2 min read
Cybersecurity used to sit in the background of financial services. Now it sits at the center of growth, innovation, and customer trust.
A recent Financial Post article examined this evolution and how platform-based financial institutions are redefining cybersecurity in connected payments ecosystems. The article featured perspectives from DCPayments President Pamela Draper and Digital Commerce Group’s Chief Technology Officer Paul Twigg on what it takes to build and preserve trust in a digital-first financial environment.
The shift is straightforward: as financial services become more interconnected, trust can no longer be treated as an internal or siloed function. It has become an ecosystem-wide responsibility.
As Draper noted in the article: “There are a lot of bad actors out there and the only way to effectively beat them is to team up together.”
That idea reflects a reality we see every day. Financial institutions, fintechs, payment providers, and technology partners are better connected through APIs, embedded finance models, and shared infrastructure. Operating confidently within this complex network requires visibility, collaboration, and infrastructure designed with security considerations in place from the outset and maintained continuously.
The article emphasized this principle using Twigg’s mantra, “With one cybersecurity incident you lose trust.”
That perspective reflects how trust is no longer established through promises alone. It must be reinforced through infrastructure, controls, and operational discipline. As Twigg has often noted, fraud is fundamentally an identity problem. The stronger the confidence in who is initiating and receiving a transaction, the stronger the foundation for trust across the payments ecosystem.
We embody that approach to security wholeheartedly. Rather than treating identity verification, fraud prevention, and compliance as standalone checkpoints, we embed them throughout the payment lifecycle. Our “KYC everywhere” philosophy and Compliance-as-a-Service capabilities are designed to help our partners verify identity, manage risk, and detect fraud in real time.
This approach becomes even more important as Canada prepares for real-time payments. Faster money movement creates new opportunities for businesses and consumers, but it also shortens the window to identify and stop fraudulent activity. As payment speeds increase fraud-fighting measures become even more critical components of the infrastructure itself. Trust must be present throughout the entire payments process and in place before a transaction even occurs, not after.
Cybersecurity cannot be singularly focused on protecting data and must enable participation, growth, and confidence across the digital economy. Trust is what makes that possible. It requires resilient infrastructure, intelligent fraud controls, and security practices that evolve alongside emerging threats.
But technology alone is not enough. Building trust also requires a commitment to helping clients navigate a more intricate payments landscape. This tenant is foundational to how we work with our partners and how we approach every payment experience we enable.
Read the full Financial Post article here: “Trust Is the Product: Why Canada’s Financial Platforms Are Redefining Cybersecurity.”