NW_20010227_en_Top 25 US Commercial Bank SouthTrust Corporation Chooses VASCO and Identikey for Secure e-Banking

OAKBROOK TERRACE, Illinois – February 27, 2001 – SouthTrust Corporation (www.southtrust.com), a $44.3 billion financial institution with over 12000 employees and 600 banking offices, has selected VASCO (NASDAQ & EASDAQ: VDSI; www.vasco.com) and Identikey (www.identikey.com) to safeguard its Internet cash management services. The bank is currently drawing on the two companies ’ integrated security solution to protect Internet wire transfers for its commercial customers, and will soon include web-based Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions. SouthTrust carefully evaluated numerous leading security solutions before choosing Identikey ’s Web Security Solution incorporating VASCO ’s Digipass technology for strong authentication and e-signature security.

“SouthTrust demonstrates our ability to expand our presence in the US financial marketplace, matching our accelerating growth in the rest of the world with more than 500 customers and five million users, ” stated Mario Houthooft, President and CEO of VASCO. “This deal also proves that our plans to acquire Identikey and its web access control software will speed up our ability to generate more software sales by offering corporations, financial institutions, and government agencies a turnkey, affordable web portal security solution. ”

Thanks to VASCO and Identikey, SouthTrust ’s cash management services are available to its customers from anywhere in the world, at any time, easily and securely. All customers need is a computer with Internet access and a web browser, and their individually programmed Digipass 300 for strong user authentication. Once customers have been authenticated using their Digipass, the Identikey software grants them access only to the applications and resources to which they have access privileges, providing a strong level of security.

“As one of the largest commercial banks in the US, we are always putting our customers first, ” said Tony Custer, Product Manager of Cash Management at SouthTrust. “Offering our customers Internet-based cash management services for anywhere, anytime banking is just one of the many ways we ’re meeting their evolving needs. Of course, we also had to make sure their information and online transactions were kept safe and secure. The solution provided by VASCO and Identikey was clearly the best choice for maximizing our online security, while offering our customers the optimum in portability, convenience, and ease of use. ”

Mark Kefford, President of Identikey, noted that banks around the world are looking for security solutions that enable them to quickly extend their business to the Internet while protecting the trust they have built with their customers. “SouthTrust chose Identikey web portal software and Digipass authentication because our solution provides affordable, easy-to-use security that supports the bank ’s own e-business objectives. Based on our success with SouthTrust, we believe the Identikey and VASCO solution will find continued and even more rapid acceptance in the US market. ”


About VASCO
VASCO secures the enterprise from the mainframe to the Internet with infrastructure solutions that enable secure e-business and e-commerce, protect sensitive information, and safeguard the identity of users. The Company's family of Digipass ® and SnareWorks ® products offers end-to-end security through strong authentication and digital signature, true Single Sign-On, access control and advanced entitlements, web portal security, and PKI enablement, while sharply reducing the time and effort required to deploy and manage security. VASCO's customers include hundreds of financial institutions, blue-chip corporations, and government agencies in more than 50 countries, among them ABN AMRO Bank, Shell, 3M, Ericsson, Rabobank, SEB, First Union, Liberty Mutual, Cable and Wireless, Nokia, DaimlerChrysler, Volvo, US Department of Defense, European Commission, US Coast Guard, University of Groningen, and Duke University. VASCO's partners include Brokat, Check Point Software Technologies, Computer Associates, Identikey, Intel, Netlife, Novell, Proton World, and Ubizen. More information is available at www.vasco.com.

About SouthTrust Corporation
SouthTrust Corporation is a $44.3 billion regional financial holding company with headquarters in Birmingham, Ala. SouthTrust operates more than 600 banking offices in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. The company offers a complete line of banking and other related financial services to commercial and retail customers. SouthTrust Corporation common stock trades on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbol SOTR. The company's Web site is www.southtrust.com. Detailed financial tables and information are available at www.investor.southtrust.com.

Forward Looking Statements
Statements made in this news release that relate to future plans, events or performances are forward-looking statements. Any statement containing words such as “believes, ” “anticipates, ” “plans, ” “expects, ” and similar words, is forward-looking, and these statements area based on current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the potential that the Identikey acquisition will not be consummated, variations in quarterly operating results, technological changes, regulation of cryptographic technology and technology exports, and foreign exchange risk, among others. Consequently, actual results could differ materially from the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements.

Reference is made to the Company's public filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for further information regarding the Company and its operations.

For more information contact:

Americas:
Media: Kerry Roche
Bridgeman Communications
+1 617 742 7270
[email protected]

Investor Relations: Todd Fromer
KCSA Public Relations Worldwide
+1 212 682 6300
[email protected]

VASCO: Mike Lange
+1 630 932 8844
[email protected]

Europe/Asia:
Media (Benelux): Nico Tempelaere
Outsource
+32 2 361 31 20
[email protected]

Media (Europe/Asia): Sven Kersten
HBI
+49 89 99 38 87 33
[email protected]

Investor Relations: Annemieke Blondeel
LBConsult
+44 208 308 7080
[email protected]

VASCO: Ariane Bosmans
+32 2 456 9810
[email protected]