Protecting customer information is becoming increasingly critical in Australia’s fast-evolving financial services landscape. According to the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s Annual Cyber Threat Report 2024, the agency responded to over 1,100 cybersecurity incidents during the financial year, with the financial services sector ranking among the top ten most affected industries. As financial organisations handle vast amounts of sensitive personal and financial data, achieving a high standard of cybersecurity and compliance is essential for maintaining trust and ensuring long-term growth.
One of the most recognised global standards in this space is SOC 2, a framework designed to help organisations manage and secure data with a focus on trust and transparency. For fintech firms operating in Australia’s regulated and competitive environment, SOC 2 certification can be a major differentiator.
SOC 2, short for System and Organization Controls 2, is a cybersecurity compliance standard developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). It’s designed to evaluate how well an organisation safeguards customer data, particularly when that data is stored and processed in the cloud.
A SOC 2 attestation report, otherwise known as a SOC 2 certification, provides assurance that your company has implemented appropriate controls aligned with specific Trust Services Criteria (TSCs) to manage data securely and protect the interests of both clients and stakeholders. Frameworks such as SOC 2 enable organisations to demonstrate commitment to cybersecurity and enhance resilience.
Benefits of SOC 2 certification:
Strengthened security posture: Robust controls prevent operational disruptions and data breaches
Improved customer trust: Demonstrates your commitment to protecting client data
Competitive advantage: Proves your business meets strict industry standards
Effective risk management: Helps identify and mitigate security threats
Streamlined regulatory compliance: Aligns with Australian regulatory frameworks like APRA CPS 234 and global financial regulations like DORA
At the core of SOC 2 are the five Trust Services Criteria (TSCs)—a set of principles used to assess how effectively an organisation safeguards customer data and ensures the integrity and availability of its systems. These criteria form the foundation of any SOC 2 audit, and while only the Security TSC is mandatory, organisations can choose to include the others based on their business and compliance needs.
The Security TSC focuses on protecting systems and data from unauthorised access and potential damage. It encompasses a set of Common Criteria (CC1 to CC9), which include areas such as governance, risk assessment, access controls, monitoring, and change management.
Example controls: Information security policies, multi-factor authentication, firewalls, vulnerability management, and security incident reporting procedures
Security is the baseline for all SOC 2 reports and ensures a strong, proactive foundation for managing risk.
This principle evaluates whether systems are operating reliably and are accessible when needed. It focuses on performance monitoring, disaster recovery, and business continuity planning.
Example controls: Business continuity and disaster recovery plans, capacity management, and failover systems
These controls help ensure uninterrupted service delivery, which is critical for fintech platforms reliant on real-time data and transactions.
Confidentiality covers the protection of sensitive information—such as intellectual property, contracts, or internal communications—that is restricted to specific users or roles.
Example controls: Role-based access control, encryption, and data classification and handling policies
Maintaining confidentiality is especially important for fintech companies managing proprietary algorithms, partner agreements, or sensitive client records.
Processing Integrity ensures that system processing is complete, valid, accurate, timely, and authorised. It relates to how data is input, processed, stored, and delivered or accessed within your systems.
Example controls: Automated error checks, quality assurance procedures, and transaction monitoring
By fulfilling this TSC, fintech companies can ensure their financial transactions and automated processes remain trustworthy and error-free.
Finally, the principle of Privacy relates specifically to the collection, use, retention, disclosure, and disposal of personal information. This includes how your organisation aligns with privacy laws and manages individual rights.
Example controls: Privacy notices and consent mechanisms, vendor data processing agreements (DPAs), and data minimisation and retention policies
With increasing regulatory focus on data privacy globally (like the Australian Privacy Act and GDPR), aligning with this TSC demonstrates commitment to ethical data use and transparency.
Achieving SOC 2 compliance is a multi-stage process that involves planning, implementation, and a formal audit (SOC 2 examination) conducted by an independent Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or authorised firm. Understanding the full scope of the audit process is crucial to ensure a smooth and successful certification journey.
The SOC 2 audit process varies depending on the type of SOC 2 report your organisation would like to attain. An audit for a SOC 2 Type 1 report evaluates the design of your controls at a specific point in time, while a SOC 2 Type 2 report provides an assessment of the operational effectiveness of your controls over a period of time, usually between 3 and 12 months. Evidence requirements will also vary for each type of SOC 2 report.
Rigorous control testing, comprehensive documentation, and internal audits are crucial for a successful SOC 2 audit.
Australia’s fintech industry is thriving, with a sharp focus on innovation, digital transformation, and customer-centric financial services. However, this growth comes with heightened cybersecurity risks and stricter compliance expectations. Regulatory bodies like ASIC and APRA have already put cybersecurity and operational resilience under the spotlight, especially through standards such as CPS 234, which mandates robust controls for information security.
While SOC 2 is not an Australian regulatory requirement, it aligns closely with local expectations and helps fintechs:
Demonstrate mature security practices to partners, regulators, and investors
Enhance trust with enterprise clients and global stakeholders
Facilitate partnerships with banks and financial institutions that demand evidence of strong security postures
Support international expansion where SOC 2 compliance is a common prerequisite
SOC 2’s focus on trust, transparency, and risk-based security makes it especially well-suited to the needs of fintechs. As digital-first businesses that often operate in the cloud and manage high volumes of sensitive financial data, Australian fintech companies benefit from SOC 2’s flexible and scalable control framework.
Leveraging compliance automation can dramatically reduce the complexity, time, and cost associated with achieving and maintaining SOC 2 certification—especially for fast-growing fintechs. 6clicks offers an end-to-end, AI-powered platform to simplify and accelerate your SOC 2 journey, providing robust functionality to streamline compliance and audit readiness:
SOC 2 readiness assessment: Verify control effectiveness in real time and get instant alerts and recommendations by conducting automated tests using our Continuous Control Monitoring feature. Meanwhile, our Audit & Assessment capability quips you with ready-to-use templates to help you evaluate your current controls, policies, and processes against SOC 2 requirements.
SOC 2 gap analysis: Identify compliance gaps in seconds using Hailey AI, which automatically maps your existing controls to SOC 2 criteria—saving time and reducing human error.
SOC 2 policy and control development: Harness the power of AI to fast-track policy and control creation. Hailey AI can instantly generate policies by analysing external requirements from authority documents such as the SOC 2 framework, as well as extract controls from your existing policy documents.
SOC 2 implementation and remediation: Easily deploy controls using 6clicks’ control management functionality and resolve gaps efficiently with built-in issue & incident management for tracking remediation.
SOC 2 audit preparation: Readily provide evidence requirements with one-click report generation and automated documentation of control test results. Showcase your security and compliance posture using the 6clicks Trust Portal—making it easy to share audit results with regulators and stakeholders.
With powerful automation, turnkey content, and centralised security management, 6clicks can help your organisation shift from reactive compliance to proactive assurance. Discover how easy SOC 2 compliance can be with 6clicks: