Skandia Bank Switzerland to use VASCO’s Digipass 250 to secure its customers’ assets

OAKBROOK TERRACE, Illinois and BRUSSELS, Belgium – August 13, 2002 – VASCO (Nasdaq NM & Nasdaq Europe: VDSI; www.vasco.com), a global provider of enterprise-wide security products that support e-business and e-commerce, today announced that the customers of the international Internetbank Skandia Bank Switzerland (www.skandiabank.ch), a subsidiary of the Swedish Skandia Group, are using VASCO’s Digipass to securely perform e-banking and phone banking transactions. Skandia Bank Switzerlands’ e-banking service was launched on August 9, 2002.

Skandia Bank Switzerland’s main channel is the Internet. A complementary Phonebanking application is available for customers choosing not to perform banking transactions via the Net. In both cases, VASCO’s Digipass 250 plays an important role for safeguarding the customers’ assets, by ensuring that only the specified end user has access to his bank information and transaction possibilities.

“We are very pleased that a brand new banking institution such as Skandia Bank Switzerland puts its trust in VASCO’s Digipass 250,” said Jan Valcke, VASCO’s Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Around the globe, banks are looking for more cost efficient ways to serve their customers, like offering more remote applications. In this process, security is crucial. Skandia Bank Switzerland proves to be fully conscious of the banking evolution in this field, by showing scrupulous attention towards the safeguarding of their customers’ assets by using VASCO’s Digipass 250.”

“Any place is a banking place’ is not only our corporate slogan. We made it a reality,” said Mats Göransson, CEO of Skandia Bank Switzerland. “We chose for VASCO’s Digipass strong authentication, because VASCO has a proven track record in securing the trust and the value of banking customers, having more than 180 banks worldwide as customers.”


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 VACMAN® products offers end-to-end security through strong authentication, digital signature, network Single Sign-On, and Radius, LAN and Web security, 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. More information is available at www.vasco.com.

About Skandia Bank Switzerland
Skandia Bank Switzerland is part of the Swedish Skandia Group, which was established in 1855 and has been listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange since 1863. Skandia has undergone a profound transformation in recent years moving away from the former core business of property and casualty insurance to what it is today: a globally oriented long-term savings company with a presence in more than 20 countries worldwide. In spring 2000 Skandia decided to establish an Internet bank to provide extensive financial series online. Switzerland was the obvious choice as location due to its unparalleled reputation as a center for international banking. More information is available at www.skandiabank.ch



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:
VASCO Data Security:
Jochem Binst: +32 2 456 9810, [email protected]