A new option offered by Bank of America offers customers the ability to use their mobile phones to make online banking more secure. This option comes as part of a new service called SafePass, which the bank unveiled last month. Customers will be able to sign up for SafePass to add an extra level of security for some banking transactions.
The SafePass system sends a six-digit code to the customer's mobile phone. The code can be used only once, and it expires 10 minutes after being issued, making it harder for criminals to steal money from Bank of America accounts. Many of you will recognize the similarity to the RSA keyfobs that have been around for several years now. As a matter of fact, next year BoA will also begin offering a credit-card-sized card that can be used to generate similar access codes without requiring a mobile phone. This is definitely a step in the right direction as the current mechanisms like SiteKey do not meet the FFIEC's requirements for two-factor authentication. Banks have been complaining that the cost of issuing all of their customers electronic security ID cards is too burdensome, but apparently BoA has decided to bite the bullet and move forward with such a solution. Now we just have to see if the other major banks follow suit. While this will not eliminate fraud entirely, it should dramatcially reduce the amount of fraud due to phishing activities and the like. Additoinal media coverage can be found here. .
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