WHITE PAPER

Is your financial services network ready for the future?

Utilize the right connectivity, technology and support for a modern network

The financial services industry moves quickly, with transactions measured by increments as small as fractions of a second. Immediate, reliable, secure access to data is an operational necessity for firms tasked with growing and protecting personal and institutional financial resources and investments. In response, companies are increasingly turning to the latest technology to help them keep pace. Leaders feel constant pressure to sharpen operational efficiency, safeguard sensitive client and market information and deliver a seamless, personalized experience to customers and employees.

Financial institutions must adapt and upgrade legacy technology to meet the expectations of customers who demand convenience and cashless transactions and employees looking for a streamlined workflow. As FinTech growth accelerates, mobile banking proliferates and cryptocurrencies become more broadly accepted, companies need to modernize their networks and processes to support new applications, improve resiliency, optimize cloud-based apps and make the most of AI, blockchain, 5G and Banking of Things (BoT) devices.

As part of their strategy to tackle these escalating demands, many financial services firms are looking to partner with an experienced managed network services provider. Choosing the right partner can help them easily navigate the evolving technological and regulatory landscape and create a networking strategy customized to their business and goals across IT, customer service and security.

Enterprise solutions drive network modernization

Financial services organizations face a variety of forces spurring change across the industry. This white paper explores key drivers and the enterprise financial technology solutions that help companies achieve their goals, maximize their competitive advantage and create better customer and employee experiences.

FinTech

FinTech enables customers to manage their finances quickly, challenging traditional industry players to keep up or risk losing market share. This rapidly growing category relies on technology to provide more advanced banking and financial services. Often digital-only entities, FinTech companies commonly boast greater access to financial services and faster, more personalized experiences. Lower operating costs free them to offer not only lower fees and better interest rates but also more remote banking-as-a-service (BaaS) conveniences.

Open banking

Expanding interest in open banking is another industry development exerting influence on financial institutions. The trend involves banks making their data and APIs available to third-party developers to improve their products and services. Enabled in part by a changing regulatory landscape, the practice is unlocking additional opportunities for organizations to create innovative products and services that bring greater speed and ease to the consumer banking experience. Offerings can include automated budgeting, real-time fraud detection and instant loans and credit scoring.

Regulatory compliance

Stricter regulatory obligations are pushing firms to ensure compliance and manage risk across banking touchpoints. As a result, companies are reevaluating their networks and technologies to improve their processes and capabilities. Leaders recognize that they must meet demands around environmental, social and governance (ESG) benchmarks; consumer protection; and security. These requirements have only grown more critical as digitization has increased and organizations have become more reliant on a remote workforce, expanding the attack surface.

Security

Recent years have seen a spike in cybercrime and fraud as financial services companies have become more digital. One source of concern is the growing number of disparate security solutions and applications being used by these businesses. Nearly 50% employ five or more management systems, increasing the risk of gaps in management and configuration that criminals can exploit.³ This has kept security at the top of the list of industry priorities.

Top security priorities for financial services⁴

Much is at stake for financial services organizations as they update their networks and systems to protect their capital and sensitive customer data. The following represent key industry security goals:

Implement a sophisticated regulatory compliance framework.
Protect local infrastructure and cloud technologies.
Enhance supply chain security.
Leverage new technologies to automate compliance tasks.
Manage vulnerabilities and incident response.
Strengthen customer identity management (IdM) platforms.
Incorporate identity analytics for advanced fraud detection

AI and data analytics

According to study data, 92% of financial services leaders saw an increase in profit due to their AI and automation investments from 2022 to 2024.⁵ In addition to leveraging the technology to boost operational efficiency and improve security, institutions can harness it to power everything from smart cameras that map customer traffic patterns and capture customer behavior data to predictive modeling that allows companies to better understand customer spending patterns, purchase history and preferences. These insights can inform the development of new personalized financial products and services.

Enhance internet connectivity across the business

Financial services increasingly requires and runs on high-performance connectivity. As the workforce and stakeholders have grown more geographically distributed, demands including file sharing, access to cloud applications and video conferencing have become fundamental to ensuring effective collaboration and communication among users, no matter their locations. The productivity and competitiveness of firms rely on an expanding array of bandwidth-intensive technologies, all of which require a high-performance internet connection that reduces issues such as latency, jitter and packet loss.

Unlock the benefits of reliable internet

Spectrum Business® can provide the expertise and network reach to help design a performant, highly diverse connectivity solution that can quickly scale to meet the needs of today’s financial services industry. Organizations can seamlessly connect to multiple business locations and private or public clouds. Moreover, they benefit from varied speed options and local and nationwide end-to-end support.

Dedicated internet provides an exclusive, non-shared network connection, its full bandwidth reserved for use by the organization alone. It also offers more dependable upload and download speeds and eliminates external network traffic and the slowdown it can cause. Firms can address resiliency needs by selecting from multiple connectivity options while ensuring redundant connections and automatic failover and failback capabilities. They can also elevate the customer and employee experience by enabling low-latency applications like virtual tellers and customer portals and blending online and in-person services.

Our Dedicated Fiber Internet service offers secure, reliable internet access built to keep up with the high demands of financial services networks. IT teams have access to speeds up to 100 Gbps, helping improve legacy connectivity between sites and data centers while simplifying the management of WANs, data centers and cloud connectivity. Help boost productivity and mitigate cybersecurity threats with Secure Dedicated Fiber Internet, integrating a fast, ultra-reliable service with enterprise-grade cybersecurity protection and automated security updates, all in a single solution. Our scalable, high-performance, low-latency fiber internet options are backed by a service-level agreement (SLA) guaranteeing 100% uptime.*

Achieve a faster, more reliable network to meet growing needs

Spectrum Business installed an ultra-high-speed wavelength circuit for Isabella Bank that was supported by Ethernet Services and Dedicated Fiber Internet circuits. The new network enabled the bank to create a secure, scalable communication system, reduce delays, optimize data and develop highly mobile solutions to better serve customers.

Financial services firms can also choose from other alternatives to support the connectivity requirements of organizations with footprints ranging from single sites to many. Enterprise Internet offers speeds up to 1 Gbps and an enterprise-grade experience for both end users and IT teams. Our Spectrum Business Internet® service addresses advanced network needs with broadband offering flexible speeds for primary or secondary internet connections. A wireless option is available as well: The integrated Wireless Internet service connects locations to the internet or public clouds quickly and supports access diversity, business continuity, additional bandwidth or temporary connectivity needs with a strong cellular signal at each location.

Optimize the advantages of modern networking

As financial institutions migrate to enterprise cloud services and hybrid networks, new technologies such as AI and machine learning (ML) stretch their bandwidth demand, putting greater pressure on their WANs. Since branch connectivity and financial data sharing are crucial, the data also needs to be protected as it travels among locations. Moving to a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) enables financial services organizations to manage traffic more efficiently across their WAN by using a software-defined approach instead of hardware like switches and routers. SD-WAN can route traffic across any combination of connections, improving reliability, optimizing bandwidth and simplifying network management. Companies can also better manage the cost of their networks by significantly increasing network capacity without increasing network budgets.

81% of financial services executives say a lack of appropriate technology impedes their business goals.⁶

Another value to the financial services industry is that SD-WAN can safely connect users to applications and branches. Each piece of sent data is encrypted and travels through a secure tunnel, protecting firms against cybersecurity threats and unauthorized users. Organizations can improve overall efficiency as well, advancing network performance, increasing network visibility and control, enhancing cloud connectivity and boosting bandwidth capacity. SD-WAN can benefit financial services entities struggling with network challenges such as slow application performance, regular network outages, unreliable connectivity or evolving cyberthreats.

Accelerate modernization with managed solutions

The benefits of SD-WAN for financial organizations are many. Some firms remain slow to adopt the technology, in part because of the additional demands it places on their busy, under-resourced IT teams. The right managed services partner can help resolve such bottlenecks and free organizations to keep pace with a fast-changing industry.

80% of banking executives believe more than three-quarters of enterprise banking applications will reside in the public cloud by 2030.⁷

Spectrum Business offers a variety of solutions and services customized to help financial services organizations migrate to an SD-WAN while continuing to meet their current needs. Enterprise Network Edge gives large-scale multi-site organizations the ability to transition to multi-cloud strategies and a hybrid network architecture designed around advanced SD-WAN technologies. Powered by Cisco Meraki, the all-inclusive Managed Network Edge platform creates a highly efficient network that can support a wide range of traffic and seamlessly and automatically connect multiple branches or public cloud locations via a secure SD-WAN.

Half of business leaders name challenges with technology infrastructure as the top internal barrier to controlling costs.⁸

By choosing a managed approach, firms also shift networking from an upfront capital expense and fixed capacity to a predictable monthly operating expense with no hardware to purchase or maintain. Our experts can provide everything from solution design and installation to portal-based management and ongoing support. Plus, companies can eliminate the complexity of working with multiple vendors and integrating disparate technologies.

Simplify and enrich the user experience

Financial services organizations continue to invest in improving operational synergies across branches to create a more customer-centric experience throughout the banking process. Branch upgrades might include adding secure customer WiFi or self-service stations alongside high-resolution video monitoring. For many, improvements include adopting a frictionless omnichannel model in which the bank offers a mix of online and in-person services.

Drive expanded operations and improve member service

Learn how CoVantage was able to improve service, enhance their member experience and support branch growth with Spectrum Business solutions that increased bandwidth at each branch and established reliable, low-latency network connectivity to the cloud.

Leaders want to achieve greater flexibility and convenience by allowing quick and easy movement between these two worlds. Combining the best of digital and physical touchpoints is vital to delivering the personalized service necessary for lasting customer and employee relationships. But it can also be complicated. Consider that many organizations may rely on multiple technology providers — 80% of banks use three or more cloud service providers (CSPs).⁹

Streamline by combining services in one platform

Banking IT sees the value in bringing together networking services and connectivity into a single platform to standardize and reduce the burden on IT management. Solutions from Spectrum Business can deliver efficiencies by combining all the key ingredients into one solution, including secure connectivity, unified communications (UC), equipment, network management and technical support.

Support can be provided for additional features such as an integrated local area network (LAN), routing, switching, WiFi, smart cameras and environmental sensors. In addition, our Managed Workplace Package for financial services platform supports integrated SD-WAN with traffic prioritization, enabling banks to streamline connections to the internet and cloud services.

Our solutions are customizable to the unique needs and regulations of the financial services industry. Institutions can choose what works best for them from a range of options — from co-managed to a fully managed solution — offloading routine tasks and freeing IT staff to address other initiatives that promote growth. Meanwhile, financial services firms can access advanced security features that help ensure secure data storage and management while gaining enhanced visibility and control of the entire network to help minimize an increasing IT workload.

87% of financial services leaders report higher productivity with digital collaboration platforms.¹¹

Spectrum Business solutions offer a modularity that helps organizations more easily adopt new technology, add services or scale bandwidth as business needs change. IT can pre-provision networks for new branches and quickly introduce network capabilities as existing branches begin to offer new services. Communication across the fast-evolving locations is also essential. Organizations are empowered to consolidate communication channels by adding voice trunking and feature-rich UC solutions. These fully managed, cloud-based UC solutions combine calling, video conferencing, messaging, meetings and virtual workspaces in a single application to streamline workflows and enhance communication, collaboration and productivity. Built to integrate with a firm’s existing customer relationship management system and business applications across its locations, they help improve branch voice capabilities and support remote workers.

Spectrum Business all-in-one solutions

Enterprise Network Edge

SD-WAN BENEFITS: Enhance network experience and streamline IT operations with an all-in-one platform that includes SD-WAN and offers the flexibility to support hybrid networks and multi-cloud strategies. Companies can upgrade their WAN or SD-WAN routers and connectivity at all branches.

SECURITY BENEFITS: Gain complete visibility into security events and threats along with network utilization via an easy-to-use platform that features an advanced firewall with SSL inspection, malware protection, content filtering, web application control, intrusion protection and packet inspection of encrypted traffic.

Managed Network Edge

SD-WAN BENEFITS: Create a highly efficient network with an all-inclusive solution that can support a wide range of traffic and reliably connect multiple buildings or public cloud locations, including secure SD-WAN, networking equipment, security and remote access. Institutions can choose the connectivity suited to their needs.

SECURITY BENEFITS: Keep security policies consistent across all locations and automatically updated to meet regulatory needs. The platform offers a built-in, always-up-to-date security profile with an integrated firewall, advanced malware protection and intrusion prevention.

Managed Workplace Package

SD-WAN BENEFITS: Quickly and easily expand and standardize the WAN infrastructure at all branch locations and prioritize important traffic with application-aware routing to prioritize the organization’s most critical applications, resulting in more consistent performance.

SECURITY BENEFITS: Mitigate risks with an integrated security solution that empowers firms to address secure connectivity and confidently face ever-evolving cybersecurity threats via an easy-to-manage solution that is available from any device at any location. Advanced security features include an integrated firewall, unified threat management (UTM), URL content filtering and advanced malware and intrusion protection.

Control and optimize cloud resources

Many IT leaders in financial services are putting cloud-powered solutions at the center of their strategy to reduce internal costs, quickly scale as business needs change and improve data management. The cloud also offers a valuable opportunity to coordinate the enterprise and remove operational and data silos across risk, finance, regulatory and customer support.

92% of financial services leaders say they must adapt to cloud operations or fall behind competitors.¹²

The pace of cloud adoption across financial services is increasing — more than 70% of companies are beyond the pilot stage.¹³ Cloud also ranks high on organizations’ wishlists, with 84% of institutions citing it (along with edge computing) as their most sought-after technology.¹⁴ Leaders are attracted to the productivity gains of simplifying daily tasks and making data storage and analytics accessible at all times. Working within a centralized ecosystem offers greater workflow simplicity and efficiency. What’s more, cloud regulatory reporting tools can help employees across teams optimize their cloud platforms to prepare for periods of expected higher traffic.

Cloud technologies also allow financial institutions to securely store and access sensitive data remotely. The data can be easily backed up and restored, which is crucial for business continuity. At the same time, data analytics in the cloud allows financial services companies to be more strategic in their digital transformation efforts, shining a light on new opportunities to improve their business and the customer and employee experience.

Employ high-performance direct connections

Spectrum Business can help financial institutions optimize their cloud traffic and assume full control of user access. Our Cloud Connect service enables companies to improve their use of public or hybrid clouds by offering a high-performing, secure, fiber solution. Providing a direct connection, it extends the firm’s Ethernet directly to their CSP, allowing users to confidently access cloud-based applications from their WAN. From the office to the public cloud gateway point, companies can reach the cloud quickly and reliably, with solutions backed by our SLA guarantee of 100% uptime.*

Our managed SD-WAN solutions simplify network management, giving financial services organizations complete network visibility and control with advanced security features. These solutions can be employed for local internet breakouts, negating the need to backhaul to a central data center. This change helps reduce unwanted latency and lag, supporting enhanced application performance and an improved experience for employees and customers. The solutions can also boost network performance for transformative technologies such as AI, ML, BoT and advanced analytics.

Protect data, strengthen compliance and help guard against cyberattacks

Industry watchers anticipate a regulatory shift for financial services that impacts technology and data use, consumer and investor protections, risk management and governance. Due to ongoing changes related to increasing digitalization, technology innovation and pressure from legislative activity, the regulatory landscape is expected to continue to evolve. The growing sophistication of financial crime threats to critical systems, services and infrastructure will sharpen the focus on cybercrime, ransomware, consumer fraud and identity theft, such as deepfake scams. Expect data quality, lineage, sharing and access to serve as additional focus areas.

67% of financial services leaders are hesitant to adopt new technology due to regulatory uncertainties.¹⁷

The growing role of new technologies like predictive analytics and ML is drawing regulatory interest to information protection and risks associated with cybersecurity and finance. Also being evaluated are third-party-delivered cloud services and AI — including AI governance, testing, validation and the technology’s impact on issues such as privacy. Regulators are spotlighting resiliency as well, wanting to ensure that financial institutions can anticipate and manage operational disruptions.

Failure to adequately address these evolving regulatory demands not only undermines compliance, it can also be devastating to the financial services institution and those who rely on it. The average cost of a data breach in the financial industry has reached $6.08 million, 24% higher than the average across all industries of $4.88 million.¹⁹ This makes financial services the second most expensive industry for data breaches behind healthcare.²⁰ Response time is an issue as well: Financial industry organizations take an average of 168 days to identify a breach and 51 days to contain it.²¹

Safeguard networks, traffic and offices

Security represents a non-negotiable requirement for organizations across financial services. Spectrum Business offers a comprehensive security strategy to protect networks, user traffic and physical locations. Our secure access service edge (SASE) solutions deliver defense in depth while creating a unified security policy. SASE blends an SD-WAN, for unified access for branch or remote offices and network controls, and secure service edge (SSE), a cloud-based security platform centered on the identity of users, devices and operations.

24% of generative AI initiatives were secure as of 2024.²²

Our managed cloud security services can help firms simplify operations by consolidating vendors and technologies to improve flexibility, assist IT and reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

Companies can:

Protect internal applications and services with zero trust network access (ZTNA).
Guard against malware and data breaches with cloud-based firewalls.
Protect on-premises and remote users with UTM.
Establish secure access to cloud-based applications and protect data with cloud access security brokers (CASBs).

Financial services organizations must implement security priorities across every cloud and device, requiring the adoption of a centralized, streamlined platform. This includes defending authorized users and data in the cloud and on the network and enabling a consistent, universal security experience for remote and office-based workers. ZTNA and cloud-based firewalls are necessary features, helping enforce security measures and device postures for corporate and personal devices.

The state of financial services data security

90% of financial services leaders say data security is their top IT priority.

48% of financial services leaders are highly confident they have the right security measures in place.

IT staff also need up-to-date information to help protect against data loss and regulatory violations. Cloud Security with Cisco+ Secure Connect addresses key security demands via a centralized platform, enabling IT teams to securely and directly access cloud software as a service (SaaS) applications and the internet regardless of location. The easy-to-use portal provides visibility across users, network activity, devices and potential threats.

44% of surveyed financial services leaders say their organization experienced a data breach in the previous 12 months.²⁴

Another important security mission is protecting against regulatory issues, disruptive data loss and unauthorized access to sensitive systems. Combating these risks involves achieving policy enforcement for application access and usage and enabling a consistent experience for users. IdM and multi-factor authentication (MFA) capabilities promise to be valuable assets in any firm’s efforts to validate its users and devices. Secure Access with Cisco Duo offers a fully managed, cloud-based security solution that allows IT staff to establish more secure access policies by user and device, regardless of location. Its dashboard provides a clear picture of networks and potential threats, while security mechanisms such as ZTNA and MFA validate users, devices and locations for every access request to ensure trust is maintained.

Additionally, our smart cameras and environmental sensors help protect vulnerable locations and can deliver valuable insights about customer behavior patterns. The sensors can minimize disruptions by intelligently monitoring critical physical spaces and alerting staff about potential events.

Spectrum Business also provides safeguards to keep network and web properties and applications available by halting volumetric distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Powered by Radware, our DDoS Protection service helps shield applications and systems by identifying anomalies in traffic flows as well as responding to and mitigating threats. The service supports secure online banking and emerging technologies to help firms remain operational and competitive.

Financial institution leaders consider cyberattacks and data breaches to be the top risk facing the industry.²⁵

Spectrum Business helps modernize financial services

By partnering with Spectrum Business, financial institutions can quickly scale and support branches with ease while adopting cybersecurity protections for their network. With reliable, secure and enterprise-grade services fully or co-managed to organizational requirements, we bring together the technologies that move networking into the future.

Discover how our in-market expertise; 100% U.S.-based support, available 24/7/365; and fiber network reach can help your financial services organizations scale and compete.

*100% uptime SLA guarantee applies only to Dedicated Fiber Internet, Secure Dedicated Fiber Internet, Ethernet Services, Cloud Connect and Enterprise Trunking.