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First Midwest Bank Deploys PhoneFactor to Secure Online Funds Transfers
OVERLAND PARK, KS, Nov 01, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) --
PhoneFactor, the leading global provider of out-of-band
multi-factor authentication, today announced that First Midwest Bank,
headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, has deployed PhoneFactor's
out-of-band transaction verification service to protect its business
banking customers. Just two weeks after the service was enabled for
customers, PhoneFactor proved its value by thwarting an attacker who
attempted to transfer thousands of dollars out of a customer's
account -- saving First Midwest Bank and its customer time, money,
and trust.
PhoneFactor empowers First Midwest Bank's customers to stop online
banking fraud in real-time. When a funds transfer is submitted
online, PhoneFactor places an automated call to the customer. The
customer simply answers the call, listens to the transaction details,
and enters a secret PIN into the phone keypad to approve the
transaction. If the transaction is not approved by the customer, it
is never submitted to the bank for processing. And in the case of a
fraudulent funds transfer, the customer can submit a fraud alert
during the call, which instantly notifies the bank that an attack is
in progress.
While First Midwest Bank had already made its decision, the recently
updated FFIEC Authentication Guidance validated its selection of
out-of-band transaction verification. The 2011 FFIEC Guidance, which
recommends out-of-band transaction verification as part of a layered
security approach, echoes what First Midwest Bank saw as the new best
practice for mitigating online banking threats.
"With threats evolving to become more sophisticated and more
virulent, we believe out-of-band transaction verification is critical
to protecting our customers," said Jorge Solis, Senior Vice President
of Security at First Midwest Bank. "PhoneFactor has proven its
effectiveness within a matter of weeks -- stopping a fraud attempt
that we know for certain would not have been caught by security
tokens alone. FFIEC compliance is important to First Midwest Bank,
but perhaps even more important is extending this level of security
to our customers who view us as a trusted business partner."
First Midwest Bank customers have embraced the new system with more
than half enrolling in the first few weeks. Customers were able to
sign up by simply clicking on a splash page on the bank's website.
The entire process, including the issuance of PINs, was automated,
enabling rapid deployment to customers.
"PhoneFactor's out-of-band transaction verification service stops
fraudulent transactions that would go undetected by other methods,"
remarks Steve Dispensa, Chief Technology Officer at PhoneFactor.
"This has been demonstrated at First Midwest Bank and in countless
other cases. Financial institutions, their customers, and financial
regulators recognize the need for additional security to protect
online transactions, and are no longer willing to accept less."
About PhoneFactor
PhoneFactor is a leading provider of multi-factor authentication. The
company's award-winning platform uses any phone as a second form of
authentication. PhoneFactor's out-of-band architecture and real-time
fraud alerts provide strong security for healthcare, enterprise,
banking, and website applications. It is easy and cost effective to
set up and deploy to large numbers of geographically diverse users.
PhoneFactor has been named to the Bank Technology News FutureNow list
of the top 10 technology innovators securing the banking industry
today and recently earned a prestigious five stars in the SC Magazine
multi-factor authentication group test. Learn more at
www.phonefactor.com or follow PhoneFactor on twitter at @phonefactor.
About First Midwest Bank
First Midwest is the premier relationship-based banking franchise in
the growing Chicagoland banking market. As one of the Chicago
metropolitan area's largest independent bank holding companies, First
Midwest provides the full range of business, retail banking and trust
and investment management services through some 100 offices located
in communities in metropolitan Chicago, northwest Indiana, central
and western Illinois and eastern Iowa. First Midwest was recently
recognized as having the "Highest Customer Satisfaction with Retail
Banking in the Midwest" according to the J.D. Power and Associates
2011 Retail Banking Satisfaction Study(SM). The Bank is also
recognized by the Chicago Tribune as one of the top 20 best places to
work in Chicago among large employers.
Contact:
Alison Hill
Marketing Manager
ahill@phonefactor.com
(913) 499-4146
SOURCE: PhoneFactor
mailto:ahill@phonefactor.com
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