One of the most pressing issues facing companies in the
payments industry is how they handle their data. Since financial transactions
and services generate large amounts of data, financial institutions need to
have a robust system in place to effectively process, analyze, and store the
information.

Security is paramount, as the data is highly sensitive, and
hackers are constantly trying their utmost to access it. And due to how
valuable and sensitive the data is, companies must comply with a myriad of
government regulations dictating acceptable practices. It’s essential that
companies understand where their data comes from and how to maintain it
properly.

To learn more about the importance of data governance, data
management, and what solutions exist to help companies navigate the problems
associated with data handling, PaymentsJournal sat down with Adwat Joshi,
founder and CEO of DataSeers, and Tim Sloane, VP of Payments Innovation at
Mercator Advisory Group.

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During the conversation, Joshi and Sloane discussed
DataSeers’ five step approach to data governance, data management, data
security, and what data quality means. They also covered encryption, and the intersection
of encryption with authentication and authorization.

DataSeers’ approach
to data governance

Data governance is a major question facing the payments
industry. Regulators are increasingly scrutinizing how companies are governing
their data and whether they are doing so correctly. Even without the scrutiny
of regulators, solid data governance is vital for companies to be successful.

This is because bad data makes it challenging for companies
to use it effectively. “If I don’t have what I need, and it’s not in a good
format—it’s not right—then how can I ever do anything with it?” explained
Joshi.

One element of DataSeers’ approach is data profiling, which
entails reviewing the various data types to determine whether the data consists
of numbers, text, or a mix of the two. “It gives you a clear understanding of
who is sending what,” said Joshi, allowing companies to request that the data
get cleaned before being accepted by that company.

Data Governance

DataSeers’ solution also enables authentication,
authorization, and auditing. “We want to make sure that we authenticated
anybody who is trying to access the data,” said Joshi. Authorization means that
only people with proper permission to view data are allowed to do so.