--- title: How digital banking officially broke the bank description: Learn how digital banking disrupted the industry and reshaped financial services. Explore the challenges and opportunities in this evolving landscape. --- [Skip to content](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/how-digital-banking-officially-broke-the-bank#main-content) [![Master Logo - ColourWhite Landscape](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Master%20Logo%20-%20Colour%EF%80%A2White%20Landscape.png?width=178&height=40&name=Master%20Logo%20-%20Colour%EF%80%A2White%20Landscape.png "Master Logo - ColourWhite Landscape")](https://www.mirrorweb.com/) - [Unified Platform](https://www.mirrorweb.com/platform/) Show submenu for Unified Platform - [Mira - Supervision Agent](https://www.mirrorweb.com/mira) - [Website Archiving](https://www.mirrorweb.com/platform/website-archiving/) - [Email & Communication Archiving](https://www.mirrorweb.com/platform/email-archiving/) - [Social Media Archiving](https://www.mirrorweb.com/platform/social-media-archiving/) - [Mobile Archiving](https://www.mirrorweb.com/platform/mobile-archiving/) - Solutions Show submenu for Solutions - [By Industry](https://www.mirrorweb.com/industries/) Show submenu for By Industry - [Financial Services](https://www.mirrorweb.com/industries/financial-services/) - [Government](https://www.mirrorweb.com/industries/government/) - [Healthcare](https://www.mirrorweb.com/industries/healthcare-pharma/) - [Insurance](https://www.mirrorweb.com/industries/insurance/) - [Legal](https://www.mirrorweb.com/industries/legal/) - [Technology](https://www.mirrorweb.com/industries/technology/) - [By Use Case](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/) Show submenu for By Use Case - [Agentic Communications Supervision](https://www.mirrorweb.com/mira) - [Communication Capture](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/communication-capture/) - [Prevent Compliance Violations](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/prevent-compliance-violations) - [Audit-Ready Recordkeeping](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/audit-ready-automated-record-keeping/) - [Reduce Costs & Improve Efficiency](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/compliance-cost-efficiency/) - [Website Archiving](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/website-archiving/) - [By Channel](https://www.mirrorweb.com/channels/) Show submenu for By Channel - [Website](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/website-archiving/) - [Email](https://www.mirrorweb.com/channels/email/) - [Social Media](https://www.mirrorweb.com/channels/social-media/) - [Instant Messaging](https://www.mirrorweb.com/channels/instant-messaging/) - [Mobile](https://www.mirrorweb.com/channels/mobile/) - Why MirrorWeb Show submenu for Why MirrorWeb - [Customer Success](https://www.mirrorweb.com/case-studies) - [About Us](https://www.mirrorweb.com/why-mirrorweb/about) - [Careers](https://www.mirrorweb.com/careers/) - [Partnerships](https://www.mirrorweb.com/partnerships/) - Resources Show submenu for Resources - [Blog](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog) - [Events](https://www.mirrorweb.com/events) - [Help Center](https://help.mirrorweb.com/en/) - [Legal Resources](https://www.mirrorweb.com/help-centre/legal/) [Request a demo](https://www.mirrorweb.com/demo) [Login](https://my.mirrorweb.com/login) # How digital banking officially broke the bank [![](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hubfs/Blog_Author.png) MirrorWeb](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/author/mirrorweb) [Historic Content](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/tag/historic-content) Published: 02 Jun 2019 ![blog placeholder](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/mirrorweb-theme/images/blog-placeholder.jpg) #### Table of Contents [Contact Us](https://www.mirrorweb.com/contact/) Share ![how-digital-banking-officially-broke-the-bank](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/626279552e3a463d108e8637_how-digital-banking-officially-broke-the-bank.jpg) ***Bank security used to mean bulletproof glass, CCTV cameras and thick steel vault doors. And for a long time, the idea was to stop bank robbers from physically getting away with the money.*** However, the main threat for banks is no longer physical. Now it's about the criminals digitally getting their money into the banks. Anti Money Laundering (**AML**) procedures have been a part of financial services regulation for a long time and the emphasis has always been on identity verification. If you walked into a branch with a million pounds in a holdall to deposit, you’d have to prove it had come from legitimate sources and that you were who you’d said you were. However, with a laptop and a few hours to spare, a skilled criminal can now falsify an online identity with records, social media accounts and receipts (all fake) to ‘prove’ who they are. It doesn’t need to be a million pounds either, ill-gotten gains can be drip fed into accounts and quickly lost in the online sea of transactions. The problem is worsening, with the National Crime Agency receiving 463,938 Suspicious Activity Reports (**SARs**) in the 12 months to March 2018 – a **9.60% increase from the previous year**. Plus, these are just the suspicious transactions that were noticed. To give you a further idea of the scale of the problem, the US Treasury estimates **over $300 billion in illegal capital is laundered through the financial services industry** every year. Worryingly, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that less than 1% of this is seized or frozen. ## So, what's being done? More regulation has been introduced but the challenge really comes down to technology and its implementation in the field. For instance, the EU’s Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (**4MLD**) imposes strict compliance standards on financial institutions, intermediaries, lawyers, accountants and even estate agents whose clients may pose a money laundering risk. Under this new regulation, banks are no longer allowed to trust a single service provider for their know your customer (KYC) facilitation. Unfortunately, the adoption of tech innovation has never been the fastest in the world of financial services. A recent survey asked banks how they'd face a new corporate account being opened, one where the company director had links to other organisations that have politically exposed persons (**PEPs**) as shareholders. [98% of respondents said this customer should not be able to open this account without a risk assessment being made](https://www.bba.org.uk/news/insight/are-you-ready-for-4mld/), however, **46% said their systems and access to data wouldn’t have identified this potential risk**. This indicates a clear problem. (Source: Kompli & Global/BBA) ## Digital problems, digital solutions Although technology opens up more opportunities for criminals, it can also be used defensively by banks. Leading financial services firms have invested billions in technology specifically to manage compliance and strengthen online security. RegTech has become one of the highest priorities for financial services firms concerned about how they may be exposed in a digital world. To put that into context, [more than $9.5 billion has been invested in RegTech companies globally](https://fintech.global/more-than-9-5bn-has-been-invested-in-regtech-companies-globally-over-the-last-five-years/) over the last five years. As well as the opportunities technology presents, banks must be acutely aware of the risks they face and ensure they keep the regulators happy - time will tell how they continue to react. ## Read On ![blog placeholder](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/mirrorweb-theme/images/blog-placeholder.jpg) #### [How banking apps are winning back the British public](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/how-banking-apps-are-winning-back-the-british-public) [Read story](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/how-banking-apps-are-winning-back-the-british-public) [![](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/626289642d261fc323402a95_markus-spiske-hL8slYnc-bM-unsplash.jpg?width=352&name=626289642d261fc323402a95_markus-spiske-hL8slYnc-bM-unsplash.jpg)](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/popular-backup-software) #### [Popular Backup Software](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/popular-backup-software) Organizations use popular backup software programs to make copies of important files, databases, or... [Read story](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/popular-backup-software) ![blog placeholder](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/mirrorweb-theme/images/blog-placeholder.jpg) #### [Best practice in effective long-term data management: the FAIR principles | MirrorWeb](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/best-practice-for-long-term-data-management-fair-principles) [Read story](https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/best-practice-for-long-term-data-management-fair-principles) [![Master Logo - ColourWhite Landscape](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Master%20Logo%20-%20Colour%EF%80%A2White%20Landscape.png?width=178&height=40&name=Master%20Logo%20-%20Colour%EF%80%A2White%20Landscape.png "Master Logo - ColourWhite Landscape")](https://www.mirrorweb.com/) Stay Connected. Stay Compliant. #### Quick Links - [Communication Capture](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/communication-capture/) - [Prevent Compliance Violations](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/prevent-compliance-violations) - [Audit-Ready Recordkeeping](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/audit-ready-automated-record-keeping/) - [Supervising Digital Communications](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/supervised-digital-communication/) - [Reduce Costs & Improve Efficiency](https://www.mirrorweb.com/use-cases/compliance-cost-efficiency/) #### Find Us **North America** 701 Brazos St Suite 970 Austin, Texas 78701-3232 **United Kingdom** Manchester House 18-22 Bridge Street Manchester M3 3BZ #### Speak to us If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch! [Contact Us](https://www.mirrorweb.com/contact/) © MirrorWeb 2026 • [Terms](https://www.mirrorweb.com/help-centre/legal/terms/) | [Privacy Policy](https://www.mirrorweb.com/help-centre/legal/privacy-policy/) ![673cba813eccf634bab46632_Motherboard 300 x 300 signatory badge](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hs-fs/hubfs/673cba813eccf634bab46632_Motherboard%20300%20x%20300%20signatory%20badge.jpg?width=200&height=200&name=673cba813eccf634bab46632_Motherboard%20300%20x%20300%20signatory%20badge.jpg) ![65eeeb5ba22a2ed7014d4f4d_21972-312_SOC_NonCPA](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hs-fs/hubfs/65eeeb5ba22a2ed7014d4f4d_21972-312_SOC_NonCPA.png?width=200&height=200&name=65eeeb5ba22a2ed7014d4f4d_21972-312_SOC_NonCPA.png) ![64b658f3e0cbdcbe04e83981_27001 RGB Purple-p-500](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hs-fs/hubfs/64b658f3e0cbdcbe04e83981_27001%20RGB%20Purple-p-500.png?width=200&height=200&name=64b658f3e0cbdcbe04e83981_27001%20RGB%20Purple-p-500.png) ![64b6590db2301cbb306c2e34_9001 RGB Purple-p-500](https://www.mirrorweb.com/hs-fs/hubfs/64b6590db2301cbb306c2e34_9001%20RGB%20Purple-p-500.png?width=200&height=200&name=64b6590db2301cbb306c2e34_9001%20RGB%20Purple-p-500.png) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "MirrorWeb", "url" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/author/mirrorweb" }, "dateModified" : "2025-04-24T08:18:26.551Z", "datePublished" : "2019-06-02T05:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "How digital banking officially broke the bank", "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/blog/how-digital-banking-officially-broke-the-bank", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/hubfs/Offical%20Logos%20-%20Flat%20Colours%202024_Black%20Logo-1.png" }, "name" : "MirrorWeb, Inc." } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/#organization", "@type" : "Organization", "areaServed" : [ { "@type" : "Country", "identifier" : "US", "name" : "United States" }, { "@type" : "Country", "identifier" : "GB", "name" : "United Kingdom" } ], "contactPoint" : { "@type" : "ContactPoint", "areaServed" : [ "US", "GB" ], "contactType" : "sales", "url" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/demo" }, "description" : "MirrorWeb is the communications supervision platform for SEC- and FINRA-regulated financial services firms, unifying communications capture, archiving, and AI-native supervision.", "foundingDate" : "2012", "foundingLocation" : { "@type" : "Place", "name" : "Manchester, United Kingdom" }, "knowsAbout" : [ "communications supervision", "AI communications supervision", "electronic communications archiving", "email archiving", "SEC Rule 17a-4 compliance", "WORM storage", "FINRA Rule 3110 compliance", "Written Supervisory Procedures", "off-channel communications compliance", "BYOD archiving", "WhatsApp compliance", "mobile communications archiving", "social media archiving", "website archiving", "web content archiving", "FINRA Rule 2210 compliance", "SEC marketing rule compliance", "web changes tracking", "eDiscovery", "digital communications governance and archiving", "communications compliance software", "RegTech" ], "knowsLanguage" : [ "en" ], "legalName" : "MirrorWeb Inc.", "logo" : { "@id" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/#logo", "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/hubfs/master-logo.png" }, "name" : "MirrorWeb", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.linkedin.com/company/mirrorweb", "https://www.youtube.com/@mirrorweb", "https://www.g2.com/products/mirrorweb", "https://www.capterra.com/p/171780/Website-Social-Media-Archiving/", "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/mirrorweb" ], "slogan" : "The communications supervision platform.", "url" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/#website", "@type" : "WebSite", "name" : "MirrorWeb", "publisher" : { "@id" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/#organization" }, "url" : "https://www.mirrorweb.com/" } ```