For banking and finance industries, connectivity is more important than it has ever been, with secure and reliable connectivity being critical. Communications need to be assured not just for ATMs and Point of Sales transactions, but also between the institution’s headquarters, data centers and branches. There is a constant demand for more sites and more bandwidth to support the operational data and financial transactions in these networks.
Additionally, innovations such as mobile payments and mobile banking are shifting the focus from the traditional financial institutions network towards connectivity-based applications, especially in emerging markets.
Today, businesses, employees and end-users expect the permanent availability of networks and operational systems. Unreliable or unavailable connectivity for corporate applications and systems can result in revenue loss, increased operational cost and reduced customer satisfaction.
Satellite-based connectivity services can complement the available terrestrial infrastructure to bring the network connectivity to the right level to ensure good business continuity at reasonable cost. In regions where connectivity options are limited, satellite can easily provide reliable and secure network
connectivity to any remote location within its footprint.
For other locations, satellite connectivity can serve as very high availability back-up, or as a failsafe for disaster recovery connectivity. Satellite networks have the unique advantage of being completely independent of landline infrastructure, which can be vulnerable to accidental cable cuts or natural disasters.
Any type of network infrastructure needs to assure full security of data and transactions and the encryption of this needs to be assured, with network systems needing to meet corporate requirements and financial industry best practices, such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS).