Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation implements DIGIPASS 275 for secure retail banking services

OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. and ZURICH, Sept. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- VASCO Data Security International, Inc. (Nasdaq: VDSI) (www.vasco.com), a leading software security company specializing in strong authentication products and services, announces that Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (NYSE: SMFG) (www.smbc.co.jp),  one of the largest global banks, has decided to implement VASCO's DIGIPASS 275 to secure its retail banking service.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) values innovation and speed and is the first bank to deploy one-time password technology to maintain a secure retail banking service in Japan. Initially an optional service in addition to TAN-lists, the bank implemented VASCO's next-generation authentication solution as of October 2013 strengthening their existing security measurements and plans to completely replace its existing authentication service with DIGIPASS 275.

The number of criminalities, fraud cases and incidents on the Internet, such as phishing and man-in-the-middle attacks is growing very fast in Japan. The last few years, not only financial institutes but also many organizations have been targeted. In this environment, SMBC needs to consider more sophisticated security measurements. The most imperative points for the bank were ease of understanding and user-friendliness, a shared security model with SMBC's affiliate financial companies and the implementation of a future proof solution able to withstand future advanced attacks.

The most adjusted solution for these requirements was VASCO's DIGIPASS 275. "We concluded that a risk-based solution or a browser/malware detection solution is too cumbersome for users," said Hirohito Yokoyama, Group Head of Retail Banking department of SMBC. "With the customer in mind, we were looking 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 attack."

"The cost and a short term deployment were also indispensable when it came to selecting a vendor," said Yuji Konishi, Manager of the Retail banking department of SMBC. "The internal coordination for many departments was also very challenging as this security implementation is a huge innovation since we started our Internet banking services ten year ago. VASCO's solution is compact and portable, design-oriented and is a functionally high-evaluated product. The amazing VASCO service, DIGIPASS Plus, which allows our affiliate financial institutes to strengthen their authentication security, was also a decisive factor."

DIGIPASS 275 is distributed free of charge through the bank's numerous branches.  

Jan Valcke, President and COO at VASCO Data Security, adds: "We are very proud that SMBC, one of the biggest banks worldwide, has decided to implement VASCO's solution. Our mission is not only to pursue the innovation such as protecting unknown advanced attacks, but also to develop technology pursuing the user-friendliness. We believe that VASCO's technology contributes to advance the direct banking service of SMBC more competitively."

About Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (www.smbc.co.jp) is one of the largest financial institutes in the world. It has more than 1,550 branches in Japan and more than 50 affiliate companies worldwide. SMBC is a core company of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE: SMFG) that offers retail banking, corporate banking (EB "SMAR&TS") and investment banking, securities, consumer finance, leasing business, ITC etc. SMBC received the award of "Global Bank of the Year 2012" by PFI (Project Finance International).

About VASCO:
VASCO is a leading supplier of strong authentication and e-signature solutions and services specializing in Internet Security applications and transactions. VASCO has positioned itself as global software company for Internet Security serving a customer base of approximately 10,000 companies in more than 100 countries, including approximately 1,700 international financial institutions. VASCO's prime markets are the financial sector, enterprise security, e-commerce and e-government. VASCO's products and services are delivered on the customers' premises or in the cloud.

Forward Looking Statements:
Statements made in this news release that relate to future plans, events or performances are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements (1) are identified by use of terms and phrases such as "expect", "believe", "will", "anticipate", "emerging", "intend", "plan", "could", "may", "estimate", "should", "objective" and "goal", "possible", "potential", and similar words and expressions, but such words and phrases are not the exclusive means of identifying them, and (2) are subject to risks and uncertainties and represent our present expectations or beliefs concerning future events. VASCO cautions that the forward-looking statements are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors have been described in greater detail in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and include, but are not limited to, (a) risks of general market conditions, including currency fluctuations and the uncertainties in world economic and financial markets, (b) risks inherent to the computer and network security industry, including rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards, increasing numbers of patent infringement claims, changes in customer requirements, price competitive bidding, and changing government regulations, and (c) risks specific to VASCO, including, demand for our products and services, competition from more established firms and others, pressures on price levels and our historical dependence on relatively few products, certain suppliers and certain key customers. Reference is made to VASCO's public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for further information regarding VASCO and its operations.

This document may contain trademarks of VASCO Data Security International, Inc. and its subsidiaries, including VASCO, the VASCO "V" design, DIGIPASS, VACMAN, aXsGUARD and IDENTIKEY.

For more information:
Jochem Binst, +32 2 609 97 00, jbinst@vasco.com

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SOURCE VASCO Data Security International, Inc.