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Wallet Retail E-Commerce Remit Salary Bills Airtime ATM Loyalty Voucher Health Microfinance Authentication

Web authentication

Transform any phone into an out-of-band authentication device.

Any website can control access to user interfaces using a mobile phone. The user’s phone number is associated to their login ID or can be entered in place of the login. Each time the user requests access to their secured web interface, VSA™ verifies that the user’s phone is physically present in front of the computer. All existing cell phones can be used without any hardware modifications or special apps.

Mark’s home banking interface is protected by his phone and VSA™. Mark always has his phone in his pocket so he doesn’t have to keep track of any extra devices to login to his accounts. Each time he wishes to log in VSA™ calls his phone and plays a chirp on the website. Unless his phone hears that chirp, access will not be granted. As long as Mark has his phone he has access to his bank and knows that no one else does.

Authentication: How it Works

Enroll your phone number

In order to use your phone to secure access to a VSA™-secure website, the website must first identify your phone number and link it to your account.

Once your phone number is tied to your account, accessing a VSA™ secured site is done as follows:

Enter your login ID and password and make sure your computer’s sound is activated before continuing.
Your bank’s VSA™ service will call your phone
Answer the call and bring your phone towards the computer’s speakers.
In a few seconds, the chirp played by the website will be picked up by your phone and the authentication call will be disconnected

*Note: depending on the website, the required fields and order of the steps may be different.

Authentication: Benefits

Any mobile phone in the world can be a secure authentication device
Instant implementation
Low-cost: Each authentication costs a few seconds of call time (on average 1/3 the price of an SMS)
Eliminate device management and service costs:
- The network operator’s job it to make sure that the customer can receive calls and if they lose their phone the operator manages the carryover of the customer’s phone number to a replacement device.

Authentication: Case Example

A Major bank in France, is piloting the use of VSA™ authentication on their youth bank card customers. This bank is replacing their SMS-based authentication approach with VSA™ for this customer base and looking to overhaul web authentication for all of their home banking interfaces in the near future.

VSA™ allows the bank to meet regulatory requirements for 3D secure home banking interfaces while keeping access as convenient as possible for their customers at the lowest cost.

Other types of Websites that can benefit from VSA

In addition to home banking and related web sites that require out of band authentication, several other sites can benefit from VSA™.

Social networking (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.): Prevent privacy breaches and give users peace of mind that their profile, contacts, and conversations will be kept private.
Subscription based sites (e.g. New York Times Online, Zagat, etc): Make sure that each subscription can only be used by one individual by implementing VSA™ authentication. You can use VSA™ at each login or at random intervals to flag users who may be sharing subscriptions and block unauthorized access.
Corporate internal exchange sites: Protect access to sensitive corporate information by requiring VSA™ authentication. This allows the company to enable access off site without jeopardizing the security of the information therein.