HSBC is aiming to increase security for its online
business customers by distributing free security tokens to help
protect access to their accounts.
From next month, password tokens are being sent to each of
HSBC’s 180,000 Business Internet Banking customers across the
country.
Distributed free of charge the portable tokens generate a
frequently changing single-use security code, which customers use
alongside their user ID and password to make online banking
transactions.
HSBC said the keyring sized device offers an additional line of
defence against the growing risks from online fraud.
HSBC’s shift to two-factor authentication - where a customer is
verified by something they know and something they have - comes at
a time of increasing concern among banks about the growth and
sophistication of internet-related crime. As each token is linked
to an individual user’s profile it is also of no use to a criminal
if lost or stolen.
Simon Wainwright, head of business banking at HSBC, said, “This
will enable us to stay one step ahead of the fraudsters. Our
experience in other parts of the world shows that this kind of two
factor authentication is an extremely useful weapon in the fight
against internet crime, and we would urge other banks in the UK to
seriously consider following our lead.”
Migration towards the HSBC tokens will be phased in over the
next 12 weeks. Token activation is via a short, simple one-off
process.
The tokens are already being used among HSBC customers in the US
and Hong Kong.