First Data Offers Secure ACH Service

First Data Corp. and Hagenuk, a provider of secure card readers, have introduced a Web-based solution for Automated Clearing House (ACH) payment transactions.

The new system integrates the essential building blocks for protected Internet ACH transactions By combining Hagenuk's smart card readers with digital signature capabilities, and provides clear proof of user intent and protection against any form of unauthorized transaction. The First Data/Hagenuk solution provides the B2B market with cost-efficient, highly secure ACH payment methods nationwide.

"The ACH network is now in use by more than 20,000 depository financial institutions, two million corporations and one-hundred-million consumers offering its users a cost-effective and efficient mechanism for exchanging payments," said Charlie O'Rourke, senior vice president at First Data Corp. "However, the adoption of internet-based ACH transactions by institutions has since slowed because they were unable to prove the authenticity of users and transactions."

Hagenuk will deploy First Data's aSuretee authentication chip in its secure FinSafe smart card reader to offer terminal authentication and transaction signing for highly secure financial and e-commerce applications. The aSuretee chip contains a public/private key pair and digital signature capabilities to replace handwritten signatures without significant changes to existing business processes.

The aSuretee Account Based Digital Signature (ABDS) Solution is a simple and efficient method of enabling secure online transactions or replacing vulnerable username/password systems while reducing operational costs and increasing transaction security.