Fintech Partners Emerge for Cybersecurity Talent, Vendor Protection & Credit Risk Data

New tech partnerships could have some effect on credit unions in cybersecurity staffing and third-party protection; data analytics and credit risks, as well as the integration of artificial intelligence and personalization.

Mastercard, in partnership with Microsoft, Workday and the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service, launched the Cybersecurity Talent Initiative – a public-private partnership to provide highly qualified, recent graduates with professional experience across the public and private sectors and up to $75,000 in student loan assistance.

With more than 313,000 cybersecurity job openings in the U.S., the talent deficit is significant and the need for a skilled workforce steadily expanding. The Cybersecurity Talent Initiative plans to provide participants with a guaranteed two-year placement at a Federal Agency with cybersecurity needs, an invitation to apply for full-time positions with the corporate partners; and student loan assistance once hired. Participating federal agencies include the CIA, FBI, EPA, SBA, and the Departments of Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, and Veterans Affairs.

“Cybersecurity is a critical issue facing our world today. It will take a true collaboration between the public and private sectors to get the right resources in place to address the threat,” Ron Green, chief security officer, Mastercard, said.

San Jose, Calif.-based FICO and Atlanta-based Equifax, forming a strategic partnership, are introducing the Data Decisions Cloud, an end-to-end data and analytics suite addressing key needs across risk, marketing, and fraud, enables financial institutions to meet the needs of consumers faster and more precisely than before.

The Data Decisions Cloud integrates the Equifax Ignite platform differentiated data and analytic management, with FICO Cloud applications and the FICO Decision Management Suite. In addition, FICO and Equifax are planning to release three pre-built solutions later this year: a connected system for real-time access to raw and trended data, a compliance-as-a-service solution aimed at supporting anti-money-laundering and know your customer obligations, and an integrated pre-screen marketing automation solution that develops FCRA-compliant campaigns.

“Two industry leaders are joining forces to help financial institutions better meet the needs of consumers and improve business agility,” Mark W. Begor, CEO of Equifax, said. ““Our common mission is to empower financial institutions to leverage data-driven decisioning in all their customer interactions,” William J. Lansing, CEO of FICO said.

Silicon Slopes, Utah-based MX, a provider of financial data services and New York City-based Personetics, which offers artificial intelligence-powered personalization solutions used by financial institutions, announced a new technology partnership.

MX will utilize the Personetics AI engine to deliver a combination of clean, enriched and categorized data; and AI-powered, personalized, real-time insights and advice. The partnership aims to enable financial institutions to help customers improve their financial well-being by making better day-to-day financial decisions.

“Our partnership is driven by strong demand from financial institutions of all sizes that recognize the need to put advocacy at the center of the customer experience,” Ryan Caldwell, founder/CEO of MX, said. “Financial institutions are excited for the prospect of a packaged solution that combines the capabilities of the market leaders in data and AI with built-in integration and a SaaS option to streamline deployment and shorten time-to-market.”

“MX has been a major force in helping financial institutions build a foundation of trust in their data, which is critical to the success of advanced AI capabilities,” Jody Bhagat, president of Americas, Personetics, said. “The result is that more banks and credit unions can give their customers data-driven insights to make better decisions about their finances.”

Luxembourg based Vendorly, a vendor oversight platform provider for financial institutions, announced an agreement with Boston-based BitSight, which offers cybersecurity ratings. Vendorly is now an authorized reseller of BitSight Security Ratings, which can help Vendorly customers with the ability to scale their vendor risk management programs quickly and effectively, regardless of their current security posture.

Jim Vaca, SVP, Vendorly, said. “Organizations are often not capable of keeping up with the rapidly changing threat environment, let alone understanding the actual security performance of their critical vendors.” Matt Cherian, vice president of strategic partnerships, BitSight, held. “With companies increasingly outsourcing key business functions, managing vendor risk is critical to protecting a company’s most important assets.”