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Finnish Bank To Launch Smart Card 'Netbank' By Sylvia Dennis, Newsbytes

HELSINKI, FINLAND, 07 Feb 2000, 7:18 AM CST

Finnish Firm Leonia Bank has announced plans to launch a smart card authenticated Internet banking service for its customers.

Assisted in the project by ICL, the bank said that it will use the national ID cards issued to Finnish citizens to authenticate users across the Internet.

Leonia, Finland's second largest bank, already has started a pilot program for its banking project. If all goes well, the commercial service will be launched this spring, allowing Leonia's customers with national ID smart cards to access their account over the Internet.

Tthe system reduces the risks normally associated with Internet transactions, the bank claims, allowing customers to manage their financial affairs online, including making bill payments and loan applications using digital signatures.

Leonia currently boasts more than 320,000 web-banking customers, and is attracting between 15,000 - 20,000 new accounts each month, the firm said.

Using the system, customers will insert their national ID card into a smart card reader attached to their PC to access their account online. This is then authenticated by the bank.

Bank Vice President Ari Hall said that the Nordic financial services market is currently competing heavily for customer share.

ICL's Website is at http://www.icl.com .

Leonia's Website is at http://www.leonia.fi .

Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com .

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-- Dee (t1colt556@aol.com), February 07, 2000

Answers

Great. Let's all just give up being individuals responsible for ourselves and submit to being a member of The Borg. Everybody take their places and link up. You can pretend to be a free thinking individual as long as you do it hooked up to your computer, because then we know where you are. How can you cause trouble when you're sitting on your duff playing with electrons, and we can hold your accounts hostage with the blink of an eye?

Suckers

-- JIT (justintime@rightnow.net), February 07, 2000.

Well, the Borg have become quite fashionable. I could get a nice catsuit and call myself 7 of 99 (instead of 99). Well, on 2nd thought...nahhhhh...totally illogical. Beam me up Scotty. ;-)

-- Dee (t1colt556@aol.com), February 07, 2000.