Banks say Cyber Security is Biggest Threat to Innovation

A vast percentage of the largest financial institutions and banks in the world have labelled cyber security as financial innovation’s number one enemy.

A recent report carried out by global law firm Simmons and Simmons revealed that 71% of the largest asset management companies and banks in the world believe cyber security to be the greatest risk when it comes to collaborating with fintech companies.

The report also reveals that a concerning number of larger financial institutions have been experiencing difficulties with innovating at a sufficient pace. The numbers show that there need to be vast improvements made when it comes to security data if banks are to feel more confident about teaming up with fintech companies.

There is no shortage of desire to collaborate with firms in fintech on the part of banks, but 71% said they would be more willing if the cyber security procedures carried out by these firms were made more transparent.

Some, however, are realistic enough to know that they just have to accept the way things are, with 75% acknowledging that they need to be better partner-enabled if they wish to speed up digital innovation.

Further, 60 per cent believe that another point of concern is the cyber security in the landscape in which digital innovations are currently being tested.

Simmons and Simmons chief of TMT, Alex Brown, said:

“There is no doubt that established financial institutions need to look at new forms of technology and partnering solutions if they are to escape from the chains of their legacy IT systems and adopt innovative technology solutions.”