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Company: PINoptic Limited
Project: PINoptic authentication solution
Dates: May 2007 to Mar 2008
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How did the project start?
One of the founders had his credit card cloned as a result of "shoulder surfing" to capture the PIN and swiping to capture details of the credit card account. Something superior to Chip and PIN is most definitely needed to protect the cardholder.
What options did you consider?
Since chip and pin is flawed, a one-time password that can be generated simply with existing technology has been developed by the team. It is a Visual Probabilistic One Time Password (VPOTP) that is applicable to card transactions, PC login, access control and brain games. Each time an authentication is requested, the perceived/observed PIN entered for that card is different, but by remembering a "picture story" the cardholder can more simply remember his/her access code than remember a pin number.
What help and expertise did you receive?
Proof of Concept convertible loan from NStar (now converted to equity). Assessment of the solution by cognitive psychologists at University of Sunderland to confirm literacy-neutrality and ease of use.
Did you face any challenges or learn any lessons?
The greatest challenge has been to get banks and their association (apacs) to listen. They seem to consider £500m losses to card fraud in 2007 as "small beer", never mind the stress caused to their customer, the cardholder.
What are the outcomes and how has it improved your business?
The early work funded by the proof of concept loan enabled us to develop a secure, viable and successful solution - see pdf of product brochure.
Firm interest has already been shown by a Moscow-based bank that covers 60 centres in Russia and Ukraine. We are further being considered for a mobile banking project in the African sub-continent - principally because of the literacy-neutral nature of the solution.
What are your plans for the future?
Since additional equity funding was received in November 2007, the company has come out of stealth mode and, with patents pending, commenced a heavy marketing campaign around Europe and North America.
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