The Financial Trust Network is a collaborative initiative to protect consumers in the online world from Identity Theft and all fraudulent activities.

Our goal is to provide the same state-of-the-art online security for all banks and financial institutions - regardless of the security initiatives of the respective financial institution themselves.

The Financial Trust Network is independent of the financial institutions, however it is supported by most of them and also by many other associations.

Unfortunately, too many financial institutions regard "security" as a competitive advantage which results in virtually no collaboration between the institutions.

This results in a mixture of different security approaches and the consumer is left confused. We have a shared ATM (cash machine) network where authentication and security is provided in a collaborative approach. Why can't we do the same thing for online services?

The Financial Trust Network provides a database of client policies for every financial instituion in Australia that is a member of the ABA (Australian Banking Assocation).

Our aim is to continually expand this network globally and now includes European financial institutions such as those in the UK and Germany as well as North America, with more countries on the way.

We also work with online merchants to provide their customers using TrustDefender with greater confidence in the merchant websites they visit or transact with.

Knowing exactly that the website you are visiting is legitimate (including what SSL Certificates or Internet requests belong to a particular web service) is a fundamental step towards complete consumer and business protection. Check out the list of supported financial institutions.

Why?

The idea for the Financial Trust Network arose during the Cyberwars 2007 conference organized by Online Banking Review in Australia. The clear message the audience received on the day was that there will be no collaboration between the banks to tackle identity fraud as financial institutions see this as a competitive advantage.

“I think at the moment it’s just too big a problem and it’s too difficult and therefore we’re all developing ‘point’ solutions.” Jim Karvounaris, global head of information security with ANZ Banking Group, told the audience.

Likewise, Kaylene O’Neill, senior manager of security & financial crimes with the NAB said: “At the moment the banks are going out with point solutions until such time as we come up with something that everyone’s happy with. What you will see is a tiered approach.”

Bryan Inch, head of financial services with RaboPlus Australia & New Zealand concludes that “We’re in a dangerous situation where, to a degree, the public are in the dark as to the sophistication of attacks that are out there. They have probably been given some false comfort with the measures that they’re currently operating under.”

Therefore the Financial Trust Network project was born to make sure that intially all Australian Online Banking Users get the same world class security solution to protect them from any forms of online fraud - regardless what bank or financial institution they use, and now this service is global.

Benefits

The Financial Trust Network is providing a database of trust policies for all banks and financial institutions.

Initially we provided this service for Australia financial institutions only, however we have since expanded the service and provide the same level of protection for some European and North American countries including the UK, Germany, Canada and the USA.

Financial Institution

As a financial institution you have the following benefits:

• Promotes your commitment to provide world-class protection for your customers
• Collaborate on a common independent security platform across the industry
• Protect your brand
• Build customer loyalty
• Boost confidence in your company's online applications

Consumers

With the Financial Trust Network, consumers will get the following bennefits:

• Ensures they are really connected to the right financial institution
• Enables the client to always have the right policies for their chosen financial institution
• Protection from Identity Theft and Online Fraud
• Enables strong protection from all different kinds of threats including Man-in-the-Middle, Cross-Site-Scripting and other Phishing techniques

Note: As a consumer, you need our TrustDefender client software (Download TrustDefender Gold Edition now!) to benefit from the Financial Trust Network. Please refer to the supported Client section for more information (click on the link above).