Bank Using Two-Tiered Security

Stonebridge Bank in West Chester, PA is taking security for its online bank customers to a new level. The bank is asking customers to use one of two possible two-tiered methods of identification. The simplest method is a shared-secret authentication method in which customers answer a number of questions that only they should know. When they go to log onto the bank's site, Stonebridge's technology randomly selects one of the questions as further authentication beyond user name and password.

The other method uses a token that a customer obtains from the bank. The token generates a new password every 60 seconds. To log on, customers use both their existing user names and passwords and the newly generated second passwords. The token can be used from any computer, but once customers are enrolled in the program, they must have that token to access their accounts.card or get real-time check verification and approval.

Copyright © 2005 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 15, No. 7, 7/05