Singapore’s Second Largest Bank Launches Digital Security Token

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) has rolled out a digital security token – OCBC OneToken – on its mobile banking app to replace the issuance of hardware security tokens and reducing SMS OTPs.
According to the official press release, the Singapore-headquartered bank is eying to save SGD 25 million ($18.5 million) in the next 5 years with this move.

The bank has already rolled out the service for its Singapore-based customers in January and since then, more than one in four digital customers have activated OCBC OneToken on their mobile devices, according to the bank. In addition, more than two million transactions have been performed and authenticated with OCBC OneToken.
Commenting on the development, Aditya Gupta, head of e-business for Singapore & Malaysia at OCBC, said: “The move towards digital security tokens will allow our customers to ditch their hardware tokens and bank more seamlessly and securely with us.
The bank explained that the security token can be used with biometric authentication along with access codes and PINs. Moreover, OCBC OneToken will automatically authenticate transactions on the bank’s mobile app and also allows customers to approve transactions on their registered mobile phone when banking on other devices.
The tokens can also be used without any data connectivity by generating OTPs on the registered mobile.
“Everyone has their mobile device with them almost all the time, so having OCBC OneToken on their mobile makes digital banking totally frictionless – no SMS OTPs, no hardware tokens, no passwords needed for authentication. We are excited about the positive initial customer response, and are confident that a majority of our digital consumers will embrace this,” Gupta added.
Integrating Technology into Banking
OCBC is constantly pushing to integrate in the banking system. Last year, the bank launched to test artificial intelligence on fintech solutions.
The bank also partnered with a local startup WeInvest last August to launch a for its wealth management operations.