US bank Wachovia is using messaging technology from California-based Tumbleweed Communications to provide secure, encrypted e-mail communications between Internet customers, partners and relationship managers.
Wachovia is implementing Tumbleweed's MailGate e-mail security suite to power its new 'message centre' which inspects outbound e-mail messages and encrypts and securely delivers any that contain sensitive or confidential information.
The bank currently exchanges more than 30,000 different types of e-mail messages per day with commercial and retail customers, as well as other financial services partners. These messages often contain highly sensitive financial or personal identity data.
The message centre has been built to support the requirements of all business units, but has initially been deployed at Wachovia's wholesale banking division.
Tumbleweed says its security system pulls customers to a secure (SSL) Web site to pick up messages and documents, and can be branded for use by many different business units within Wachovia.
Ilieva Ageenko, SVP, director of emerging applications, Wachovia, says e-mail remains the primary way online for people to exchange sensitive information and facilitate resolution of customer service issues.
"Tumbleweed's secure messaging products are highly secure and flexible, ensuring the safety of sensitive customer data and financial information, while allowing us to leverage secure communications across multiple lines of businesses within our organisation," adds Ageenko.