NW_20040708_Bendigo Bank Trusts On VASCO’s Digipass GO3 For Online Retail Banking
OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill., and BRUSSELS, Belgium, July 8, 2004 - VASCO Data Security International, Inc. (NASDAQ: VDSI), (www.vasco.com), the global number one vendor of strong user authentication products to the financial sector, today announced that Australian financial institution Bendigo Bank (www.bendigobank.com.au) will help its online banking customers protect access to their banking accounts with VASCO’s Digipass GO 3. Bendigo Bank will begin offering tokens to its e-banking customers later this month.
Fraud schemes such as “Phishing” and keystroke logging increasingly threaten the security of static passwords used by e-banking customers. According to Nielsen Webratings (2004), Australia is No 3 in the ranking of countries with the highest Internet penetration rate. Only Sweden and the United States do better. For a country with the characteristics of Australia (low population density, high technology acceptance), secure Internet banking is a potentially very important business application.
Digipass GO3 is a lightweight, low cost strong user authentication token, especially designed for the large volume banking market. GO3 is extremely easy to use - with a simple touch of a button, the customer generates a unique one-time password. The password changes every 36 seconds and can be only used once, which means that it can’t be re-used by fraudsters. Digipass GO3 is VASCO’s answer to banks that want to give their customers a simple though secure means to use Internet banking applications.
“We would like to congratulate Bendigo Bank with their trend setting approach towards secure online banking,” said Jan Valcke, VASCO’s President and COO.
“Bendigo Bank is the first Australian bank using VASCO’s Digipass products in the retail banking sector, providing its customers with an enhanced level of protection to perform Internet banking transactions.”
“We opted for VASCO because of its track record and the proven quality of its products,” said Bendigo Bank’s spokesman Owen Davies. “We want to offer our customers the best service in the market. Quality, reliability, security and ease of use are crucial aspects of the service Bendigo Bank offers to its customers. That’s why we chose VASCO’s Digipass GO3.”
About VASCO: VASCO designs, develops, markets and supports patented “Identity Authentication” products for e-business and e-commerce. VASCO’s Identity Authentication software is delivered via its Digipass security products, small “calculator” hardware devices carried by an end user, or in a software format on mobile phones, other portable devices, and PCs. For user access control, VASCO’s VACMAN products guarantee that only designated Digipass users get access to the application. VASCO’s target markets are the applications and their several hundred million users that utilize fixed passwords as security. VASCO’s time-based system generates a “one-time” password that changes with every use, and is virtually impossible to hack, or break. With over 11 million Digipass products sold and ordered, VASCO has established itself as a world-leader for strong Identity Authentication with 280 international financial institutions, approximately 1500 blue-chip corporations, and governments in more than 60 countries.
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 involve risks and uncertainties and are based on current expectations. 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:
Jochem Binst, +32 2 456 9810, [email protected]
Owen Davis, Bendigo Bank, +61 3 5433 9866 or +61 418 521 817