ING Direct has become the latest Canadian bank to join the SecureKey Consierge service, which enables consumers to log-in to Government Web sites with their online banking credentials.
The SecureKey Concierge service brokers the authentication process between the individual, their bank, and the government online service, while keeping the individual's interactions both separate and private.
ING Direct now joins three of Canada's five largest banks in providing authentication credentials that may be used to access several Canadian federal departments and agencie, including Service Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency.
"By lending our credentials to the SecureKey Concierge service, we are able to expand our brand and award-winning service beyond our own web site," says Charaka Kithulegoda, ING Direct's chief information officer. "Innovation, simplification and convenience are at the heart of the ING Direct brand and our participation in SecureKey allows us to extend these values to our clients beyond their everyday banking needs."
SecureKey says it is working to expand its portfolio to include many Canadian provincial and municipal government agencies, as well as some commercial entities.
The company in August won a one-year, $15 million contract with the US Postal Service to develop a similar 'Federal Cloud Credential Exchange' south of the border.
The Postal Service says the objective is for consumers to be able to access agency services using an identity provider like Pay Pal or VeriSign. So far the programme is still in a pilot stage with early trial participants, including the Veterans Affairs and Education Departments, the Social Security Administration and the IRS.