NW_20001122_en_LocalBusiness.com Chicago, November 22, 2000" VASCO Does Vilniaus"
OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. -- In recent weeks, a Chicago-area online security company has landed contracts with Arabian and German financial institutions. And now it's building business in the Baltic.
Vasco Data Security International announced it has signed a new Eastern European client, Vilniaus Bankas, a full-service bank in Lithuania with more than 200,000 corporate and retail customers.
Under the terms of the contract, Vilniaus Bankas will use Vasco's Digipass authentication and digital signature security software to protect the confidential information and transactions of its customers as well as to provide remote access for its employees.
"This contract confirms our growth and validates our desire to establish market dominance in Internet banking security in regions of the world where rapid growth in online banking is occurring," Jan Valcke, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Vasco, said.
Vasco's partner, Hansab, a provider of security services in the Baltic Region, is integrating Digipass into the bank's systems for Internet banking and remote network access.
Several weeks ago Vasco (Nasdaq: VDSI)announced the signing of one of Germany's largest banks, Hamburgische Landesbank, as a client. The company also said European Investment bankers ING Barings and MedioSim Gruppo Bancaaroma had initiated coverage of its stock.
Last month, Vasco released a software enhancement to Digipass, its signature product, to help control access to company information. The secure server software, used in combination with Digipass authentication software, gives access to business data to anyone within an organization while at the same time ensuring only authorized people have access to the company's confidential records.
In September, the company acquired Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Invincible Data Systems, a security products company, gaining Arab Bank of Jordan as a client. Arab Bank is using a Vasco application to secure an Internet banking function.
Vasco also was awarded a six-year, $7.3 million contract from the U.S. Military Health System to protect the privacy of patient medical records. When complete, Vasco will have created a network linking more than 60 different clinical information systems of various military medical facilities.
In addition, the Belgian Internet security firm, Ubizen, invested $15 million in Vasco on July 20.
Vasco reported a loss of $1.6 million, or 7 cents a share in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a loss of $331,137, 1 cent a share in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter increased 16 percent to $5.6 million.
Shares of Vasco closed down 19 cents yesterday at $7.57 a share. Vasco's 52-week trading range is from $2.88 on Nov. 22, 1999, to a high of $26 on Feb. 10.