SecureKey Completes $27 Million Strategic Investment Round

Leading Financial Institutions team up with SecureKey to Drive the Future of Digital ID

TORONTO, Oct. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - SecureKey Technologies Inc., a leading provider of identity and authentication solutions, today announced that it has raised $27 million CAD in growth capital to fund the commercial rollout of a privacy-enhancing digital identity network. Teaming up with SecureKey on this initiative and participating in the funding round are leading financial institutions: BMO Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia, CIBC, Desjardins, Royal Bank of Canada and TD.

Building upon the success of the SecureKey Concierge™ federated authentication service, SecureKey and its partners have established this strategic collaboration to accelerate the development of an innovative new service to be launched in 2017.  The new service will make it easier for consumers to manage their digital assets and to take control of their digital identity in a privacy enhanced and secure way.

SecureKey also announced that founder and chairman Greg Wolfond has returned as CEO to lead the company's collaboration with the nation's largest financial services providers, continue the growth of SecureKey Concierge, and drive the next-generation identity and digital asset sharing initiative.

"We want to help put the consumer back in the middle and let them take control of their digital assets, to share what they want, with whom they want, and always with informed consent," said Wolfond. "We are excited to be working with so many partners to develop and deliver a national ecosystem that puts consumers first. Canada's largest financial institutions are among the most trusted in the world, and we could not have a better group of aligned strategic investors for this groundbreaking initiative."

"SecureKey is creating an ecosystem for customers to manage their digital assets securely and conveniently. It's a model that is being developed with substantial input from TD and other banks," said Rizwan Khalfan, EVP and Chief Digital Officer, TD. "Investing in innovation that will improve the customer experience is core to our strategy. Given the priority we place on security and privacy, we're uniquely positioned to help shape this offering."

"We're pleased to expand our partnership with SecureKey to launch the new digital ID platform that focuses on simultaneously protecting our customers' privacy while offering the potential to significantly enrich the authentication process," said Andrew Irvine, Head of Commercial Banking and Partnerships, BMO Bank of Montreal. "The new service will help provide our customers with greater convenience, and save them time for a better overall experience."

"SecureKey pioneered federated identity and authentication in Canada by empowering consumers with secure and convenient access to online services. Banks like RBC are uniquely positioned to collaborate with SecureKey to realize a digital ID because of our deep knowledge of clients, best-in-class security standards, and our strict regulatory requirements," said Eddy Ortiz, VP, Solution Acceleration & Innovation, RBC. "SecureKey's digital identity service will provide our clients with the peace of mind that they have come to expect, and will be a foundational building block in building consumer trust for the evolving digital economy."

"SecureKey is setting next-generation standards for enabling online identity," said Mike Henry, Executive Vice President, Retail Payments, Deposits and Unsecured Lending at Bank of Nova Scotia. "We look forward to working closely with SecureKey to make customer-centric, privacy-enhanced digital ID a reality."

"Innovation is all about adding value and creating opportunity for clients, and we are pleased to be working with SecureKey to make it easier for clients to do business online with the confidence that their security and privacy are protected," said Todd Roberts, SVP, Innovation, CIBC. "As our clients increasingly embrace digital channels, we are committed to partnerships that enhance the digital ecosystem."

"The key to successful adoption of online and mobile services in Canada rely upon the creation of an ecosystem that brings in the strongest capabilities of all participants to give customers choice, security and privacy with their Digital ID. SecureKey's system meets these requirements and Desjardins is proud to support the development of this innovative solution," said Patrice Dagenais, Vice-President, Payment Services and Business Partnerships at Desjardins Group.

To learn more about SecureKey, please visit: www.securekey.com. 

About SecureKey Technologies
SecureKey is a leading identity and authentication provider that simplifies consumer access to online services and applications. SecureKey enables next generation privacy-enhancing identity and authentication network for conveniently connecting people to critical online services using a digital credential they already have and trust. SecureKey is headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Boston and San Francisco. For more information, please visit www.securekey.com.

SOURCE SecureKey Technologies Inc.

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www.securekey.com