Bank of America is introducing an online toolbar designed to help its 14.5 million Internet banking customers identify fraudulent Web sites.
The toolbar, which is powered by US Internet service provider EarthLink, can be downloaded from the bank's Web site and provides consumers with information on the safety level of each site they visit.
An icon on the bar changes colour as the consumer surfs the Internet, letting the person know with a red, yellow or green symbol whether they've landed on what could be a dangerous Web site. The toolbar also includes EarthLink's ScamBlocker program, which alerts consumers to known or suspected phisher sites.
Sanjay Gupta, e-commerce executive, Bank of America, comments: "We want everyone to be safe online, and working together with EarthLink to provide this easy-to-use toolbar goes a long way to help prevent identity theft and fraud."
BoA launched its SiteKey two factor authentication service - which is based on technology from PassMark Security - in June this year. SiteKey was orginally an optional service but BoA has made it a mandatory part of its Web banking system in the US states where it is available.