Secure Token Exchange for deposit (or
checking) accounts better protects customers and financial
institutions on the RTP® network and EPN from The Clearing
House.
NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 2, 2022
/PRNewswire/ -- Tokenization for deposit and checking account
information, which ensures a customer's banking account and routing
numbers are never transmitted along with a payment, will soon be
available for financial institutions that utilize the
RTP® and EPN networks, the real-time payments and Automated
Clearing House (ACH) networks operated by The Clearing
House.
Secure Token Exchange (STE) for customer deposit and checking
accounts is a new, optional capability currently available for the
RTP network that issues tokens for a customer's bank account and
routing numbers. These tokens can be used like real account numbers
for transactions over the RTP network. This helps to reduce the
instances of a customer's bank account numbers being stored outside
of their bank, such as with a fintech app, a biller, retailer, or
other third parties. Customer deposit and checking account
tokenization for EPN is targeting availability later this
quarter.
Tokens for customer deposit and checking accounts use random
digits to substitute a customer's actual account numbers when
making a payment. Even if compromised, the token can be
deactivated, rendering it useless to cybercriminals.
PNC Bank is one of the first financial institutions to utilize
STE for customer deposit and checking accounts. More than nine
million PNC customers will be able to have their account numbers
tokenized when making payments over the RTP network or EPN.
"Enabling tokenization of our customer account numbers
represents a further step in our journey to helping customers more
securely transact with the third parties of their choice," said
Bill Demchak, PNC Chairman,
President and Chief Executive Officer. "This capability is in lock
step with our commitment to safeguarding our customers' accounts by
providing avenues for them to grant secure access to the financial
information that they entrust to us."
Akoya LLC is the first third-party service provider to utilize
STE for tokenizing account numbers on behalf of financial
institutions connected as data providers to its Akoya Data Access
Network. Fintechs and other data recipients will be able to
retrieve tokenized account numbers directly through Akoya.
"Akoya can automatically swap real account and routing numbers
for tokens and pass them to fintechs and data aggregators for
financial institutions," said Stuart
Rubinstein, CEO of Akoya. "This mitigates considerable
security and risk concerns for payment enablement and works
seamlessly with existing payment rails."
"In today's connected and digital economy, customers
increasingly use electronic payments to make purchases, send money
to friends and family, and to pay bills," said Jim Aramanda, President and CEO, The Clearing
House. "Tokenization for customer account numbers, which replaces
the actual account numbers with a token, is another step financial
institutions can take to make their customers' accounts even more
secure when making payments."
The RTP network gives the banking industry a modern platform for
domestic payments, complete with rich data capabilities and
immediate payment confirmation. The system enables instantaneous
settlement and availability to payment recipients, so those funds
can be used or withdrawn as cash within seconds. The RTP network
currently reaches 61% of U.S. demand deposit accounts and all
federally insured depository institutions, regardless of size, can
join the network. More than 240 financial institutions use the RTP
network, with more joining each week. Since 2017, the RTP network
has offered a flat pricing structure for all depository
institutions that does not have monthly fees, volume discounts, or
minimum volume requirements.
EPN is the industry's private sector ACH service, helping
financial institutions process and settle ACH transactions and
providing related services. Year over year, EPN continues to grow
and reliably processes approximately 70 million transactions each
day, with over 121 million transactions during the most recent
daily peak.
About PNC
PNC Bank, National Association, is a member of The PNC Financial
Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC). PNC is one of the largest
diversified financial services institutions in the United States, organized around its
customers and communities for strong relationships and local
delivery of retail and business banking including a full range of
lending products; specialized services for corporations and
government entities, including corporate banking, real estate
finance and asset-based lending; wealth management and asset
management. For information about PNC, visit www.pnc.com.
About Akoya
Akoya is transforming the way consumer financial data is
accessed and shared. Through a single integration to the Akoya Data
Access Network, data aggregators and fintechs can directly connect
with financial institutions to securely obtain
consumer-permissioned financial data through APIs. Akoya manages
these relationships and serves as an interoperable solution
available to the entire financial services industry. Please visit
www.akoya.com or follow Akoya on LinkedIn and Twitter to learn
more.
About The Clearing House
The Clearing House operates
U.S.-based payments networks that clear and settle more than
$2 trillion each day through wire,
ACH, check image, and real-time payments. It is the nation's most
experienced payments company, with a long track record of providing
secure and reliable systems, payments innovation, and strategic
thought leadership to financial institutions. Most recently, The
Clearing House has revolutionized U.S. payments infrastructure with
the RTP® network, which supports the immediate clearing and
settlement of payments, along with the ability to exchange related
payment information across the same secure channel. These RTP
capabilities enable all financial institutions to offer safer,
faster, and smarter digital transaction services for their
corporate and retail customers. Learn more at
www.theclearinghouse.org.
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SOURCE The Clearing House