# How SD-WAN can help financial services secure data & improve CX Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2020-01-07 Category: TECHNOLOGY Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/technology Meta Title: Enhancing Customer Experience and Data Security in Meta Description: Discover how SD-WAN technology can help banks and financial institutions offer seamless customer experiences while ensuring data security in the digital age. URL: https://financedigest.com/how-sd-wan-can-help-financial-services-secure-data-and-improve-the-cxhtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/tech-6-1736838970494-compressed.jpg) By **Paul Vidic**, Director, Certes Networks In this current digital age where customers expect businesses to be available and contactable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on their chosen platform, the customer experience (CX) is now more important than ever. In the finance industry, customers now need to be able to access their banks at any time of day, on any device, in order to look through existing accounts, set up new ones, solve any problems with logging in or move large sums of money. [Customers want full product and service](https://www.financedigest.com/how-customer-services-has-changed-during-covid.html "How Customer Services Has Changed During Covid") information and the ability to start and cancel transactions of any size, with complete support, all without delay. However, the highly sensitive nature [of financial data exposes](https://www.financedigest.com/data-centres-and-the-changing-financial-trading-landscape.html "Data centres and the changing financial trading landscape") institutions to risk. Numerous high profile data breaches have demonstrated what can go wrong when data is not sufficiently [protected](https://www.financedigest.com/modern-data-protection-how-organisations-can-protect-against-cyber-attacks.html "Modern Data Protection: How organisations can protect against cyber attacks") – from Tesco Bank and Equifax in the UK to Capital One in the US –all are a testament to this. So how can financial services organisations effectively address these seemingly conflicting requirements of meeting today’s customer [experience expectations](https://www.financedigest.com/cherry-picker-crane-market-is-expected-to-experience-substantial-gains-with-projections-around-6-to-8-cagr-from-2021-to-2031.html "Cherry Picker Crane Market is expected to experience substantial gains, with projections around 6% to 8% CAGR from 2021 to 2031") and ensuring data security? **Bringing back the branch experience** In large part, the [challenge the industry faces](https://www.financedigest.com/cup-holder-market-emerging-industries-challenges-and-threats-faced-by-key-vendors-and-global-business-outlook-till-2031.html "Cup Holder Market Emerging industries, Challenges and Threats Faced by Key Vendors and Global Business Outlook till 2031") is due to increasingly disaggregated network systems, such as third party systems, with many remote sites and branches with which to communicate. However, despite many banks making decisions to close branches in certain areas, [Deloitte’s 2019 digital customer survey](https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/financial-services/bank-branch-transformation-digital-banking.html) states that bank branches shouldn’t be viewed as a standalone service, but instead banks should “fully and seamlessly integrate branches into the bank’s overall digital transformation strategy”. Banks therefore [need](https://www.financedigest.com/traditional-banks-need-an-overhaul.html "Traditional banks need an overhaul") a solution that enriches the CX which in turns allows banks to remain competitive by retaining current customers and attracting new customers, all while ensuring their data is secure. **Enter SD-WAN** Software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) is technology for configuring and implementing an enterprise WAN – based on software-defined networking (SDN) – to effectively route traffic to remote locations such as branch offices, which is ideal for banks [and financial services organisations](https://www.financedigest.com/financial-services-firms-turn-to-big-data-intelligence-to-fight-fraudulent-activity-according-to-xerox-study.html "FINANCIAL SERVICES FIRMS TURN TO BIG DATA INTELLIGENCE TO FIGHT FRAUDULENT ACTIVITY ACCORDING TO XEROX STUDY"). As SD-WAN matures, these organisations are [moving away](https://www.financedigest.com/exclusive-eu-to-move-away-from-emergency-phase-of-covid-pandemic-document.html "Exclusive-EU to move away from emergency phase of COVID pandemic – document") from traditional branch routers to offer consolidated network functionality on a single device. This [enables banks](https://www.financedigest.com/enabling-decision-making-success-in-the-banking-industry-3-considerations.html "Enabling decision-making success in the banking industry – 3 considerations") to prioritise bandwidth and centralised management capabilities for remote WAN sites, without compromising performance or the experience that can be delivered to their customers. SD-WAN may seem like a [costly move for banks](https://www.financedigest.com/how-can-open-banking-help-smbs-navigate-the-cost-of-living-crisis.html "How can Open Banking help SMBs navigate the cost-of-living crisis? ") and financial institutions, but the benefits for both the customer, and the bank itself, far outweigh the expense. Additionally, hardware improvements have also [enabled software-based routing to drive better performance of standard server platforms](https://www.financedigest.com/matchly-the-us-fintech-platform-that-enables-employees-to-access-their-401k-employer-match-raises-1-7m-in-pre-seed-round.html "Matchly, the US fintech platform that enables employees to access their 401(k) employer match, raises .7m in Pre-Seed Round"). Software-based routing provides advantages in terms of its flexibility, as it can be implemented anywhere and combined with other WAN functions for a complete package. This means that in an SD-WAN environment, applications – such as the website and online chat – are able to run more effectively, which will undoubtedly improve the customer experience. For [banks and financial services organisations it is entirely possible to meet customer expectations](https://www.financedigest.com/factbox-big-banks-expected-to-rack-up-more-than-1-billion-in-fines-for-whatsapp-use.html "Factbox-Big banks expected to rack up more than billion in fines for WhatsApp use"), compete in the new digital environment and at the same time keep their data secure. So, as banks consider moving to an SD-WAN environment to meet customer demands, the need for a data security solution that is simple, agile and that can interoperate within their current network architecture will ensure continued performance and a rich [banking experience for customers](https://www.financedigest.com/the-next-generation-of-customer-experience-in-banking.html "The next generation of customer experience in banking"). With a security solution that is network [agnostic, financial services organisations can benefit](https://www.financedigest.com/post-brexit-uk-workers-can-have-financial-security.html "Post Brexit – UK workers CAN have financial security") from the agility of SD-WAN for an improved CX and a scalable cyber security solution that can easily integrate into a software-defined network. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---