them to migrate to Ind AS, while public sector banks have so far preferred to go slow on this front.
Sai Venkateshwaran, Partner and Head of Accounting Advisory Services, KPMG in India, said that RBI has now gone into detail as to how banks will need to approach the adoption of Ind AS.
"RBI has now set out its expectations. The central bank wants to use the two year window to firm its final approach on issues like capital adequacy, provisioning for loan loss under Ind AS framework", Venkateshwaran said.
Requiring proforma financial statements would ensure that RBI is not caught napping when the April 2018 implementation date becomes a reality for banks, he noted.
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Wednesday, 21 October 2015

08:24

Payments bank: DoP pilot project likely to start in January

Payments bank: DoP pilot project likely to start in January

The Department of Posts ( DoP) is likely to start pilot project of its payments bank services in January at select location including Bihar.

"The pilot project of payment bank is likely to start in January. The Department of Posts has informed minister (Ravi Shankar Prasad) about tentative dates," a source told PTI.

The Reserve Bank of India has granted payment bank permit to the Indian postal department, which has 1.55 lakh branches across country and already provides financial services.

The Department has approached Public Investment Board for approval of Rs 292 crore fund that will be required for starting operations of payment bank.

"After approval from PIB, it will be placed before the Cabinet which is very likely to be in November," the source said.

The Department has shortlisted six consultants including McKinsey, KPMG, Ernst and Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers to advice it on setting up of payment banks.

"The tender to appoint consultant for the project will be closed in a week. The consultant will then prepare entire roadmap for rolling out payment bank," the source said.
World Bank, State Bank of India, leading corporate houses in telecom space have shown interest in partnering with the postal department for its payment bank services, the source added.

"There will be around 600 branches of Payment Bank that will be set up initially. This will include 50 branches in Bihar," the source said.

The postal department computerised about 25,000 of its departmental post offices but rural post offices will be provided handheld devices for digitalising records.

The handheld devices will also be rolled out soon which will be used initially to facilitate e-commerce transactions in rural areas and later extended for payment bank services, the source said.

Source:BankingUpdates.
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Saturday, 3 October 2015

08:20

Dangerous resurgent banking malware hits UK

Dangerous resurgent banking malware hits UK

The formidable Dyreza and Dridex banking malware are back in renewed and rejigged macro-based campaigns that includes a shift by the former to target industrial supply chain organisations and by the latter to smash the UK.

Both malware instances are dangerous. Dyreza is a powerful man-in-the-browser bank trojan whose creators have been shifting to target outside of the financial sector.

The authors over time have added targets like the recruitment sector, cyberlockers, domain registrars, and tax services.

Now big ticket industrial supply chain entities have become the latest arrows in Dyreza's quiver.

"As of 17 September Dyreza now counts an additional 20 organisations directly involved in fulfillment and warehousing including four software companies and five wholesale computer distributors," Proofpoint researchers say.

"Credential theft triggers include Apple, Iron Mountain, OtterBox and Badge Graphics Systems, and many other well-known consumer- and business- facing technology and service brands.

"The specific changes observed represent a clear and deliberate strategy on the part of attackers to target a new industry, at all points across the supply chain."

Attackers gain "immense" power to empty bank accounts and even divert physical shipments, researchers say.

They say it buries the notion that man-in-the-browser attacks target only banks.

The attackers use Word macros to compromise phished users in what is an old-attack vector that has gained latent popularity. The Upatre payload downlods Dyreza which then downloads spam botnet compentry.

Dridex also uses the old school cool macro attack vector having resurfaced after a two-month siesta when one of its authors was in August reportedly arrested in Moldova.

PaloAlto bods Brandon Levene and Rob Downs say the phishing emails are again the choice no-brainer method of infection.

"Dridex re-entered the threat landscape with a major e-mail phishing campaign," the pair says.

"Our analysis revealed that this return of Dridex is heavily targeted at the United Kingdom."

They say the resurgence of Dridex means the arrest of actors will not be the end of the malware as long as the organisation behind it remains viable

 Source :http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/10/02/dangerous_resurgent_banking_malware_hits_uk/
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Sunday, 6 September 2015

17:22

Authentication Advances May Finally Kill Passwords and PINs

Authentication Advances May Finally Kill Passwords and PINs

More than two decades since a New Yorker cartoon joked that "on the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog," banks are finally replacing old and not-so-reliable methods of authenticating customers — passwords and security questions — with sophisticated alternatives.

Voice biometrics, fingerprint detection, facial recognition and device ID are graduating from the pilot phase to wider deployment at a handful of financial institutions. And more innovative methods, including authentication based on smartphone activity, are being tested in university research labs. If successful, these technologies could deliver the combination of security and convenience that has eluded banks in their struggle to verify user identities and keep out impostors without hassling true customers.

The shift to next-gen authentication methods has been made possible by the convergence of several trends. One is the ubiquity of smartphones with high-quality microphones and cameras that make voice and facial recognition easy, and the availability of Apple's Touch ID fingerprint reader on iPhones for finger scanning.

Public awareness of data breaches and fraud issues has made consumers more willing to provide fingerprints, voiceprints and selfies to secure their financial information. And while financial institutions are driven by the need to make their growing volume of mobile and online transactions secure and convenient, they're also being pushed by a newer, related dynamic: their call centers are swamped with requests from consumers who want to reset lost, stolen or compromised passwords.

"The Target data breach generated more calls than we'd like to have taken in the call center," said Casey Royer, the enterprise voice solutions director at USAA, the poster child for biometrics technology in the U.S. financial services industry. "When we're not planning those calls, it's hard. We need to start barring the doors so we're more secure. We're hoping this [technology] matures so incidents become nonevents."

The Options

One authentication technology banks are starting to deploy is voice recognition.

"Voice recognition has the right combination of characteristics that are unique to the individual," said Dominic Venturo, chief innovation officer at U.S. Bank in Minneapolis. "The voice is easy to use and every mobile phone has the ability to hear a voice." The $404 billion-asset bank has been testing voice biometrics and aims to make it more widely available this year.

According to Opus Research, 41% of all global voice biometrics installations are implemented by financial institutions. Barclays, Santander, Tangerine, Wells Fargo, USAA and ING Netherlands are among those that have adopted this technology.

The quality of smartphones' built-in microphones is high enough to achieve accuracy rates above 90%, according to Brett Beranek, director of product strategy for voice biometrics at Nuance Communications. Barclays' wealth management unit, for instance, says it's achieved a 95% accuracy rate on its use of voice recognition in its call centers.

Fingerprint recognition is another option, one that Apple brought to the forefront by including Touch ID on iPhones and making it part of Apple Pay. First Internet Bank of Indiana, Canada's Tangerine Bank, American Express, Discover and USAA are among those using it to let customers log into mobile banking with the press of a finger.

"There is certainly a strong case for fingerprint and voice," in banking today, Venturo said.

Source:http://www.americanbanker.com/news/bank-technology/authentication-advances-may-finally-kill-passwords-and-pins-1074298-1.html
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Sunday, 30 August 2015

13:24

State Bank of India not averse to fund startups


State Bank of India not averse to fund startups 

MUMBAI: The country's largest lender State Bank of India is keen to play a part in the flourishing startup scene, and is open to invest in a financial sector company which can help in its operations, a senior official has said. 

"We are open to engage with start-ups...this will be a strategic one wherein we can invest in a financial sector company which could help us," a senior bank official said over the weekend. 

The bank has neither invested in any startup yet, nor in talks with any, the official added. 

When asked if it is looking at creating a dedicated fund within the bank, as many corporates have done, the official replied in the negative. 

"Funds are not a problem. If we get the right fit, there are various avenues through which we can invest," the official said, adding one such vehicle might be doing it through the Oman India Joint Investment Fund. 

Last week, a media report said chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya had a meeting with start-ups in Bengaluru in which new companies from the financial services sector presented their potentially disruptive solutions. 

he RBI decision to increase the cash-out limits at the POS terminals in rural areas is a welcome move, the official said, adding 1.06 lakh of its P0S machines have the capability to act as micro-ATM which can help the merchants with their cash management. 

Over a three-year period, the bank is planning to increase its P0S machines to 1 million, which will make it the largest in the P0S network in the country, the official said. 


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