PhoneFactor, a US-based provider of multi-factor authentication services, has extended its suite of out-of-band authentication solutions for online banking to include a Universal Banking Gateway, enabling rapid implementation with any online banking platform and no coding.

The company claims that the gateway adds a critical authentication layer to secure online banking logins and transactions without requiring direct integration with the online banking application.

PhoneFactor works by confirming online banking logins, ACH, wire transfers and bill pay processes through an out-of-band phone call or text message. The users simply have to answer the call or responds to the text message to authenticate. Because the authentication is confirmed through the telephone network, it protects against escalating threats from man-in-the-middle attacks and online banking trojans.

The new gateway makes it possible to add PhoneFactor authentication to online banking applications that are deployed as managed services and other cases where the application’s authentication logic is not accessible to the bank.

The Universal Banking Gateway is available immediately as one of the integration options bundled into the PhoneFactor platform. PhoneFactor also supports direct integration via web plug-ins for Java and .Net and a web services SDK, and has partnered with Fiserv, to provide native integration.

Steve Dispensa, CTO and co-founder of PhoneFactor, said: “With attacks from online banking trojans growing exponentially, banks are feeling the pressure to quickly deploy the out-of-band authentication needed to protect their customers. Now, it’s easier than ever for banks to deploy PhoneFactor, regardless of their online banking systems. Banks can take control of the implementation timeline and quickly roll the service out to their users.”