Associated Bank (Associated Banc-Corp), a full-service banking group, will secure business customers’ online banking transactions with PhoneFactor’s phone-based two-factor authentication.

PhoneFactor (News - Alert) is a two-factor authentication service that uses any phone as a second form of authentication. This service offers an additional level of security to Associated Bank business customers who can now bank online with their mobile phones.

This service leverages PhoneFactor’s out of bank authentication (OOBA) platform. A user initiates a transaction from the Associated Bank online banking system and PhoneFactor instantly calls the user to verify the transaction details. The user is required to enter another personal identification number into their phone and this makes the banking experience very secure.

In a release, Associated Senior Vice President and Director of Treasury Management Todd Adler emphasized the need of being security conscious in today’s environment and said they are pleased to protect their business customers and their accounts with this solution.

Adler continued: “This convenient automated solution utilizes technology that our customers have in place and are comfortable using. Out-of-band authentication means greater protection and quicker detection if someone attempts to compromise our customers’ systems.”

Online banking is frequently targeted by hackers and Steve Dispensa, PhoneFactor founder and CTO, said this has led to the popularity of out-of-band authentication for securing online banking sessions.

PhoneFactor’s out-of-band architecture offers a high level of security for online banking and Dispensa is pleased to see organizations like Associated Bank implementing technologies that truly protect their customers from today’s threats.

The company notes countless attacks against live online banking sessions and speak about the recent banking trojan, Clampi, which infected more than 500,000 computers since March 2009.

According to PhoneFactor officials, out-of-band authentication is the best method of protection against these threats because this method verifies a user’s identity through a separate channel. By leveraging the telephone network for the second factor of authentication, PhoneFactor provides real-time fraud alerts and thwarts even the most sophisticated attacks.