The use of cloud computing technology by banks and non bank financial institutions (FIs) are rising as it improves operational efficiency, saves costs, improves scalability and enhances security.
Scalability is the measure of a system's ability to increase or decrease in performance and cost in response to changes in application and system processing demands.
This technology is helping financial institutions to cut capital expenditure and operational expenditures.
Asked, a senior Bangladesh Bank (BB) official said that cloud computing technology requires no big investments in hardware, software, maintenance and frees resources for other critical initiatives.
He described flexibility as a key factor for adopting cloud computing technology. Financial institutions can now effortlessly scale their computing resources up or down, according to their requirements, he said.
This is particularly advantageous during peak demand hours or for launching new products or services, to cater to the growing needs of their customers.
Cloud-based solutions facilitate seamless collaboration and mobility, he said.
Cloud computing technology enables financial institution employees to access data and applications from anywhere, using a device with internet connection.
This technology has not only improved collaboration among teams but also remote work, boosting productivity and efficiency, he said.
The BB official said amid growing concerns about data security, cloud computing provided a reassuring solution to financial institutions.
BB issued guidelines for using this technology requiring financial institutions to follow strictly, he said.
City Bank Limited's Deputy Managing Director and Chief Information Officer Kazi Azizur Rahman said banking sector now depends on digital platform as it helps customers.
"Once banks adopted technologies for their use only but now we are providing digital banking tools to the customers so that they can transact themselves with not need to come to banks to save their time, " he said.
"Cloud based digitalisation brought a big change in dealings from traditional ways", he said, adding, "it helps banks in shedding pressure and lowering operational expenditure."
He said that the use of cloud computing technology enables banks not to open branches or employ more people.
Asked about its safety he said, 'We follow the central bank's guidelines to avert cyber hacking or breaches in operations."
Though cloud service providers offer security, including encryption, access controls, and disaster recovery options it is imperative for banks and non bank financial institutions in Bangladesh to take measures to protect their own financial operations and in storing data so that no one can breach the firewall and can't get unauthorised access, he added.
Another senior banker said cloud computing has revolutionised business continuity and disaster recovery for financial institutions.
With data replicated and stored across multiple geographical locations, financial institutions can swiftly restore critical services in the event of an outage or disaster, he said.
This ensures that customer services remain uninterrupted, instilling trust and confidence in the financial sector, he added.
Cloud computing technology offers compliance-ready solutions that cater to the stringent regulatory frameworks governing financial institutions, he said, adding, it enables institutions to follow data privacy regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).
