BofA Adds Another Layer Of Authentication To Banking Services

Bank of America announced that it will add another layer of authentication for its online banking services.

According to news from Reuters, the bank is incorporating Intel Corp’s Online Connect technology, which will enable fingerprint touch payments into its online banking systems starting next year.

The company also announced that customers with an iPhone X will be able to use the phone’s Face ID technology for secure authentication into BofA’s mobile app.

The cybersecurity moves come as a growing number of companies are dealing with hacks, including the massive data breach that hit Equifax last month. That attack leaked the personal information – including birthdates, Social Security numbers and drivers’ license numbers – of more than 145 million people.

The financial services industry is among the most vulnerable to cybercrime because of the massive amount of money and valuable data that banks, brokerages and investment firms process each day.

Since the Equifax breach, executives at Citigroup and Wells Fargo have both said that customers will now have to put up with a host of new security checks to keep their financial and personal information safe.

“A lot [of] the banks are saying it’s a lightbulb moment for them,” said Vijay Balasubramaniyan, co-founder and CEO of Pindrop, which analyzes voices to prevent phone fraud. “If you look at the information that got out, it’s everything banks use to identify you.”

BofA has earmarked about $600 million this year toward information security, and it would spend a similar amount for information security next year, with some 1,200 employees “dedicated to that effort,” said chief operations and technology officer Cathy Bessant.