Trying to integrate and tie diverse internal and external banking applications, branches, systems and trading partners together so they work seamlessly with internal and central banking applications can have your IT department constantly untangling complex knots to ensure transactions and information flows easily.
There is a way to untangle this complexity. A comprehensive managed file transfer solution (MFT) offers banks and other industries unparalleled security controls, audit trails, compliance standards and data privacy, and provides the critical integration needed between a wide range of financial institution systems, platforms, business associates and trading partners.
A Single Platform Simplifies Bank Data Security
The integration capabilities of a managed file transfer (MFT) solution addresses the challenges financial institutions have in integrating isolated applications within the bank or with different banks or branches in the same group. It also serves to integrate external applications, such as credit cards, retirement and tax applications, credit bureaus such as Equifax and more.
Latin America, with its network of core banking systems and central banks has found MFT to be very beneficial in terms of integration.
For example, most Latin American banks need to integrate mass amounts of private data from different offices into their core banking system, such as BANTOTAL, Datapro, Cobis, and Fiserv. Or, they need to send information to the central bank in their country, such as BCRA (Argentina), Banco do Brasil (Brasil), Banco de la República, DNP, and DIAN (Columbia), Banxico and SAT (Mexico), Sil (Chile), SUNAT (Peru), and others. Files may also need to be transferred securely into provincial or retirement systems, such as ANSES (Argentina), IPS (Chile), IMSS (Mexico), and INS (Costa Rica).
Within the US, banks and credit unions are using MFT to meet key compliance requirements for file transfers like PCI DSS, GLBA, Basel III, SOX 404 and 409, the Dodd-Frank Act, and Check 21 x 937 (image files).
Case study: Alliant Credit Union Enhances PCI DSS Compliance with GoAnywhere MFT Agents
Often, banks have tried to solve this by creating homemade scripts or custom apps. Unfortunately, these options do not offer the bank data security, ability to create an audit trail or ease of use and maintenance of a more robust managed file transfer solution, so many companies are looking to replace their custom scripts.
The integration capability of a managed file transfer solution quickly adds up to serious time and resource savings for bank personnel. Users can easily access, connect and share data with just a few clicks with all interactions flowing from a single, central point of administration.
Financial data MFT helps banks integrate diverse entities, such as:
- Credit card providers: VISA, AMEX, MasterCard, First Data, CoELSA, and more
- Central banks: BCRA, Banco do Brasil, Banco de la Reublica, Banxico, etc.
- Credit bureaus: Veraz and others
- Retirement systems: ANSES in Argentina and equivalent in other countries
- Tax systems: AFIP and others
In addition, an MFT solutions such as GoAnywhere provides banks with the following benefits:
- Extensive security controls so information is secure both in transit and at rest
- Automated batch file transfers
- Support for SFTP, FTPS, and SCP protocols
- Advanced auditing and reporting functionality
- File delivery with connection retries and file auto-resume
Banks across the globe are discovering just how effective integration through managed file transfer can be for integrating dissimilar external partners or isolated applications into their internal banking applications, without the need for custom programming. For example:
Better Control of Trading Partner Data Exchanges:
Sending and receiving information through different channels with trading partners such as debt lists, loans sent, and credit card statements posed problems for one financial company. Before incorporating GoAnywhere they used different channels depending on the specific trading partner, such as FTP hosted in the company, FTP services with third parties, XCOM, and others. These different channels operated without central control, resulting in credentials, privileges, and certificates that were all over the map with no auditing processes in place.
- With GoAnywhere, the company and its various trading partners now utilize the same centralized channels
- FTP services were converted to FTPS
- Processes are now automated for improved efficiency
- Critical information is available sooner for users to use company-wide
Download Time Improved:
Another financial company recently put a shortcut on their desktop through GoAnywhere to speed up the time it took to generate a download. Previously, when accounting users had files to download, they needed to generate a ticket to download the file, connect to FTP, download it, encrypt it, move it to a user folder and then get notification when the ticket was closed. This was time consuming and involved several business sectors. With GoAnywhere, the information is available immediately and is read only by users on a need-to-know basis.
Centralized Management of User Access:
Before implementing MFT, another financial company in Latin America struggled with its daily download of information as they were using PC-configured connections with its trading partner. Each user had to use a remote desktop on their own computer, download the information and copy it into their workspace. The functions were separate; all users used the same connection; multiple people were doing things simultaneously, potentially duplicating work and processes; and, there were multiple points of problematic information access such as to users, passwords and certificates.
With GoAnywhere, this too-weighted process is more streamlined and centralized.
- Each user now has a shared folder
- Users see the SFTP of the trading partner, without needing a user connection
- Concurrent sessions are now possible
- All activity is audited
- User access is centrally managed
Related Reading: GoAnywhere Bank and Financial Industry Case Studies
Elimination of Unnecessary Personalization/Customization:
Before bringing GoAnywhere into their operations, one Latin American bank found their banking application was too personalized and customized for interface between external entities and the bank. Transfers and connections with third parties were embedded in the same banking application, essentially making sensitive financial information vulnerable. When they needed to interface with BANTOTAL, the need to integrate their own exchange processes more seamlessly became apparent.
With GoAnywhere in place, all management of exchanges is swiftly handled by the MFT application, plus:
- There is zero downtime/impact
- Channels of connection are centralized, secure, and auditable
- Validation of information content is more accurate and consistently formatted
- Automatic notification of information is provided to applicable personnel
MFT Integrates Banking Practices and More
GoAnywhere supports financial institutions in their integration efforts as well as in driving streamlined, efficient and compliant file transfer practices with data that is encrypted and protected in transit and at rest. Automated workflows and user-friendly, dashboard-style interfaces make GoAnywhere a clear choice in helping banks work more efficiently and securely.
Untangle integration frustrations when you launch a free 30-day trial of GoAnywhere MFT.
