The update includes a range of new features that allows financial institutions to harness smart device capabilities to deliver personalized and contextual access to digital services across any channel.

The platform can now scale to support any smart device and extend to incorporate any new authentication capability made possible by device manufacturers now or in the future. This includes the latest biometrics such as Samsung’s fingerprint scanner as well as legacy technologies such as SMS one-time-passwords for feature phones.

The new features in the release include:

Device agnostic - supports authentication for any device including feature phones
Extensibility - ability to add existing and new device-based authentication technologies
Context data - the provision of device and user intelligence to determine the optimal authentication method, flag risks, and alter security level in proportion
Geolocation - high accuracy location as a parameter in the context data
Offline device mode - allows the smart device to be used as an authentication factor even when no data connection is available
App Defender - defends against malware, even on jailbroken or compromised devices, through deep, multi-layered, malware and tampering protection

Encap Security’s platform means that financial institutions can employ current and future authentication methods and deploy them in combination to create a solution that is best suited to the context of use - without fear of spiralling costs, complexity and vendor lock-in.

“Authentication is viewed by banks, and customers, as creating pain rather than opportunity. They have been forced into a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to authentication that, frankly, only delivers aggravation and frustration all around. Encap’s platform allows banks the freedom to add authentication methods as they become available and, best of all, offer a choice to their customers,” said Thomas Bostrøm Jørgensen, CEO, Encap Security. “Smarter Authentication 3.0 builds on our belief that authentication, security, and convenience can be used in the same sentence. That you can create and deliver a familiar and intuitive experience with a choice of authentication methods adapted to the customer, device, and risk involved. It transforms authentication from an obstacle into an enabler for financial services innovation.”