Cyber fraudsters, whether employing phishing tactics, key logging software, Trojans or other malicious programmes, are an ever present and increasing threat for the retail banking industry. By providing an extra level of password protection, OTP’s give a new and effective layer of security, giving a level of protection not possible with traditional static passwords.

OTPs, a type of so-called ‘soft token’, are the latest tool for banks in the fight against cyber fraud – rather than relying on traditional memorised passwords, OTPs are requested by consumers each time they want to perform transactions using the online banking interface. When the request is received the password is sent to the consumer’s phone via SMS. The password is expired once it has been used or once its scheduled life-cycle has expired.

The TynTec OTP solution offers a number of advantages over standard SMS delivery. The fact that TynTec can offer a unique guarantee of delivery within 5-15 seconds backed by a measurable SLA means consumers will always get their password in a timely fashion. As well as avoiding inconvenient waiting for users, the fact that OTPs are time-restricted means that rapid delivery is essential. In addition, TynTec’s proprietary infrastructure means they can offer banks a direct path between their secure systems and the consumer, giving the system the highest level of security.