February 2, 2006 - VASCO Data Security - the global number one vendor of strong user authentication products to the financial sector, recently announced that HSBC will use VASCO’s Digipass across the entire Asia Pacific Region for secure Internet Banking. HSBC Hong Kong started using Digipass during Q2 of 2005, and has currently distributed an impressive 900,000 Digipass GO3 authenticators. HSBC has initiated Digipass use in mainland China, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Thailand, New Zealand and Australia.

HSBC is using Digipass for retail, commercial, corporate and private banking applications. The World’s Local Bank has placed its trust on two Digipass models: the Digipass GO3, and the Digipass 260. The Digipass GO3 is a lightweight, low cost strong user authentication token, especially designed for the large volume banking market. GO3 is extremely easy to use - with a simple touch of a button, the customer generates a unique one-time password. The Digipass 260 is a very portable, PIN protected device offering One-Time Password and e-signature functionalities.

"We want to congratulate HSBC for their security awareness, their visionary approach of using Digipass across the Asia Pacific region, and the impressive speed of their implementation and roll-out," said Jan Valcke, VASCO’s President and COO. "The battle against Internet fraud has become a priority for banks worldwide. HSBC proves that end users in the e-banking sphere can be protected in a cost-effective and easy to use way."