Three Access Control Technology Pillars Defining the Future-Ready Financial Institution

The convergence of technology, innovation, new regulation and security risks are rapidly changing banking security ecosystems. Typically, IT security is the main focus for mitigating these risks. However, physical security also plays a major role in preventing security breaches and shoring up an institution's image. In speaking to our financial services customers, three access control technology pillars are always at the forefront of our discussions, each driven by desired business outcomes and expectations of the future.

Pillar 1: Going Mobile

By 2020, Gartner Inc. estimates that 20 percent of physical access control solutions will be shaped by mobile technology and cloud architectures. Mobile access control IDs have the potential to fundamentally change how banks operate. They give employees the convenience of using their smartphones, tablets or wearable devices to do everything from accessing doors, gates and networks to opening electronic locks, securely releasing documents from the printer, purchasing snacks from the vending machine, and “punching in” to time and attendance systems. Available as a stand-alone capability or integral feature of an existing card-based system, solutions like HID Mobile Access® make it easy to manage employee access rights while taking advantage of automated flows that increase administrative efficiency for issuing and revoking mobile IDs. Powered by Seos®, HID Mobile Access delivers best-in-class cryptography for unrivaled data and privacy protection for access control. This also simplifies compliance to major privacy frameworks, such as GDPR and Privacy Shield, by ensuring that no personally identifiable information or financial data is stored.

Pillar 2: Location Services to Improve Governance and Situational Awareness

Real time location systems offer similarly transformative opportunities by enhancing area governance. This enables institutions to improve visibility and situational awareness, so they can ensure safety while protecting critical assets. Combining IoT solutions with predictive analytics, today’s location services solutions enable financial institutions to improve real-time visibility through knowing the precise location of assets, employees and visitors. Employees benefit from the ability to locate needed assets, and institutions gain valuable knowledge about building occupancy and employee location, so they can facilitate evacuations and emergency responses while also meeting requirements related to access policies, time-and-attendance logging and building safety. Precise real-time and proximity location capabilities make it significantly easier to manage who enters and exits the building, and to control where, when and why they can access specific areas and information resources.

Pillar 3: The Connected Security Ecosystem

Adding mobile access control and location services to standards-based physical access control systems gives financial institutions a solid foundation for incorporating other valuable risk-mitigation capabilities while enabling innovations in workplace experience. For instance, biometric authentication adds the ability to unequivocally validate a person’s identity for greater security and convenience, without adding complexity for the employee or customer. Personal Identity Verification (PIV) solutions can also be a valuable addition, giving banks an integrated solution for standards-compliant identity and credential management with the ability to use a single secure credential for accessing facilities and IT resources. An example is HID Global’s PIV Enterprise™ multi-factor authentication solution, which encompasses the entire identity lifecycle—from identity proofing and secure credential issuance through the retirement of the trusted secure credential. HID Global also offers PIV enablement solutions that permit financial institutions to meet any assurance level as defined by the US Federal Government. Learn more about how financial institutions can better mitigate risk in our white paper: Financial Institutions Require Future-Ready Physical Security Technologies. For more ways to power and protect the trusted identities in your organization, view our full portfolio of access control solutions. What do you think? Please share your thoughts with us via one of the social media channels below.