Master EDI Financial Services—With Managed SFTP

In financial services, EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) streamlines and standardizes funds transfers, securities trading, compliance reporting, and so much more. EDI promotes transactional precision and accelerates financial workflows—yet it also introduces considerable risks in terms of data security and regulatory compliance.

Managed SFTP, like SFTP To Go, can be integrated with your existing or planned Financial EDI provider to meet these challenges. It offers an encrypted, dependable channel for transmitting sensitive financial data, effectively shoring up the gaps in traditional EDI systems. 

This integration opens a new level of security and operational performance, aligning with the financial sector's strict regulatory standards, safeguarding data from breach, and introducing powerful data automation and data management features.

Run and Monitor Scheduled Tasks on your Favorite Apps

Cron To Go simplifies the monitoring, alerting, and management of your cron jobs' performance, uptime, and status - ensuring seamless operation.

Understanding EDI in financial services

In this sector, EDI covers everything from payments processing to regulatory reporting, and financial institutions depend on it for speed—but also for precision and reliability.

Standardized protocols at the heart of financial sector EDI, like ANSI X12, EDIFACT, and ISO 20022, bring a common language for diverse financial processing, enabling consistency and compatibility across global financial systems. 

These standards support a multitude of financial services EDI transactions, including:

• Payment order/remittance advice (EDI 820)
• Trade finance and services (EDI 849)
• Securities trade and settlement information (EDI 540)
• Financial information reporting (EDI 821)
• Lockbox (EDI 823)
• Student loan guarantee result (EDI 139)
• Student loan transfer and status verification (EDI 144)
• Secured interest filing (EDI 154)
• Credit/debit adjustment (EDI 812)
• Debit authorization (EDI 828)
• Payment cancellation (EDI 829)
• Purchase order (EDI 850)
• Purchase order acknowledgment (EDI 855)
• Advance ship notice (EDI 856)
• Financial return notice (EDI 827)

Of course, with ever increasing cyber threats and their resultant regulatory demands, traditional EDI systems in financial services face challenges.

The challenges with traditional EDI solutions in financial services

Despite their many benefits, EDI systems in the financial sector can fall short of evolving standards in data protection—which evolve in response to security issues and ever-escalating cybercrime. 

For financial services industry EDI, the challenges include:

• Security vulnerabilities in financial data exchanges: EDI systems can be susceptible to cyberattacks, risking sensitive financial data and compromising client trust. The lack of robust encryption and secure data handling mechanisms in some traditional systems can expose financial transactions to unauthorized access.
• Compliance with financial regulations: Financial institutions must adhere to a stringent regulatory landscape. EDI solutions may lack the advanced features required to fully comply with these financial regulations, with potential financial and legal repercussions.
• Integration complexities with financial systems: Integrating EDI with legacy financial systems, trading platforms, and banking networks can be challenging. These complexities hinder seamless data exchange and process automation.
• Scalability and interoperability challenges: As financial transactions increase in volume and complexity, EDI systems often struggle to scale efficiently. Additionally, interoperability issues between disparate EDI systems can impede seamless data flow and hinder financial operations.
• Fraud and error management: In the financial sector, the risks of transactional fraud and processing errors are dire. EDI systems may not have the advanced monitoring and control mechanisms necessary to detect and prevent these issues effectively, thereby increasing the risk of financial loss and regulatory non-compliance.

Introducing managed SFTP for secure financial data exchange

Integrating Managed SFTP, like SFTP To Go, into financial EDI systems is an effortless way to fortify transactional integrity, protecting data in transit and at rest, and addressing the specific challenges faced by the financial services industry.

Managed cloud SFTP brings secure encryption and authentication mechanisms, essential for protecting sensitive financial transactions and client data. 

SFTP To Go enhances financial EDI systems with:

• End-to-end encryption and protocol support:  secure access protocols (SFTP, FTPS, S3, HTTPS) guard financial data against unauthorized access, ensuring secure transactions from initiation to completion.
• Amazon S3 storage integration: Employs Amazon S3's highly durable and secure storage solutions, with server-side encryption (SSE) to protect data at rest, thus maintaining financial records' integrity and confidentiality.
• Compliance support: SFTP To Go aids in meeting rigorous financial regulations such as SOX. Its comprehensive features, including audit trails, access controls, and data integrity checks, help financial institutions comply with these stringent standards.
• Automated file transfers: Enhances efficiency by automating the exchange of financial EDI transactions, minimizing the risk of manual errors and streamlining operational processes.
• Scalability and flexibility: Adapts to the growing and changing demands of financial data exchange, offering scalable solutions that evolve with the institution's needs without compromising security or compliance.
• Interoperability: Facilitates seamless data exchanges between disparate financial systems and platforms, promoting cohesive and efficient financial operations.
• High availability and reliability: Designed for continuous operation, SFTP To Go ensures that financial data is consistently accessible, supporting vital financial services and transactions without downtime.
• Easy file management: An intuitive web portal ensures secure access from anywhere in the world, and easy file management options.
• Disaster recovery: In the unlikely event of downtime, SFTP To Go brings advanced disaster recovery capabilities, so financial operations can quickly resume after interruptions, with options to continue uploads and downloads without the need to restart.

Integrating SFTP To Go with your financial EDI system

Assessment and planning:

• Before integration, evaluate your current financial EDI setup to understand the workflow, transaction types, and potential security gaps. 
• Identify key stakeholders and resources needed for the process.

Choosing the right plan:

• SFTP To Go offers plans tailored to various financial service needs, accommodating different data volumes, user counts, and feature requirements. 
• Choose a plan that complements your organizational scale and data exchange demands.

Setting up your SFTP To Go account:

• Register for SFTP To Go, configuring settings to match security and encryption standards, ensuring they align with financial regulations like SOX.

Integration with EDI systems:

• Employ SFTP To Go's APIs and SDKs for smooth integration with your existing financial EDI software, adaptable across multiple programming languages and IT environments. 
• Configure your EDI system to route data exchanges through SFTP To Go's servers. This typically involves setting up SFTP endpoints within your EDI software and entering the credentials provided by SFTP To Go.

Data mapping and automation:

• Ensure transferred files meet the EDI transaction requirements through precise data mapping. 
• SFTP To Go's automation features will allow you to schedule regular data transfers and synchronize files between your systems and partners, minimizing manual interventions and reducing the risk of errors.

Testing and validation:

• Thoroughly test the integrated system to confirm secure data transmission and accurate EDI transaction handling, ensuring compliance with financial standards.

Training and documentation:

• Train relevant personnel in using the new system, emphasizing security, monitoring, and troubleshooting. 
• Document the integration process and operational guidelines for future reference and compliance.

Ongoing monitoring and support:

• Use SFTP To Go’s monitoring and analytics tools to oversee data exchanges, maintaining performance and swiftly addressing issues. 
• Access SFTP To Go’s support resources, including documentation and customer service, for operational smoothness and problem resolution.

In conclusion

Financial data systems must maintain compliance, protect data, and streamline operations. It’s a time sensitive, risky industry, and data transfer and storage represents a prime potential inroad for cybercrime. 

Traditional EDI frameworks often struggle to keep pace with evolving threats and regulatory demands. SFTP To Go can integrate seamlessly with most existing or planned EDI systems and fill these gaps with secure, compliant, and efficient financial services data transfer and storage.

On top of features like Amazon S3's scalable storage, automated data handling, and stringent security protocols, SFTP To Go effortlessly aligns with the dynamic requirements of financial institutions. It's an ideal choice for firms aiming to modernize their data exchange processes while maintaining rigorous industry standards.

What’s more, SFTP To Go’s complementary feature list, including reliable, scalable storage, automation features, intuitive web portal access, branding and customizability,  and powerful data security infrastructure, are easy to integrate with your existing or planned EDI system.

If you haven’t chosen an EDI provider yet, we recommend you read our post on this year’s top EDI providers, all of which integrate seamlessly with our product.

Cloud FTP with maximum security and reliability

SFTP To Go offers managed cloud storage service - highly available, reliable and secure. Great for companies of any size, any scale.