Consumer behavior have shown a dramatic shift toward a preference for seamless digital banking solutions. Many banking customers now want simple and reliable products and services from their banks and other financial institutions. If these customers cannot get what they want from their existing bank, they will look elsewhere. This has brought about a challenge for what would be considered “traditional banks” as they seek to combine their customers’ expectations with technology-enabled solutions while new Fintech startups are stepping up as formidable competitors.

Securing data and keeping it private is essential for many organizations and institutions, including banks or ministries, where data security and data privacy are critical. That security and privacy must always be assured and remain in control under the institution or organization.

Banks continue to feel the profound transformational effects that digital technologies have on their business. This can be seen in the creation and acceleration of new business activities, models, competencies, and processes. Like many other businesses, banks and other financial institutions must also embrace this digital transformation to remain competitive among their peers and to continue to grow. Adopting agile processes and new technologies will enable them to deliver services and experiences that their customers demand or do not even know that they need just yet.

Open banking can offer opportunities for retail banks that are faced with competition from newcomers to the banking and finance industry. For those unfamiliar with what open banking is, it can be best defined as “the use of open APIs that enable third-party developers (FinTech or non-banking service providers) to provide applications and services around the financial institution.” These services may be located between the customer and the bank, or placed in the bank’s bank-end.

The need for certain encryption technology features can vary from company to company, depending on their individual needs for securing their data. The recent Ponemon Institute survey, Global Encryption Trends Study, showed that some encryption features are considered more essential than others when considering an encryption solution, especially for strong key management purposes.

In response to changing and more dynamic market demands, banks and financial institutions are turning into financial service platforms. They increase the extent of their digital transformations across the hybrid cloud, guided by three motivating factors:

This article discusses the need for retail banks to continue moving forward with their digital transformation in the age of COVID-19 and explains why cryptography (when done right) can be a key enabler of a successful self-disruption process.

This article explores the concept of financial service platforms and aligns resulting business (process) goals with the necessary crypto architecture. We have a particular look at the integration of MS Dynamics and MS Azure, as it is a rapidly growing service extension platform for many banks.

Securely managing cryptographic keys is typically the most difficult part of encryption. In the recent Ponemon Institute survey, Global Encryption Trends Study, the following nine types of keys were identified as the most difficult to manage: