Microsoft on Tuesday announced new capabilities within its Cloud for Financial Services platform aimed at assisting financial institutions (FIs) with compliance and delivering digital services.

FIs like Wells Fargo and National Australia Bank are already using the new platform to meet compliance needs using security controls, Bill Borden, corporate vice president of worldwide financial services at Microsoft, said during a Thursday webinar.

“The idea of secure, compliant platforms and how we build that into our capability sets, and how we consult individually with customers — but also consult with regulators and … the broader community across industry around how we view security — is super important,” Borden said.

Updated features to the cloud platform include:

• The ability to consult subject matter experts from Microsoft regarding compliance concerns;
• Access to cloud risk assessments;
• Access to virtual learning sessions and compliance-focused webcasts; and
• Proactive risk assurance via Microsoft experts.
• Addressing risk and compliance

The new cloud capabilities allow the tech giant to provide FIs the “digital capability required to succeed in today’s challenging economic and regulatory environments,” according to a Microsoft release.

In fact, the company estimates that cybercrimes such as ransomware and phishing attacks will cost the world $10.5 trillion annually by 2025.

So to help combat the increasing attacks, Microsoft has begun to rethink how it approaches the compliance and security needs of its customers, Borden said during the webinar. “We as a company have been very focused on [security]; we’ve actually made some investments and decisions around our product line where we didn’t used to think of ourselves as a cybersecurity technology company. But in essence, we really are,” he said.