Protecting the client’s identification has always been one of the top priorities for financial institutions (F.I.s). Over the years, these institutions continued to develop new products and services. The growth of these organizations meant that they were going to be servicing clients across multiple business lines. Two areas that have experienced tremendous growth in the past several decades are insurance and wealth management. From a wealth management perspective, what once was a traditional advisor-client model, has, over time, morphed into multiple business lines with many offerings. Most Canadian banks offer several options of the traditional several advisor-client models.

These models include IIROC registered advisors catering to clients with more complex investment needs and MFDA registered advisors who offer more plain vanilla mutual fund offerings. Also, both banks and independent firms developed self-serve discount brokerage models, as well as robo-advisor offerings. Recently, on a global level, we have seen an expansion of hybrid service models as well.

On the insurance side, as the middle class grew, the appetite for hard assets grew. Those assets need to be insured. On the personal front, people became more accustomed to buying life and health (L&H) and property and casualty (P&C) insurance policies to protect themselves and their families from unfortunate events. Additionally, the need for a seamless digital experience is growing, where customers like to get everything done from the comfort of their homes. With this growing trend came new business models developed to acquire new clients and drive revenues and profits. It also meant new client touchpoints with insurance providers, log-ins and passwords required for client servicing.

In parallel with these businesses’ growth, we have seen the demand and growth of digital capabilities grow over the past several years. With consumers’ lives becoming more dependent on digital platforms and experiences came more opportunities for fraud, online scams, and identity theft. Financial institutions are not immune to hackers or cyberattacks. Identity theft has become one of the top priorities for financial institutions as hackers’ fraudulent actions expose their client’s assets and increase the institution’s liabilities. Cybersecurity continues to be on top of mind for many financial institutions.