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More customers feeling secure online says TD Canada Trust

4 minute read
By TD Bank Group
• Mar. 14, 2007
Annual survey shows increase in use of security measures TORONTO, March 14 /CNW/ - An independent online security survey commissioned by TD Canada Trust which polled 1,500 of its personal and business banking customers across Canada, found that customers are feeling less worried about the security of banking online than they were last year. When asked, only 14% of non-online banking users cited security concerns as their reason for avoiding it. This is down 53% over last year. Why are fewer people worried about online banking security? Education is one reason. Compared to last year more customers indicated they were aware of the different forms of online security threats, including viruses, spam and spyware. - Among business banking customers surveyed, 92% knew about viruses; 80% about spyware; 58% about trojan horses - a type of malicious software; 55% about adware and 30% about phishing. - Among personal banking customers surveyed, awareness was slightly lower: 89% knew about viruses; 75% about spyware; 74% about spam; 53% about trojan horses; 48% about adware; and 21% about phishing As awareness grows, so does the ability to protect oneself, and more people are using the protection measures available to them. Online banking customers are heavy users of software solutions. Of those surveyed, 79% use firewalls, 86% use antivirus and security updates, 72% use anti-spyware and 29% use anti-phishing software. "While only 29% of online users reported using anti-phishing software, this is likely due to the fact that it is still relatively new," says Alexandra Shaw, Vice-President, Electronic Banking, TD Canada Trust. "TD Canada Trust was the first Canadian bank to offer a free anti-phishing tool to its customers through Norton Confidence Online, as well as a free 90-day trial subscription to use Symantec's Norton Internet Security products. It's only a matter of time before this tool becomes as popular as the rest," added Shaw. Some financial institutions, like TD Canada Trust, offer an online security guarantee which contributes to customers feeling more secure online. Among TD Canada Trust online customers surveyed, 58% said the Security Guarantee was a major factor in signing up for EasyWeb. "It's great to see what this year's study clearly shows -- that customers' understanding of the online security issues is increasing and more people are taking appropriate measures to minimize their risk," says Shaw. "We want our customers to be able to bank online with security and confidence, which is why we developed our online security guarantee." TD Canada Trust's EasyWeb promises 100% reimbursement in the unlikely event account losses occur resulting from unauthorized EasyWeb activity. EasyWeb's online security commitment, the first among the major Canadian banks, supports TD Canada Trust's ongoing efforts to ensure customer information remains secure. These efforts include the use of 128 bit encryption technology, secure firewalls preventing unauthorized access to internal systems and constant monitoring to identify unusual activity around the clock. "The survey results prove what we've been seeing. Security concerns are not preventing growth in on-line banking - in fact uptake continues as people become more aware of the benefits and of the many ways they can protect themselves. At TD Canada Trust we've seen more than 1 million customers sign up in the past year alone," added Shaw. The TD Canada Trust Annual Online Security survey, conducted by an independent research firm in November 2006, is a national survey of more than 1,500 respondents focused on a wide range of questions about online security to business and personal banking customers of TD Canada Trust, including those who used online banking and those who did not. EasyWeb is Canada's leading Internet banking service. In addition to awards it has received from Global Finance, the EasyWeb site received the highest ranking among Canadian banks in a March 2006 study by Forrester Research of Canadian secure banking web sites. TD Canada Trust also has the highest number of personal and small business active online banking customers among Canadian banks, as determined by the Online Financial Services Benchmark survey conducted by Forrester Research. And it ranks first among the country's five major banks in online banking satisfaction (Synovate, September 2006). About TD Bank Financial Group The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively known as TD Bank Financial Group. TD Bank Financial Group serves more than 14 million customers in four key businesses operating in a number of locations in key financial centres around the globe: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking including TD Canada Trust; Wealth Management including TD Waterhouse and an investment in TD Ameritrade; Wholesale Banking, including TD Securities; and U.S. Personal and Commercial Banking through TD Banknorth. TD Bank Financial Group also ranks among the world's leading on-line financial services firms, with more than 4.5 million on-line customers. TD Bank Financial Group had CDN$392.9 billion in assets, as of October 31, 2006. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges under the symbol "TD". For further information: Christa Poole, TD Bank Financial Group, (416) 308-0177, christa.poole@td.com

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