Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation implements DIGIPASS 275

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) is one of the largest banks in the world. More than 22,000 employees guard the bank’s mission: providing valuable services that help its customers to build their own prosperity, to create sustainable value for its shareholders founded on growth in their business, and provide a challenging and professional rewarding working environment for its dedicated employees.

SMBC needed additional security measurements to meet the changing environment and to counter diversified attacks. The company also wanted to strengthen the value of its banking services and to endorse its customers’ confidence.

User-friendliness and a high level of security measurements were the main concerns. Other requirements were the device’s easy-portability, its fashionable design and the solution’s intuitiveness. It also had to be a proven solution.

DIGIPASS 275 was selected in order to give the end user the possibility to choose his preferred authentication tool. DIGIPASS 275 can generate OTPs and has an e-signature functionality, so user authentication and electronic signing can be executed by the same device.

The number of criminalities, fraud cases and incidents on the Internet, such as phishing and man-in-the-middle attacks, is growing very fast, also in Japan. In the last few years, not only financial institutions but also many other organizations have been targeted. In this environment, SMBC realized it had to consider a more sophisticated security measurement to protect its Internet banking services. The bank called in a consultancy company, so that an independent third party could evaluate a range of different security solutions, such as static passwords, table of random digits (TAN), one-time passwords, risk-based authentication and browser/malware detecting solutions. 

The most imperative points for the bank were the ease of understanding and user-friendliness, the possibility to share the security model with its affiliate financial companies and the implementation of a future-proof solution that could withstand future advanced attacks. In the end, VASCO’s DIGIPASS technology proofed to be the solution that met all requirements.

The most adjusted solution to meet the above requirements was VASCO’s DIGIPASS 275. 

"We concluded that a risk-based solution or a browser/ malware detection solution would be too cumbersome for our users. With the customer in mind, we looked for a more intuitive and portable solution. Of course, it needed to be a proven solution able to protect our users from advanced fraud schemes, such as man-in-the-browser attacks," said Yuji Konishi, Manager of Retail Banking, SMBC.

VASCO’s DIGIPASS 275 offers an optimal balance between user-friendliness, cost-efficiency and security. The device offers unbridled security against financial fraud and man-in-the middle attacks. Providing an ultimate user experience, DIGIPASS 275 is a highly efficient, cost-effective and highvolume solution for any financial organization looking to add strong two-factor authentication to its security infrastructure.