First Internet Bank Opens 'Doors'
Ready? Security First faces a steep challenge.
By Clinton Wilder
Issue date: Oct. 30, 1995
The world's first bank on the Internet, Security First Network Bank , opened its digital doors on Oct. 18. Security First in Pinedale, Ky., is a venture of Cardinal Bancshares in Louisville, Ky., and two other investor banks, Wachovia Corp. and Huntington Bancshares.
Customers who set up online, government-insured checking accounts can pay bills electronically, get automatic checkbook balancing, and traditional bank services such as paper checks and ATM cards acceptable on the Cirrus network.
The concept of banking on the Net's World Wide Web is intriguing, but Security First faces a steep marketing challenge, says Richard Crone, an electronic banking consultant in Los Angeles. "They need to create consumer trust in electronic channels, and that's a branding issue, not a technology issue," he says. "It's not like Security First has a 100-year trusted presence, like a Home Savings of America, that they can leverage."
For security on the Internet, Security First uses an authentication and encryption package from SecureWare Inc. in Atlanta, which incorporates the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol from Netscape Communications Corp. But that may pose a marketing challenge of its own: Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco temporarily shut down its Web account information service last month after security flaws were discovered in SSL.
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