How to Maintain Bank Compliance and Security During the Holiday Season

The holiday season is in full swing, which means many employees are heading out of the office to enjoy some vacation time. However, just because it’s the holiday season, it doesn’t mean that cybercriminals are taking time off. Cybersecurity attacks continue to increase and are becoming more sophisticated. Institutions are expected to maintain bank compliance with regulatory guidelines and ensure all technology assets are working properly so operations continue to run smoothly during the holidays.

This can be a challenging time for many community banks and credit unions that have a small staff and rely on key individuals to make sure all activities related to technology, compliance, security, and regulatory requirements are taken care of. Today’s community financial institution relies on the IT department to maintain its hardware and software and to ensure all systems are available when needed. The department is also responsible for monitoring an array of ongoing IT concerns like anti-malware, cybersecurity issues, service-related touch points, compliance updates, and email security, to name just a few. So, what happens when the people responsible for these crucial aspects of the institution go on vacation?

Partner Up

Many financial institutions are turning to an industry-specific managed services provider to act as an extension of their organization and help augment internal technology and compliance resources and responsibilities. The right managed services provider, who is familiar with the banking industry, can serve as a true partner and work alongside current staff to provide timely support, and manage the technology, security, and regulatory compliance aspects for the institution.

A managed services provider can help automate and manage many of the administrative functions that normally fall to the technology or compliance department, making it less daunting for employees to get away. In addition, while this not only saves time and improves efficiencies, it also helps the bank or credit union extend its support hours beyond the traditional 9 to 5 retail hours, which is key for IT departments with limited staff.

Managing IT resources, bank compliance-related issues and combatting cybercrime are some of the greatest challenges and concerns for financial institutions today. When IT and security staff are out or unavailable, outsourcing these processes helps fill the personnel gap and provides added stability for the institution and peace of mind to all.

What To Do When Your Bank’s IT Administrator Leaves (Checklist)