Is This Vendor Critical to Your Financial Institution

Financial institutions often ask for a master list of "always critical" vendors. But no such list exists — and regulators aren't offering one either.
Why? Vendor criticality isn't one-size-fits-all. It depends on how your institution uses the vendor, what data it can access, and how essential its services are to operations.

Three key questions determine vendor criticality:

• Could the vendor's failure create significant risk to your institution?
• Could it significantly impact your customers?
• Could it significantly impact your financial condition or operations?

It's up to you to define which vendors are critical to your operations.

Use this checklist to evaluate operational, compliance, financial, strategic, and reputation risk. If you answer "yes" to any question, the vendor may be critical.