GDPR has been a challenge for many businesses, especially those who don’t have a proper GDPR compliance framework to follow.
If you are operating in the fintech sector, you know how difficult it is to ensure GDPR compliance when dealing with customers and managing their data.
Not only is it difficult, it is a costly process as well if you don’t have the right tools and tricks. Collectively, the cost of GDPR compliance has exceeded $9 billion.
Thankfully, there are some great software solutions out there that make GDPR-compliance easy and help you keep user data safe and secure.
This article covers three of the best GDPR-compliance software solutions for fintech firms—regardless of whether you operate primarily online or through your physical presence.
These solutions ensure that your business meets most of the regulatory requirements of GDPR and its main principles of transparency, fairness, data minimization and more, while keeping the personal information of your users safe and secure.
Before we take you to these software solutions, let’s have a look at what GDPR is, and why its compliance is important for fintech businesses:
GDPR and its important principles
The GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation. Like the name suggests, this regulation is meant to ensure that data is protected in all sectors and industries.
It originated from the EU and was meant to replace the Data Protection Directive 1995.
GDP regulations are designed to protect the personal data of EU citizens—including what data is collected, who can access it, and how it’s used.
One of the curses that came tagged along with digital transformation is digital theives. Every 22 seconds, someone, somewhere in the world, has to suffer identity theft.
So, the prime motive of GDP regulations is to shield consumers against identity theft and other fraud.
It also gives them more control over their own data by requiring companies to entertain customers’ requests to know, alter, or delete the data they’ve collected about them through a process known as data subject access requests (DSAR).
GDPR also requires businesses to take specific steps to make sure that their data processing procedures and infrastructure are GDPR compliant.
In short, GDPR compliance means that your business is following the below mentioned important principles:
— Lawfulness, fairness and transparency: have a thorough understanding of what GDPR is, and mention the reason and type of data you collect from customers transparently.
— Purpose limitation: you can’t collect any user data without a legitimate purpose of doing so.
— Data minimization: only collect the data that is required for your legitimate purpose.
— Accuracy: you must take any corrective action to make sure that the data you collect is complete and accurate.
— Storage limitation: after your legitimate purpose is fulfilled, don’t store user data anymore unnecessarily.
— Integrity and confidentiality: it is your responsibility to ensure safety of the user data you’ve collected.
— Accountability: you must have proper documentation of all the data processing activities you’ve carried out.
Importance of GDPR compliance for fintech businesses
Fintech businesses need to ensure that they are GDPR compliant. Why? If they’re not, they could face hefty fines and reputational damage.
GDPR fines can be severe. The maximum fine for non-compliance can be up to €20 million or 4% of a company's annual turnover, whichever is greater.
These fines are just the beginning of the damage that GDPR non-compliance can cause.
Once you’re fined, you’ll be making headlines in the news and business papers. This costs you reputational damage which is far more severe than your actual financial damage.
Your current and potential customers would be reluctant to conduct business with you anymore as they would be unwilling to leave their personal data in wrong, unsafe hands.
Not only does it impact your direct sales, the worth of your company shares is also at stake. No new investors would be willing to sail on a sinking ship.
Your current shareholders may also want to sell out the shares of your company if they sense any risk ahead.
As a result, your shares will be floating in the market, with no one to buy them; hence, it’ll increase their supply in the market. As the demand will already be decreasing, your shares’ monetary value will start to decline.
Looks like a nightmare, right? That’s why GDPR-compliance is crucial for your fintech business. So, better remain GDPR-compliant and don’t ever head your business towards disaster.
3 of the best GDPR-compliance software
Now that you’re equipped with the basic understanding of GDPR, its important principles, and the importance of its compliance for your business, let’s take you to the software solutions that help you remain compliant.
If you go through the GDPR thoroughly, it’ll look like a highly challenging job to remain compliant with all of it. However, the software tools we’re about to introduce to you make compliance a piece of cake.
Each one of these tools help you remain GDPR compliant, but each has one or more unique superpowers that other tools lack.
So, go through them and decide which one to employ for your fintech business according to the tool’s cost and scalability
1. Osano—data subject access requests management tool
Osano is a comprehensive GDPR compliance management tool, but one of its impeccable features is data subject rights request management.
In the GDPR, any individual has the right to request a copy of the data a company has on them, or request that the data be erased.
Organisations need to respond to these requests in a timely manner, and be able to provide the data in a readable format. That’s what Osano helps you manage.
GDPR also requires all websites using cookies to obtain consent from visitors to store their data.
For websites that use cookies to track website analytics, storing user information, or collecting contact information, completing this requirement can be a challenge.
Luckily, you have the Osano consent management system to take care of this GDPR requirement as well.
Osano can also be your representative in the UK and EU, making you comply with GDPR’s article 27 that requires you to appoint a representative.
All in all, Osano is a comprehensive GDPR compliance tool you can rely on.
Plans and pricing
— Developer: FREE
— Business: €115.29/month or €96.07/month (paid annually)
— Business +: €230.59/month or €192.16/month (paid annually)
— Enterprise: custom pricing
2. Onetrust—GDPR-related gap analysis tool
The first step to prepare your business for GDPR compliance is to understand the current state of your data protection program. Onetrust helps you do GDPR-related gap analysis to identify any areas that require improvement.
Onetrust also helps you conduct PIA and DPIAs. It comes with pre-defined screening questionnaires that help you determine the risks and make the right decisions for your business.
GDPR requires businesses to keep records of processing activities (RoPA) they conduct, and Onetrust helps you automate this process.
Keeping RoPA not only helps you comply with GDPR, it is also helpful for your business as you can revisit your data processing activities whenever you want.
Moreover, third-party risk is a significant concern when it comes to GDPR compliance and vendor risk management. Onetrust helps you simplify third-party risk by conducting vendor due diligence.
Plans and pricing
— Custom pricing
3. Iubenda—quick GDPR compliance tool
What makes Iubenda a unique GDPR compliance tool is its quick features. As one of the leading software tools for GDPR compliance, Iubenda supports you in achieving GDPR compliance in minutes.
One of the best features that Iubenda offers is a privacy and cookie policy generator. This makes it easy for website owners to generate a legally compliant privacy and cookie policy in a few minutes, saving you a lot of time and cost.
Iubenda’s another excellent feature is terms and conditions generator. This GDPR-ready terms and conditions generator helps you to create a legally compliant document that reflects your data processing activities, again, in a few minutes.
As mentioned earlier, one of the GDPR requirements is having records of processing activities. Iubenda also helps you have a thorough RoPA to remain compliant with GDPR.
The GDPR also requires that businesses have informed, specific, and unambiguous consent from visitors before they collect their personal data. For that, Iubenda helps you manage users’ consent preferences.
Plans and pricing
— Personal: $29/year
— Business: $9/month
— Business plus: $22/month
GDPR and best software solutions to comply with it
Fintech businesses are required to be GDPR compliant. They must ensure that they are protecting the data of EU citizens.
GDPR compliance is an ongoing process, and businesses must remain vigilant about it.
We hope this article helped you better understand what GDPR is and how you can ensure that your business is compliant.
If you are operating in the fintech sector, these are some great software solutions that can help you remain GDPR compliant while keeping user data secure and protected.
Author’s bio
Saifullah Napar is a content writer who has worked in this field for the past three years. He has been writing on business technology, blockchain, fintech, and digital marketing topics. (LinkedIn)
