Wells Fargo to use Adobe for digital signature service

Paul Roberts   Today’s Top Stories    or  Other Business Intelligence Stories  

Driving BI Value with Data Integration: Overcoming the Thorniest Challenges Survey: Business Intelligence Maturity and the Quest for Better Performance BI @ The Speed of Business Computerworld Custom Publishing: Bright City Lights Sign up to receive Security Resource Alerts

June 08, 2004 (IDG News Service) -- Wells Fargo & Co. bank customers will soon be able to use digital signatures and Adobe PDF documents to conduct sensitive business transactions.
Wells Fargo is planning to deploy a service called SimpleSign that combines Adobe Systems Inc.'s Acrobat technology with digital identity services from Identrus LLC. The service is designed to prevent document spoofing and allows banks and their customers to sign PDF documents with digital signatures, creating legally binding digital documents, like loan origination forms and letters of credit.
If widely adopted in the U.S., the SimpleSign service could make it faster and cheaper for banks and other financial institutions to process documents, said Clay Epstein, vice president of product and technology at San Francisco-based Identrus.
Wells Fargo has been using the SimpleSign technology for three or four months in a pilot test with a number of other U.S. banks and will soon roll out the service across its business units and international businesses run by the bank, according to Epstein.
Wells Fargo didn't respond to a request for comment.
Identrus is a network of about 60 banks worldwide that promotes a legal infrastructure and open technology platform for digital identity services, including identity authentication and digital signatures. The system counts Bank of America Corp., Deutsche Bank AG, Barclays Bank PLC, Chase Manhattan Bank Corp. and Citigroup Inc. as members and is designed to provide a stable technology and legal foundation for electronic financial transactions, independent of differing national laws governing the use of digital credentials, according to Identrus.
The Identrus technology platform is based on standard X.509 digital certificates and OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol) for exchanging and validating online signatures, with each bank in the system acting as its own certificate authority, Epstein said.
Acrobat Version 6.0 products recognize and accept Identrus digital certificates, using them and Acrobat's built-in digital signing features to verify documents and prevent document spoofing. When signed documents are received by Identrus, OCSP requests sent to the certificate authority immediately confirm the document's authenticity, Epstein said.
"The real-time validation mechanism is important to banks. An individual document can always be sent from somebody who claims to be Citibank, Wells Fargo or Chase. By using a document signed by the bank and verified by a trusted party like Identrus, [SimpleSign] provides an antispoofing function," he said.
Version 6.0 of Acrobat Professional, Acrobat Standard Edition and the free Acrobat Reader all support SimpleSign, Epstein said.
Banks in the U.K. are already using SimpleSign to push some aspects of mortgage processing to an electronic form. However, the U.S. lags behind Europe and countries like Australia because of slower adoption of technology like smart cards and digital certificates, he said.
Banks stand to benefit tremendously in switching from paper to electronic documents, Epstein said.
In addition to saving on ancillary services produced by paper documents, such as courier services and document transfers, banks can easily parse long electronic applications into their constituent pieces, automating functions like credit checks, title searches or cash management instructions, he said.

Reprinted with permission from

For more news from IDG visit IDG.net
Story copyright 2006 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

Print this Story

Send Us Feedback

E-mail this Story

Digg this Story

Slashdot this Story

"When white pages searches come up empty, it's often easier to let your fingers do the walking. It shouldn't be..." Read more... "Enterprise search continues to lag behind commerical search because companies lack a "findability" strategy, says one researcher...." Read more... Read more Business Intelligence posts or See all Blogs

DNS hole prompts synchronized patching effort by IT vendors Microsoft plugs nine holes in Windows, DNS, SQL Symantec warns of new Word attack More top stories...

Microsoft sets XP SP3 automatic download for Thursday Don't give Google a free pass on data collection, privacy advocates say after YouTube ruling XP SP3 to reach most users 'shortly,' says Microsoft

This old laptop: Revitalizing an aging notebook on the cheap All it takes is a couple hours and about $125 to breathe new life into an old laptop. Here's how. Bill Gates moves on Is Microsoft's Golden Age over? What are Gates' most memorable quotes? Find out in Computerworld's complete coverage of the end of the Bill Gates era at Microsoft. Five things you should never tell your boss There are some things your CIO definitely doesn't want to hear. Also don't miss the flipside, Five things you should always tell your boss. Hands-On: Firefox 3 fixes what's broke and keeps what's right With its latest version, Mozilla's browser continues to raise the bar for what Web browsers should be. Windows Vista A to Z Reviews, analyses, how-tos, visual tours, hot issues and predictions about Microsoft's new OS. More Continuing Coverage After 9/11: Homeland SecurityAsk a Premier 100 IT LeaderBlackBerry Legal BattleData Security BreachesElectronic VotingFirefoxH-1B VisasHP's Boardroom ScandalHandheld DevicesHurricane Katrina AftermathMicrosoft Legal IssuesMicrosoft's VistaOpen SourceRFID TechnologySCO's Linux FightSarbanes-Oxley ActSpamVoice Over IPWi-FiWindows Meta File VulnerabilityWindows XP Service Pack 3 IT Careers 2010 Four years from now, the IT field will be a vastly different place. Will you be ready? More Special Reports Premier 100 IT Leaders 2007 Best in Class2006 Computerworld Horizon Awards2006 Premier 100 IT Leaders2006 Salary Survey2007 Best Places to Work in IT2007 IT Forecast2007 Premier 100 IT Leaders40 Years of ComputerworldASPs, Take TwoBest Places to Work in IT 2003Best Places to Work in IT 2004Best Places to Work in IT 2005Best Places to Work in IT 2006Business Intelligence Home RunsBusiness Intelligence: Smarter BIBusiness Intelligence: The Future of BICRM Goes VerticalCRM: Sober CRMCareer Planning Guide 2005Careers: IT Profession 2010Computerworld Horizon Awards 2005Data Management: Mining for GemsData Management: Taming Data ChaosDevelopment: Hard-Workin' Web SitesDevelopment: New Tools New ChoicesDevelopment: The New World of Application DevelopmentDevelopment: The Web Services TsunamiDevelopment: Web Services HurdlesDisaster Recovery: Preparing for the WorstE-commerce Grows UpE-mail/Groupware: Big DecisionsFaces of Mobile ITForecast 2006Global MobileHardware: Multiple Cores, Multiple ChallengesHardware: On-Demand Un-HypedHardware: The Shape of Things to ComeHorizon Awards: 10 Cool Cutting Edge TechnologiesIT Management: Guide to Managing VendorsIT Management: Navigating Global ITIT Management: Recovery AheadIT Management: The Future of ITIT Management: The Resourceful Project ManagerInnovative Technology Awards 2004Management: Reinventing ITMicrosoft in TransitionMobile/Wireless Leaders and LaggardsMobile/Wireless: The Untethered WorkerMobile/Wireless: Tiny Gadgets, Huge CostsNetwork Management: Taking ControlNetworking: Turbulence Ahead!Networking: VoIP Goes MainstreamOperating Systems: In the Slow LaneOperating Systems: Linux Goes GlobalOperating Systems: Should You Nix Unix?Outsourcing: Offshore Buyer's GuideOutsourcing: Outsourcing DangersPremier 100 IT Leaders 2004 Best in ClassPremier 100 IT Leaders 2005 Best in ClassROI: Do the Math!Salary Survey 2003Salary Survey 2004Salary Survey 2005Security Action PlanSecurity: Compliance HeadachesSecurity: Proactive SecuritySecurity: Risk and RewardSecurity: Tips From Security ProsSouped-up SecurityStorage: Battling ComplexityStorage: Cheap & Secure Data StoresStorage: Stretching Your Storage DollarsStorage: The Lean Storage MachineStorage: The New Rules of StorageStorage: The Ultimate Backup GuideSupply Chain: Missing LinksSupply Chain: RFID Reality CheckThe Business of SecurityWeb 2.0 SecurityWireless: Wireless At Work All Zones Application Performance Zone Business Continuity Zone Data Center Management Zone Enterprise-Class Security Zone The File Data Management Zone Grid Computing on Windows Zone Security Management Zone ITIL Best Practices Zone The SAS Zone Storage Virtualization Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone See your link here

Speeding the time to intelligence Get this Computerworld report free for a limited time, compliments of SAS. Time To Intelligence -- a concept defining how long it takes to get accurate and timely information into the hands of workers who need it most. Do it slower than your competitors and your company is toast. Do it faster, you scorch them. Business Intelligence is the key to optimizing Time To Intelligence, and success there is a combination of people, policies, and technology. Download this executive briefing  Why SaaS is Vital to Email and Web Security Why SaaS is Vital to Email and Web Security Download this webcast, free, compilments of Webroot Software Go to the webcast  Rapid application development, rapid results Download this special report now! (Source: Intersystems) All too many businesses suffer from IT infrastructures that are a hodge-podge of disconnected databases and applications. What's needed is the ability rapidly develop connected applications under a unified service-oriented architecture. InterSystems Ensemble integration environment and Cache database are effective tools in answering this need, delivering a rapid ROI. Download this white paper  White Papers Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Virtualization Analysis for VMware A Guide to Understanding Messaging Archiving Archiving Compliance with Sunbelt Exchange Archiver View more whitepapers

• DNS hole prompts synchronized patching effort by IT vendors
• Microsoft plugs nine holes in Windows, DNS, SQL
• Symantec warns of new Word attack
• More top stories 

SAS Business and Analytics Zone No matter where your organization is on the path toward evolving your IT infrastructure, SAS can adapt to your situation to meet your long-term enterprise intelligence needs. We can help you drive intelligence evolution to the next level, while leveraging and extending the value of your existing IT investments. Learn more in the Business and Analytics Zone See All Zones

Intercept Spam & Viruses With MessageLabs MessageLabs is offering a complimentary 30 day trial of its managed Anti-virus and Anti-spam security solutions. MessageLabs guarantees complete protection against all know and unknown email threats. By providing 24 hour support, your business can increase productivity and decrease risk. Register for a complimentary trial and receive a free datasheet. Download this white paper now!

Since You Asked A weekly storage column from storage analyst, Steve Duplessie of the Enterprise Strategy Group Click here to read the latest column by Steve Duplessie