Fintech security — PCI, SOC 2, and the specific threats that matter
Fintech introduces two layers beyond SaaS baseline: payment-card handling (PCI-DSS) and the heightened threat model of money movement. Fraud, account takeover, and insider risk are primary concerns.
Top security risks
Payment-card data handling
PCI-DSS compliance is non-negotiable if you handle PAN. Best practice: do not handle PAN — use Stripe / Finix / similar and stay SAQ A.
Account takeover at scale
Credential stuffing is the #1 fintech attack vector. MFA everywhere is table stakes.
Insider abuse of money-moving APIs
Employees with money-moving access are an insider-threat profile. Segregation of duties + two-person approvals.
Fraudulent KYC bypass
AI-generated fake IDs are increasingly good. Liveness checks + document verification.
Regulatory context
PCI-DSS (payment cards), SOC 2 (general), state money-transmitter licenses (US), PSD2 (EU), BSA/AML, GLBA (US), and increasingly AI-fairness regulations for credit/underwriting decisions.
Checklist
- PCI-DSS scope minimized via Stripe-class tokenization
- SOC 2 Type 2 within year 1
- MFA enforced on every account including customers
- Two-person approval on high-value flows
- Audit log of every money-moving API call
- Fraud-detection integration (Stripe Radar / Sift / Unit21)
- KYC provider with liveness detection
Fintech buyers and regulators both want explicit risk-based controls documented. SOC 2 is the start; ongoing penetration testing (quarterly) is the expected continuous posture.