Business & Money | Wednesday 6 April, 2016 1:00 pm |

68% of companies in Saudi Arabia prefer to bank with a provider who has a solid security reputation, according to a Kaspersky Lab survey. Those banks that make security a priority and take every effort to ensure measures are in place to safeguard against online financial fraud will have an advantage, when it comes to retaining existing customers and reaching new ones.

The research found that 89% of KSA companies now use online banking in their day-to-day operations. The ability to use banking services without needing to physically visit a bank gives a lot of advantages including, improving response times and reducing operational costs. However, this convenience can also come at a cost, putting companies at risk of online financial fraud and giving cybercriminals yet another way to compromise corporate IT infrastructure.

When it comes to protecting their information, security plays a key role for companies when choosing who to bank with. 68% of companies questioned stated that they select banks due to their security reputation, and 90% in the Kingdom are willing to pay extra in order to work with a bank that has a strong security policy and a good security track record. 49% of companies also said that they themselves need to take improved measures, in order to protect online financial transactions made with their banks.

To ensure they provide the best possible service to business customers and give the necessary peace of mind that data and transactions are safe, a comprehensive security approach is vital. Kaspersky Fraud Prevention can help banks to protect all of the components of their IT infrastructure, including mobile banking apps. Kaspersky Fraud Prevention for Endpoints keeps customers and their machines fully protected from financial fraud, so they can bank easily and conveniently online, without exposing themselves, or their provider, to risk.

Kaspersky Lab Global Head of Fraud Prevention Ross Hogan, commented, “In today’s technology driven environment, banks operate very much like IT companies. All of their interactions with customers and partners are computerized and information is shared and stored online. However, despite the advantages it makes banking processes vulnerable and any compromise to the IT infrastructure can lead to huge data loss or, even worse, severe financial and reputational damage. It is therefore imperative that banks also think more like IT companies and make security a priority when developing and delivering their services.”