IT providers for financial services firms

There are 529 IT providers serving Financial Services clients listed in the Assurix directory, including 11 with verified Assurix trustmarks.

Last updated: 7 October 2026

A financial services firm carries personal and financial data for every client on its books, and much of it moves through systems an IT provider looks after. That makes the provider part of how the firm stays resilient and how it answers to the FCA and its own clients.

This page lists providers who work with financial firms. Providers holding the Assurix Trusted MSP badge are shown first, and any working toward it appear as On the Journey. The remaining providers are listed as not yet Assurix-verified, a neutral status that many strong, well-established firms sit in.

Further down you'll find what a provider should be able to evidence for a regulated firm, the questions worth putting to them, and how independent verification fits with the third-party risk work you already do.

What to look for in a provider for a regulated firm

For a regulated firm, the IT provider is part of your control environment. These are the things worth checking before and during the relationship.

A place in your resilience map
Your firm identifies important business services and sets impact tolerances for them. Ask a provider to show which of those services depend on it, and what happens to them if it has an outage. A provider that thinks in these terms is easier to fit into your resilience work.
Controls it can evidence
The FCA's SYSC rules expect firms to have systems and controls in place. When your provider can evidence its own controls, that evidence flows straight into your assessment. Ask what independent verification it can point to, and how current it is.
Clarity on third-party risk
The FCA expects firms to manage risk from outsourcing and third parties, and your IT provider is one of those third parties. A provider should understand that it sits inside your risk picture and be ready to support your due diligence. Ask how it helps when you're assessing it as a supplier.
Care with financial and personal data
Your firm handles personal and financial data under UK GDPR. Look at how a provider protects that data, controls access to it and separates it from other clients' information. Ask how access is logged and how quickly it can be revoked.
Help with due diligence questionnaires
Clients and counterparties commonly ask about your IT and security arrangements. A provider that can supply clear, current evidence of its controls makes those questionnaires far quicker to complete. Ask what it can give you to support your answers.

Questions to ask an IT provider

These map to the third-party and resilience work you already do. A provider should be able to answer them plainly.

  1. Which of our important business services depend on you, and what happens to them if you go down? Operational resilience means mapping the services clients rely on and the impact if they stop.
  2. How do you fit into our third-party and outsourcing risk assessment? The FCA expects firms to manage risk from third parties, and your provider is one of them.
  3. Can you evidence your systems and controls, and how current is that evidence? SYSC expects firms to keep controls in place, and evidence is what stands up to scrutiny.
  4. How is client and counterparty financial data protected and access-controlled? This data sits under UK GDPR and is a frequent target.
  5. What can you provide when a client or counterparty sends us a due diligence questionnaire? These questionnaires routinely ask about your firm's IT and security arrangements.
  6. Do you hold independent verification we can point to? Independent proof is stronger for our records than an assurance the provider gives about itself.

IT providers serving Financial Services

The regulatory picture for financial firms

FCA-regulated firms work under operational resilience expectations. That means identifying your important business services and setting impact tolerances for how long they can be disrupted. Your IT provider often sits underneath several of those services.

The FCA also expects firms to manage risk from outsourcing and third-party providers, and an IT provider is one of those third parties. Its SYSC rules cover the systems and controls a firm keeps in place. So when you assess your own controls, your provider's controls are part of the picture.

Beyond the day-to-day, firms handle personal and financial data under UK GDPR. And client and counterparty due diligence questionnaires commonly ask about a firm's IT and security arrangements. Answering those well is easier when your provider can evidence its own controls, so you're passing on proof you can point to.

How the Assurix Trustmark helps a regulated firm

For a financial services firm, an IT provider is a third party you're expected to assess. The Assurix Trusted MSP badge means that provider has passed all 59 controls, aligned to the NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework v4, and is monitored continuously with an annual reassessment. A failed control triggers a 30-day window before the badge is publicly suspended. It gives you independent evidence to put into your own third-party risk picture.

Frequently asked questions

How does an IT provider fit into our operational resilience obligations?

Operational resilience means identifying the important business services your clients rely on and setting impact tolerances for how long they can be disrupted. An IT provider usually underpins several of those services, from email to your core systems. So the provider sits inside your resilience picture. When you map what could stop a service and for how long, your provider's reliability and security are part of that map, and something you should be able to evidence to the FCA if asked.

What does the Assurix Trusted MSP badge tell us about a provider?

The Trusted MSP badge means the provider has passed all 59 controls in the Assurix assessment, aligned to the NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework. Every control has to pass, and there are no partial results. Assurix uses continuous monitoring plus an annual reassessment, so it reflects how the provider is doing now. If a control slips, the provider has 30 days to fix it before the badge is publicly suspended and removed from the listing. For a regulated firm, that's independent evidence about a third party you depend on.

Can we use the Trustmark in our third-party risk assessment?

Yes, that's one of its most practical uses. The FCA expects firms to manage risk from third parties, and an IT provider is one of them. A Trusted MSP badge gives you independent verification of that provider's controls, checked continuously rather than claimed once. You can record it as part of your third-party risk assessment and point to it during due diligence. It doesn't remove your own obligation to assess the provider, but it gives that assessment something solid to stand on.

Does Assurix make our firm or our provider FCA-compliant?

No. Assurix is an independent trustmark, and it doesn't make a firm or a provider FCA-compliant. Compliance with the FCA's rules stays your firm's responsibility. What the Trustmark offers is independent evidence about your IT provider's security, aligned to the NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework, which you can feed into how you manage third-party and outsourcing risk. Think of it as supporting the work SYSC and the resilience rules ask of you.

What's an 'On the Journey' provider, and should we wait for it to finish?

'On the Journey' means the provider is working toward the Assurix Trustmark and hasn't passed yet. It's time-limited to six months, so it signals real intent within a fixed window. Whether to wait depends on your timeline. If you need cover now, a Trusted MSP has already met the full bar. If you're happy with a provider that's actively working on its controls, an On the Journey status shows that work is underway and time-boxed.

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