Equifax Selects I-Card Partner
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010Equifax Inc., a global leader in information solutions, announced recently that it has chosen Anakam, Inc. to provide the electronic authenticator for the Equifax I-Card. Anakam will implement its Anakam.TFA® Two Factor Authentication service, making the Equifax I-Card the first to have the maximum ease of use as well as the highest level of authentication security (Level 3) in the marketplace.
The Anakam platform will be incorporated into the Equifax I-Card offering to provide on-going two-factor authentication without the need for distribution of smart cards and hard tokens to end users while still complying with the standards established around these devices. With Level 3 authentication, there is high confidence in the validity of the user’s asserted identity as determined by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidelines and the technical recommendations of the National Institutes of Standards and Technologies (NIST). This standard is commonly applied for the protection of remote or Web access to sensitive or private information, and it is typically used in government, healthcare, financial, and education transactions. It also complies with international privacy and security requirements.
Anakam.TFA Two-Factor Authentication uses flexible authentication channels to offer a variety of solutions for the secure authentication of users and customers. The company leverages existing devices such as cell phones, home phones, office phones, and voice biometrics to deliver a secure, expiring one-time pass code (OTP) that confirms that the person possessing the device is the one attempting to access the systems.
Launched in 2008, the Equifax I-Card is a digital identity management solution containing information that consumers and businesses need to conduct online transactions or verify identity. For Websites that accept I-Cards, consumers can click-in without the need to type in a user name, password, or other personal information. The Equifax I-Card is designed to verify that a consumer’s identity is true, which can reduce fraud for online merchants, services and destinations. In addition, because the I-Card only works with trusted Websites, it diminishes the danger of phishing.
The Equifax I-Card is part of the growing trend to provide increased anonymity and security for a consumer’s financial and credit information online. Equifax is working with multiple data sources for identity verification, along with open source technology that is endorsed by The Information Card Foundation (ICF), an industry consortium of consumer, data, and technology companies.
For more information, visit Equifax.com.