Cybersecurity: our advantage in keeping you safe against cybercrimes

Security is our top priority, and our competitive advantage

2023 has already proven to be a year of turbulence and interesting times. Most notably, the fintech industry has seen a sharp increase in financial crime. We sat down with our Chief of Technology Officer (CTO), Chad Arthur, to discuss what’s happening in the world of cyber crime and what we’re doing to remain ahead of the curve. Here’s what he had to say.

Growing concerns across the industry

No need to sugar coat it, financial service organizations are buckling down on cyber security. In a report by PwC, 60% of Canadian firms report a fraud attack in the past 12 months and even TransUnion is reporting a 150% increase in digital fraud attempts. Turn on the news and you’ll find established, trustworthy brands like Indigo and Sobeys capitulating to data breaches and even going offline.

The security landscape is quickly evolving, or devolving we’ll say. There is no singular cause of this drastic uptick in fraud, but it’s no secret that economic instability caused by COVID-19 is still lingering, new geo-political risks are popping up everyday (think balloons) and there’s always a positive correlation between fraud and the rising cost of living. Because of all these circumstances, bad actors are becoming more aggressive, sophisticated and complex.

AnyDay Financial experiences digital fraud attempts

When it comes to cyber security, transparency is key to building successful and productive relationships. And while we did experience minor digital fraud attempts, our team has been quick to react and proactively develop security measures to mitigate impact. These fraudsters used stolen card information to make transactions at fake online merchants, some masking themselves as legitimate businesses. Few of our cardholders were affected. Regardless, our view is that 1 attack is too many. It’s important to know that this was not an attack on our own internal systems. Information can be stolen from hacked merchants and other illegal means.

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Since the uptick in cyber crime across the industry, we’ve implemented aggressive and proactive security measures that have brought unauthorized activity significantly down.

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Historic investments in security infrastructure

We’re making significant investments that are deeply integrating security at every layer within our products. We’re working at record speed to make product security a competitive advantage. In the past 6 weeks, we’ve launched new features that authenticate identity in more complex and robust ways, deployed monitoring tools powered by advanced AI and even built sophisticated tools that can warn individuals ahead of an attack.

Leading with empathy

Working to prevent and detect fraud is an important part of the equation, but it’s only one part. What happens when fraud does take place? When it happens, it’s all about supporting our individual cardholders and clients. Our team takes an all-hands on deck approach to responding to customer inquiries that deal with fraud so they can get clarity and peace of mind within 48 hours. Our CEO even fields tickets and phone calls. When money goes missing for a cardholder, we know how much of an impact this has on their everyday finances. Our level of support goes beyond words. We’re replacing compromised cards and absorbing all the related costs. We’ve even set aside capital to issue credits immediately when funds are missing, because no one should be penalized for something that isn’t their fault. Usually firms will issue credits only after an investigation, but our approach is good faith first, then investigate.

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This is our commitment to our community. You first, everything else, after. As CTO, even when my head is stuck in code or I’m at the roundtable with industry partners, it all comes back to our users, our clients and the thousands of workers that rely on our technology to achieve financial freedom. To this end, security is and will always be, my top priority.

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To access our webinar we hosted to dive deeper into our security initiatives, please visit here. If you want to join our movement for money innovation, connect with us on Linkedin here.

AnyDay Financial is powered by XTM Inc. To learn more visit here.

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