Covid-19 and Financial Institutions: Investments and change scenarios

Secursat estimates

The European banking system is undergoing a profound transformation process, accelerated by the Covid-19 crisis, which has significantly impacted on the methods of managing physical services, and on the cost structure of banks, resulting in the need to adapt to new models of safety and protection, with new technologies and management models to guarantee the provision of services through agencies, branches, bank branches etc.

Thanks to the digitized management of oversight activities, through the cloud platform Securweb 4.0 Secursat is able to monitor the trend and structure of costs related to the activities and estimate their evolution, with the aim of understanding how the response to a crisis situation on the part of Italian banking institutions impacts on the cost structure and to understand how to rethink risk and crisis management strategies.

According to estimates, considering the current Italian situation with, the partial opening of branches and offices on average, the Covid-19 measures involved in the March-May quarter an expenditure of between 30 and 35 M euros in Italy only for the '' use of extraordinary safeguards to ensure the provision of essential services, to which it is necessary to add any additional costs incurred in investments in technology, physical separation solutions, personal protective equipment, etc.

Further estimates, carried out by the Secursat team on the basis of the analysis of the average costs of approximately 1,000 branches / agencies of different sizes in Italy, showed that on average the presence in the branches led to an increase in the extra costs incurred each month by each bank which varies from 40% up to 60% more, depending on the size and number of branches left open.

These analyzes make it clear on the one hand the importance of having awareness and control especially in relation to extra costs, possible through the progressive digitization of activities, and on the other hand, the need to develop a different approach to the management process of security aimed at reducing operating costs per branch, in consideration of the constant and necessary attention to profitability on the part of credit institutions.

According to Secursat, therefore, it is necessary to rethink the general approach to the management of security services for credit institutions and beyond, reorienting the management model towards the outsourcing of non-core services also to guarantee business continuity and information security. , now not manageable internally especially for complex and capillary structures.