LONDON -- Enterprise-quality SMS provider TynTec (www.tyntec.com) today announces the launch of mobile One-Time Passwords (OTP) for the banking industry. The service, which will enable banks to send customers secure single use, time limited passwords for access to tools such as online banking, uses TynTec's proprietary SMS back-end infrastructure, giving guaranteed secure delivery of all messages within 5-15 seconds.

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.

Markus Kramer, Banking Product Manager at TynTec, said: "OTPs have been seen as a key tool in enhancing the security of things like online banking but, to date, the delivery system has remained a problem. Ordinary SMS can get delayed or even lost and the back end cannot offer the level of security that people would expect of sensitive banking information. We can offer an SMS solution that will get to consumers within seconds of their request and will do so in absolute security."

TynTec Ltd.