Bridge Community Bank Adopts Innovative Approach for Consumer Privacy and Security

MECHANICSVILLE, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bridge Community Bank today announced it will be the country’s first financial institution to adopt the TASCET Financial ICONN™, a proprietary privacy solution that will streamline the bank’s physical and online customer identification and identity verification processes.

“Protecting our customers’ identities and assets is always our number one priority”

Beginning in early 2013, both current and new account holders will be able to request a Financial ICONN at each of the bank’s locations in the cities of Mount Vernon, Solon and Mechanicsville, Iowa. Each branch will be equipped with TASCET’s ICONN system that will enable customers to secure their identity and receive the highest level of transaction privacy and convenience available in the banking industry today.

“Protecting our customers’ identities and assets is always our number one priority,” said Bob Steen, CEO of Bridge Community Bank. “TASCET’s Financial ICONN puts protection tools in place in the branch offices as well as in mobile transactions and peer-to-peer payments. The Financial ICONN approach eliminates many of the hurdles associated with identity. At the end of the day, both the consumer and the bank have the highest degree of confidence in knowing who is on each end of the transaction.”

To activate a Financial ICONN, a customer simply provides the bank with his or her name, address, date and country of birth and gender along with two Fingerproofs™ and a Faceproof™. This information is processed by TASCET’s proprietary Identity Infrastructure™ to identify the customer. Once uniquely identified, the customer activates a Financial ICONN, a digital representation of their identity. ICONN facilitates the rapid and accurate verification of the customer’s identity in all future transactions.

Unlike conventional account security and look-up methods that rely on Social Security numbers, driver licenses, PINS or passwords that are highly vulnerable to forgery and theft, Bridge Community Bank will protect its customers’ identities and transactions through a TASCET-issued Financial Security Number™ (FSN) that is unique to each customer and incorporated into their account.

In addition, the FSN will serve to strengthen the bank’s compliance with anti-money laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC) and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) regulations and sets the foundation for securing mobile transactions.

“Bridge Community Bank has a history of embracing new technologies in the interest of their customers’ financial safety and the future of banking,” said Larry Aubol, CEO of TASCET. “This is a prime example of new technology driving significant improvements in both consumer safety and industry efficiency.”

Prior to the rollout of TASCET’s Financial ICONN, Bridge Community Bank will launch an awareness campaign targeted for its customers that will highlight the importance of securing their identity with the TASCET activation process.

About Bridge Community Bank

Bridge Community Bank is an employee-owned commercial bank with three locations in Mechanicsville, Mount Vernon and Solon, Iowa. The bank provides a wide range of financial services to both consumers and businesses including checking and savings, business banking, online and mobile banking as well as business/agriculture, home, personal and auto loans. For more information, visit www.bankatbridge.com.

About TASCET

TASCET created the Identity Infrastructure™, the first cross-industry platform and only end-to-end digital identification and verification solution that addresses business and consumer privacy and identity requirements. TASCET’s identification and privacy solutions are currently available to organizations in the financial services, healthcare, cyber and government sectors. Based in Madison, Wisconsin, TASCET does not data mine, sell its clients’ information or monitor its clients’ customers’ transactions. Visit www.tascet.com for more information.