SMEs ‘need all the help they can get' with GDPR and Dora rules, says SumUp compliance chief
Ms Gillanders works with Irish SMEs to help them manage their finances and stay on top of new regulations around issues such as risk management and cyber security.
'It's evident that small businesses are struggling – with the cost of living increasing and the cost of running a business higher than ever. Especially with the really small merchants that we work with, it can be super challenging,' she said.
'These businesses are ready for new regulations, it's just challenging because a lot of them would be one-man bands trying to juggle all the aspects of running a business, which is harder than ever now.'
Ms Gillanders expects that AI, GDPR regulations and Dora, which came into effect this year, will be some of the greatest challenges. Dora, or the Digital Operational Resilience Act, are new regulations for tech and financial companies to prevent cyber risks through clear-cut rules around risk management, classification and reporting of cyber incidents.
'My background is in risk management – my philosophy is that you can't manage what you don't know about. For SMEs who have staff, creating awareness around those requirements and the importance of following them can be really important,' she said.
'The biggest impact of getting these regulations right can be the question of trust – customers need to trust the tools you offer them, it's about being able to rely on your payment-service provider. If a business fails and that trust is broken, it's really hard to get it back.'
In her role, Ms Gillanders supports product-development teams and technology teams in fintech organisations to understand their obligations.
She thinks an important step is to ensure companies are aware of the resources available to them.
'We need to focus on helping SMEs understand what resources are already available to them – it's all there online, business owners can network and find those tools that will help them,' she said
ADVERTISEMENT
'Going forward, businesses also need to catch up on AI governance. We also need to look at data privacy and security, to ensure that customers are comfortable if they're using these tools to manage compliance.'
SumUp's work to bring companies up-to-date with these regulations falls under its 'merchant care' services.
Having spent over four years working on the risk-management strategy SumUp offers, Ms Gillanders finds that fintech is changing as a sector.
'The idea of fintech really appeals to me. I've run a small business as a hairdresser, I've worked across different sides of the corporate banking world at the Bank of Ireland, CitiBank and PTSB before I joined SumUp in 2020,' she said. 'I think the sector is changing, there's a real focus on women, and ensuring that diversity and inclusion is here to stay. Ultimately, that helps us stay ahead of the curve.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
European markets fall back as they await outcome of summit on Ukraine
European shares came off multi-month highs on Friday, as declines in heavyweight tech and financial shares offset gains from some corporate earnings. Meanwhile, investors monitored a crucial summit between US president Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over Ukraine. Investors hope the meeting could pave the way for a resolution of the Ukraine war, which has raged since February 2022. Dublin The Dublin market ended the week on a positive note, closing up half a per cent. Financial stocks were mixed on the day, with AIB and Bank of Ireland both edging lower by almost half a per cent each, while Permanent TSB was flat and insurer FBD gained 2.5 per cent to close at €14.35. READ MORE Food groups Kerry and Glanbia were both marginally lower, with Kerry down 0.13 per cent and Glanbia shedding 0.14 per cent. Insulation specialist Kingspan ended the week 1.7 per cent higher. Travel stocks rose, with Ryanair up 1.7 per cent and closing the day at €26.75. Shares in ferries group Irish Continental gained 1.45 per cent, closing the week at €5.60. London The FTSE 100 fell back after hitting a new all-time high to close lower on Friday. This was amid caution ahead of the US-Russia peace summit, hints of more tariffs and weak US consumer sentiment. The index closed down 38.34 points, 0.4 per cent, at 9,138.90. It had earlier reached an all-time intra-day high of 9,222.07. The FTSE 250 ended down 43.43 points, 0.2 per cent, at 21,758.24, and the AIM All-Share finished 0.86 of a point higher, 0.1 per cent, at 759.80. On the FTSE 100, mining stocks rose despite weak data from China. Anglo American rose 2.1 per cent, Glencore climbed 1.8 per cent and Antofagasta 1.2 per cent on hopes the soft figures will spark action from Chinese authorities. On a quiet day for company news, Associated British Foods ended up 0.2 per cent after confirming the acquisition of Hovis Group from private equity firm Endless. AB Foods plans to combine Hovis with its existing Allied Bakeries division to create a 'profitable UK bread business that is sustainable over the long term'. Europe The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed 0.1 per cent lower, after hitting a near five-month high earlier in the session. Aerospace and defence stocks fell 0.8 per cent ahead of the US-Russia summit on Ukraine. Technology stocks fell 0.6 per cent, weighing on the STOXX 600 index. ASML, the world's biggest supplier of computer chip-making equipment, fell 1 per cent after US peer Applied Materials lowered its fourth-quarter earnings forecast due to weak demand in China and impacts from tariff uncertainty. The Dutch firm had issued a similar warning in mid-July, saying it might not achieve its 2026 growth forecast. Chip stocks BE Semiconductor and ASMI dropped 3.3 per cent and 2.8 per cent, respectively. Healthcare shares, which have taken a beating this year from uncertainty around Trump's pharma tariffs, were on track for a recovery. The healthcare index logged its seventh consecutive session of gains, its longest streak since late January. Regional bourses were mixed, with Germany's DAX and the UK's FTSE declining, while France's CAC and Spain's IBEX posted gains. New York The Dow hit a record high earlier in the session, becoming the last of Wall Street's main indexes to soar to a new peak. Benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were losing ground, dragged down by technology, utilities and financials stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.09 per cent, the S&P 500 fell 0.25 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.36 per cent. Shares in Intel jumped more than 2 per cent by lunchtime on Friday, following a 7 per cent bounce the previous day, after reports that the Trump administration had discussed an unusual move to acquire an ownership stake as part of a plan to revive the troubled US chipmaker. Shares of UnitedHealth Group surged more than 13 per cent on Friday after billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway bought five-million shares of the company, providing a shot in the arm for investors who think the health conglomerate will turn around under its new CEO. - Additional reporting: Reuters, PA
Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Michael Johnson apologises as troubled Grand Slam Track misses payments to athletes again
Grand Slam Track founder Michael Johnson has apologised for missing payments to athletes and said the event would not go ahead in 2026 unless a solution was found. The league, which is in its inaugural season, reportedly owes competitors millions of dollars in appearance fees and prize money, and in June the fourth and final meet on the calendar - scheduled for Los Angeles - was cancelled. In a statement on Friday, Johnson said the company was "struggling with our ability to compensate" athletes due to not receiving promised funding. "It is incredibly difficult to live with the reality that you've built something bigger than yourself while simultaneously feeling like you've let down the very people you set out to help. However, I have to own that," the former Olympic champion said. "And yes, the cruellest paradox in all of this is we promised that athletes would be fairly and quickly compensated. Yet, here we are struggling with our ability to compensate them. "We were devastated when we learned we would not receive the funding committed to us. We worked tirelessly alongside our investors and board to find a quick solution to the problem. "Up until and even after the LA postponement, we were getting positive signs that a solution was close." Johnson said Grand Slam was now working to put new systems in place with the aim to ensure this did not happen again in the future. He added: "While I am no stranger to setbacks and overcoming obstacles, as an athlete, professionally and personally, this current situation of not being able to pay our athletes and partners has been one of the most difficult challenges I've ever experienced. "The 2026 season will not happen until these obligations are met - and that is my number one priority." Irish Olympians Andrew Coscoran and Sharleen Mawdsley are among those who who prizemoney over the course of the three meetings which did take place. Coscoran hit what was supposed to have been the biggest pay day of his career in the Florida meeting, awarded $50,000 as the runner-up in the combined long-distance category. He followed that up by winning $12,500 in Philadelphia for a fourth-place finish in the 3000m. Sprinter Mawdlsey won $15,000 for her sixth-place finish in the sprints category at the same event.
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
Laya Healthcare to increase prices by 4.5% from October
Laya Healthcare is to increase prices by an average of 4.5 per cent from the beginning of October. The Irish health insurance provider, which has more than 700,000 customers, blamed higher demand for private and high-tech healthcare and said that new advances in medical technology were increasing costs. The increase comes following a separate increase in premiums of 6.6 per cent at the beginning of April, and a 6.5 per cent increase in October 2024. Ten existing plans will be retired from the start of October, with customers on those plans to be contacted by the company. The insurer said it will be introducing a number of new plans in their place. READ MORE Laya said that some plans would see reduced premiums, such as its Signify plan where prices for adults are set to decrease by 1 per cent and 25 per cent for children. Its Core Connect plan has also decreased in cost. [ Laya to hike health insurance prices by 6.6% on average Opens in new window ] 'The cost of delivering healthcare is going up across the world, and Ireland is no exception,' the managing director of Laya Healthcare, DO O'Connor said. 'Demand for health services is at an all-time high, particularly in the private and high-tech hospital settings where we're seeing a 14.8 per cent increase in 2025 claim costs [year-to-date] when compared to last year.' The insurance company boss said that advances in medical technology, while 'welcome improvements' come at the 'highest cost we've seen in over 25 years'. 'Our product review aims to strike a careful balance between delivering fast access to healthcare while safeguarding affordability of cover for our members,' he said, reiterating the company's commitment to giving its members faster access to healthcare. Commenting on the increase, health insurance expert Dermot Goode said the increase was 'expected' in line with the company's 'previous trends of increasing rates twice per year', in April and in October. 'It appears that all insurers are still struggling to contain these costs especially as members want access to the new emerging treatments, drug therapies and technology,' he said. Mr Goode said that 'more increases are expected as insurers look to review their rates in advance of the peak renewal period when half the market or about 1.25 million members look to renew their cover.' 'Members need to be wary of these average figures as the actual increase on their plan may be significantly higher,' he said.
