Modern security for digital banking

By Ioannis Fragkoulopoulos, Customer Security & Professional Services Director, Obrela.

In the 1930s, when the world’s most notorious bank robber, Willie Sutton, was asked why he robbed banks, he simply replied “because that’s where the money is.” Almost 100 years later, the principle still applies, banks are the jackpot for thieves, but the avenues to get into them have changed significantly.

Today, many banks have jumped on the internet revolution – switching their bricks and mortar foundations for virtual walls – establishing the first ever digital banks. These so-called ‘neo banks’ and ‘challenger banks’ do not have any physical branches. Everything is carried out digitally, which has provided their customers with better rates, more personalised services, and the freedom to bank anywhere in the world.

However, with the internet being the primary communication method between digital banks and their customers, cybersecurity is critical to their survival. As a result, these digital-first banks need to guarantee to their customers that they can bank safely with the knowledge that their data, transactions and sensitive financial information are all secure.

One of the first digital banks to launch in Europe was Viva Wallet, an entirely cloud based Neobank, which Obrela has been securing since its inception.

Cybersecurity is a facilitator of growth for digital banks

Viva Wallet launched in 2013 and today it operates in over 23 European countries, including the UK, France, Spain, Italy and Germany and it also has plans to soon expand into Croatia, Hungary and Sweden.

One of the most critical features of Viva Wallet is providing a safe, 24/7, uninterrupted service to its customers, whilst assisting businesses of all sizes to accept physical and online card payments via fully in-house developed technology. Viva Wallet’s vision has always been aimed at creating a truly unified and safe European payments system, that allows customers to go global, while remaining local. Security has always been paramount for Viva Wallet, they understand that it is not a luxury, but a necessity in their line of business.

Obrela first started working with Viva Wallet when it was in the process of designing the digital bank. The relationship began with Obrela providing consultancy services to help Viva Wallet understand and meet regulatory compliance requirements, as well as regulations within Visa and Mastercard.

Viva Wallet also had ambitious growth targets and recognised that in the future Obrela could provide security services to the bank and scale as the company expanded into new regions. Viva Wallet also recognised that they wanted a security service partner that could provide all the tools they needed progressively as they grew, on an on-demand model, which was another challenge Obrela could support.

How do digital banks approach cybersecurity?

With Viva Wallet being a 24/7 service and having ambitious growth plans, the digital bank also needed a security partner that could meet these demands and had the flexibility to scale almost instantly as it expanded into new territories.

Today, Obrela runs Viva Wallet’s Security Operations Centre (SOC), guaranteeing the resilience of their systems, while ensuring their customers receive an always on, safe banking experience, as well as scaling to meet new requirements and supporting the growth of Viva Wallet. Obrela has also supported Viva Wallet’s transition over to the Microsoft Azure platform, allowing the company to grow and expand its digital footprint seamlessly as and when required.

As one of Viva Wallet’s longest serving security partners, Obrela has witnessed the growth and expansion of the company and seen huge customer uptake in its offerings. Obrela could instantly see the popularity of Viva Wallet’s offerings and knew that if the relationship was to last, it would need to keep up to pace with its fast expansion, allowing Viva Wallet to continue to operate in new regions safely, offering customers the uninterrupted services they were expecting.

Obrela has now been working with Viva Wallet for over eight years and has met each the digital bank’s security requirements. Offering full visibility into Viva Wallet’s environments, and even its custom applications, maintaining the security of Viva’s online environments while guaranteeing the integrity of data. As well as protecting against accidental and intentional data disclosures, while ensuring the availability of services and achieving all compliance needs. With Viva Wallet having further growth plans for 2022, Obrela will be there at every step of the way, maintaining security, protecting customer data and scaling as Viva Wallet expands into new markets and territories.

Neobanks: high risk, high reward

Banking environments have significantly changed since Willie Sutton’s days as the world’s most dangerous bank robber, but they are still the number one target for thieves. While the internet has offered a convenient and flexible way to bank, it has increased the attack surface and for digital banks to succeed, security must be a part of their DNA.

The good news is Viva Wallet recognised this while it was in the development stages of its platform and it has enabled the company to grow and expand into new territories, turning it into one of the fastest growing neo-banks in the world.

Through its partnership with Obrela, Viva Wallet is offering its customers a safe, convenient and secure banking experience, with the trust and faith that their transactions, data and financial information are all completely secure.