Jack Henry Banking is deploying SecurePort, a solution that seeks to help banks provide end-users with timely access to their accounts, in case bank systems fail. Jack Henry Banking is the banking division of core provider Jack Henry & Associates.

Backing up critical customer account data each night by managing their vault or using a service provider is standard procedure for financial institutions. SecurePort moves critical data into a secure vault that is encrypted, unchangeable, and completely separated from the bank’s infrastructure and resiliency planning, with a designated restoration platform.

“We were happy to be an early adopter of it because we value that protection,” Dennis D. Stephens, senior vice president and information systems manager at Meadows Bank, told Bank Automation News. The community-based bank in Las Vegas, N.V., with $1.2 billion in assets, is betting on the system to protect its customers at a critical moment.

“We see it as just another way to give our customers access to their data in the event of a catastrophe. We don’t have to do it, but we feel it’s the responsibility, and something we want to do and add that protection for our customers,” Stephens said.

Missouri-based Jack Henry, said SecurePort is the core provider’s only Sheltered Harbor Solution available that uses the Amazon S3 Glacier, an online file storage web service, as its vaulting provider. The data is stored in at least three geographically dispersed zones, providing 99.99% durability, and can restore in 30 minutes or less. The new solution is available to banks using the automated SilverLake System banking platform. Approximately 1,700 financial institutions will have access to SecurePort in 2022, according to a release from Jack Henry.

Stephens described Meadows’ move to SecurePort “as a pretty smooth transition,” adding that “it allows us to run our bank, should SilverLake be unavailable to us.”

“Jack Henry is vaulting our data every night for us. It just happens automatically, so that gives us a good sense of security,” Stephens said. “Again, for that catastrophic failure event, we hope that never happens, but if it does, at least we’ve got that assurance that it’s there. And so, on top of what we’re already doing with Jack Henry doing their nightly backups, this again provides just another way to access the data to give our customers access to funds if we, for whatever reason, had any event.”

What’s more, the new solution is one that allows the community bank to build confidence with its customers, he added.

“Our customers can still access their funds, and it builds confidence not only in us as a bank but also in the banking system,” Stephens said.

Shares of Jack Henry & Associates Inc. [JKHY] were trading down 1.2% to $168.76 at market close Sept. 17, 2021.

[Editor’s Note: This article was updated Sept. 17, 2021.]