In attendance at Money20/20 Europe, we spoke to Ella Guiladi, Head of Strategy & Operations at Ericsson Mobile Financial Services, on the current challenges faced by the digital financial sector – including cybersecurity issues – while looking at the promise of a future where telco-fintech partnerships are more widely ubiquitous.
Cybersecurity and AI’s double edge
For Ella, cybersecurity remains a top concern for financial service providers. “We know that maybe 90% of all successful cyber attacks originate from regular simple phishing in the mail, but they’re so sophisticated,” she explains.
These attacks can compromise sensitive information and lead to significant business impacts.
Another growing threat is the exploitation of vulnerable APIs, which can compromise third-party integrations and potentially result in supply chain attacks. Ella also highlights the rise of AI-powered fraud, noting that “traditional fraud detection models are simply just not sufficient anymore.”
While artificial intelligence has been a major topic at industry events like Money20/20, discussions often focus on its potential to optimise operations and improve cost efficiencies. However, this technology has a double-edged nature.
“All the sophisticated models and things we can do to improve our operations could and are being used by tech-savvy hackers. If you know how to use LLMs and Gen AI models, you can carry out a successful hack,” Ella warns.
To combat these evolving threats, Ella stresses the need for investment in advanced cybersecurity measures. “We have to invest in cybersecurity and leverage intelligent models that can proactively detect and predict irregular patterns or unusual behaviours, and then build a secure system around that,” she says.
This proactive approach is crucial, as consumer trust is fundamental in financial services.
A convergence of fintech and telco
Notwithstanding today’s challenges in financial services, Ella hails the growing confluence of telecommunications and financial services.
Given the vast amount of customer data that telcos possess, this grants them a golden opportunity to deliver financial services in collaboration with fintech partners.
One area where this partnership is already bearing fruit is personal lending. Telcos and banks are collaborating to use telecom data as an alternative source for assessing credit risks.
This approach not only provides new revenue streams for telcos but also allows financial service providers to offer unprecedented levels of personalisation in their lending products.
Moreover, the scale of telecom operations offers financial services providers access to a much larger customer base than they could reach on their own.
“The scale of the telco is something that maybe financial services providers have never been able to reach themselves,” Ella adds.
She concludes: “The future is promising, and with the right investments and collaborations, we can create a secure and innovative financial ecosystem.”