Citigroup and online lender Kabbage are part of a consortium which is aiming to improve the cybersecurity of FinTech companies.
The consortium’s founding members also include the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, Zurich Insurance Group and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, the companies said.
With the collaboration between FinTechs and financial institutions growing, the consortium was created in response to The World Economic Forum.
Going forward the group will work to create a framework to assess the security level of FinTech companies and data aggregators and help them defend themselves against hackers. The group also wants the new firms to agree to cyber standards as for when they work with large corporations.
Rob Frohwein, CEO, Kabbage, says: “We need a living global standard that allows financial services companies to compete and work with incumbent institutions across borders and industries.”
Following a number of high profile cyberattacks, the financial services sector is among the most vulnerable due to the vast amount of money and valuable data that banks and investment firms process. Last year more than $2.36bn was invested across the global security technology sector according to data by FinTech Global.
To tap investments, BNP Paribas Capital Partners recently launched a new investment fund to back financial services and insurance startups, with cybersecurity among its targeted sectors. Lavrock Ventures is also looking to invest in North American Cybersecurity startups after reportedly pulling in $25m for its first fund. Its portfolio already includes Sixgen, a cybersecurity firm that provides products and services to private as well as public sector clients, and ID.me, an online identity network that enables end users to prove their legal identity and attributes of their identity.
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
