Gemalto, the specialist in digital security, announces it has surpassed the one million mark for Barclays customers using its convenient cryptographic smart card reader, called PINsentry by Barclays, that offers stronger authentication for online banking. Barclays Bank plc is one of the largest financial services institutions in the world. The bank started deploying its strong authentication program in July 2007 and not one PINsentry online customer has suffered fraud since then. User feedback has proven extremely positive and Barclays observed that customer acceptance was higher than anticipated by 30%.

With PINsentry, not only do Barclays customers easily generate One-Time-Passwords to authenticate themselves at log in, but they also use it to sign transactions, which provides a much higher level of security than just authentication using static credentials. All that they need to do is insert their usual chip-enabled bank card into the PINsentry reader from Gemalto and type in their card Personal Identification Number (PIN) code. They carry the devices with them and can perform these secure online transactions from any personal computer. PINsentry is convenient and remarkably easy to use, as evidenced by a recent Barclays usability study undertaken by Foviance, the digital customer experience consultancy.

As part of the program, Barclays is now offering additional services to its online customers. The maximum amount for personal online transactions has risen from an initial £1,000 to £10,000 and plans are in place to offer international payment for the purpose of funds transfer worldwide in the near future. Introduction of these new services demonstrates the high level of trust Barclays places in the system.

“Our goal was to provide our online customers with an easy-to-use, highly secure product to protect them against fraud,” commented Sean Gilchrist, Digital Banking Director, Barclays. “Adoption of the PINsentry reader by one million cardholders in one year is a clear demonstration that we made the right choice.”

“Making personal digital interactions more secure and enjoyable is second nature to Gemalto,” added Jacques Seneca, President of the Security Business Unit at Gemalto. “The success of the deployment of our strong authentication and signature solution at Barclays rewards the effort we are putting forth in making life easier for online customers.”