Vasco Data Security International (Nasdaq: VDSI) a leading software security company specializing in strong authentication products, announced today that the Swiss financial institution PostFinance will start deploying the new Digipass 831 to its e-banking clients in spring of 2011.
DIGIPASS 831 is a new edition of VASCO's most popular smart card reader, now with replaceable batteries, a larger display and an improved user interface.
PostFinance is a leading provider of payment transaction services and a fast growing institution in other sectors of the financial services market. With more than 2.7 million customers using postal accounts and the PostFinance Card, the bank contributes significantly to the financial services market in Switzerland. PostFinance also plays a leading role in offering e-banking services to its customers, and has always applied a visionary approach towards online security. Approximately 1.15 million customers of PostFinance have been using VASCO's solutions to ensure e-banking security since March 2007. To further enhance the security level and provide its clients with the best possible service, PostFinance has decided to deploy the new DIGIPASS 831, which will replace the previous smart card reader used by the bank.
DIGIPASS 831 combines smart card reader functions, such as one-time password (OTP), challenge-response and electronic signature with EMV-CAP compliance (Europay - Mastercard - Visa Chip Authentication Program). The solution allows banks and other financial institutions to deploy strong authentication in a cost-effective way by leveraging existing investments in an EMV infrastructure. DIGIPASS 831 helps to ensure the authenticity of transactions while authenticating the users who initiate them. This new edition of VASCO's most popular smart card reader comes with replaceable batteries, helping banks and their customers to reduce their ecological footprint. The authentication device is also equipped with a larger display (25% bigger) and an improved user interface. This new design enhances the user-friendliness and helps make e-banking services more accessible to certain groups of users, such as elderly people.
PostFinance will distribute the DIGIPASS 831 devices to its new customers and to its existing e-banking customers starting in spring 2011. DIGIPASS 831 will be used for e-banking and e-commerce applications, as well as for the bank's mobile service PostFinance Mobile, which offers services such as mobile payments or money transfers anywhere and anytime. PostFinance's customers will be able to use the device with their PostFinance Card Direct.
"We chose VASCO because of its position as a leading provider of authentication solutions and the proven quality during our cooperation the last few years", says Thomas Dinkel, Project Manager at PostFinance. "We are systematically expanding our services offering, particularly in the electronic environment. We needed an effective and user-friendly device that would also fit in our company's green policy. We knew that as an expert in the security market VASCO would be able to offer us a solution that would fit our needs and follow up the project from the beginning to the end."
"We appreciate PostFinance's striving to offer its clients the best possible services, and we are happy to provide them with one of the necessary tools to achieve that goal. Together with Ergonomics, VASCO's trusted and experienced partner in Switzerland, we were able to offer PostFinance a product that best fitted their security needs. DIGIPASS 831 is a very user-friendly solution that will also help to reduce the ecological footprint. We are sure that DIGIPASS 831 will help to make PostFinance's online and mobile applications even more successful", says Jan Valcke, President and COO at VASCO Data Security.