Mobility, identified as the use of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, has become a key driver in redefining the interactions between financial institutions and their employees. This technological revolution has generated major changes, altering traditional operating practices and opening up new opportunities and challenges for the banking sector.
The impact of mobile technology on productivity and collaboration
In 2021, a Samsung survey of employees in financial companies found that 72% say mobile technology is essential to their productivity and collaboration. They use mobile devices to perform a variety of tasks.
Financial services employees are increasingly mobile and need tools that allow them to work from anywhere. These tools, which are usually smartphones, enable them to:
- Access corporate applications and data;
- Communicate with colleagues and customers;
- Perform administrative tasks, etc.
For example, a financial adviser can use his mobile device to access his clients’ files and answer their questions/requests, even when he is on the move. An analyst could use his smartphone to analyze data and generate reports, enabling him to work more efficiently. Finally, a risk manager can use his mobile device to monitor activities and react quickly if necessary.
Organizations in the banking sector use a variety of methods to equip their teams with mobile devices. Generally speaking, they opt for either BYOD or COPE.
BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device, allows employees to use their own smartphones or tablets to carry out work-related tasks. However, this practice has been in decline for some years now, as the sector increasingly adopts COPE or Corporate Owned, Personally Enabled.
COPE is a model in which the company makes mobile devices available to its employees, allowing them to use these devices as if they were their own. In this configuration, companies generally deploy a secure work profile dedicated to professional tasks, while having no visibility or control over the part used for personal purposes.
These developments in the use of mobile technologies in the financial world underline the crucial importance of mobility for productivity and collaboration. The move towards models such as COPE also reflects the need to strike a balance between employee flexibility and security imperatives.
Solutions to ensure the security of confidential data
The rise of mobility in the banking sector is accompanied by a significant increase in the number of mobile devices in use. However, this presents inherent security risks, especially for a sector that needs to protect the sensitive information and financial data at the heart of banking. Players in the financial sector face a number of threats, including cyber-attacks, lost or stolen devices and data leaks.
These challenges are forcing financial institutions to adopt solutions to protect their devices and, above all, their contents, in order to avoid these dangers as much as possible. Among these solutions, MDM solutions are useful tools offering a full range of security features. They offer the possibility of centralizing device management, facilitating the rapid deployment of security patches and the implementation of remote wiping protocols in the event of loss or theft.
A specific approach to mobile device security is the work profile, integrated into MDM solutions such as TinyMDM. This work profile makes it possible to create a secure container dedicated to the management of business applications and data, and can be used for the BYOD and COPE practices mentioned above. By isolating business data from personal applications, this solution enhances the confidentiality and protection of sensitive financial information. In this way, financial institutions can take advantage of mobility while mitigating potential risks, illustrating the need to balance technological innovation with robust security measures in the ever-changing banking landscape.
In conclusion, mobility in banking offers significant benefits in terms of productivity and collaboration, but requires proactive management of security risks. Financial institutions must continue to evolve by adopting appropriate solutions such as MDM to take full advantage of mobility while ensuring the protection of critical information.
8th of January 2024