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Royal Bank of Scotland Realizes 375%
ROI Using IdenTrust Inc.’s Hosted
Identity Authentication Platform to Deliver Flexible,
Cost-Effective Digital Identity Solutions
Independent audit quantifies value of IdenTrust solution in helping
Royal Bank of Scotland’s TrustAssured service lower its
total cost of ownership
while enhancing its growth and profitability opportunities
SAN FRANCISCO, California
January 24, 2007
According to a recent study by independent research
and information services firm Thoughtware Worldwide, LLC, Royal
Bank of Scotland (RBS)
is tracking to realize a 375 percent return on investment (ROI)
over five years with an identity
authentication solution hosted by IdenTrust Inc., a global leader
in trusted identity solutions. RBS, by
moving to the IdenTrust hosted infrastructure service, is now able
to provide a more flexible,
adaptable identity authentication platform to help drive its core
payments and financing business.
Thoughtware Worldwide conducted an extensive
analysis of RBS’ investment
in the IdenTrust
Trust platform, which revealed a projected internal rate of return
(IRR) of 96 percent over five years,
payback within one year and an estimated savings of $8.9 million
(£4.5 million) over five years. In
addition, with IdenTrust, RBS can increase its reach and solution
offerings to existing and new
customers, as it will be able to deliver identity-secured solutions
tailored by media and price points
that best meet the end-customers’ application needs.
A New
Approach to Identity Authentication
Royal Bank of Scotland is one
of the world’s leading financial
services groups. Founded in
1727, it is the fifth largest bank in the world and, by market capitalization,
is the second largest bank
in the United Kingdom and Europe, and the seventh largest bank in
the United States.
In April 2001, RBS launched its TrustAssured Service, taking a portfolio
approach to identity
authentication in order to deliver a comprehensive solution for
its customers. RBS based its end-to-end
managed service on Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), which asks users
to authenticate
themselves each time they connect to their online systems. Once
online, RBS’ service allows them
to conduct business securely by providing capabilities such as the
authorization of transactions or
the signing of documents with legally binding digital signatures.
In 2006, TrustAssured had an option to consider alternative suppliers
for its security and
identity authentication needs. The team understood that payments
competition was increasing with
the looming integration of European markets and an expected increase
in cross-border activities.
Flexibility, adaptation and security were becoming vital in the
new industry landscape, requiring quick
response to market demands and an ability to rapidly formulate and
launch new products.
An in-depth analysis of RBS TrustAssured’s existing security
and identity management
platform revealed significant limitations. RBS turned to IdenTrust
for its cost-effective and flexible
platform for managing every aspect of its identity management needs.
New Capabilities, New Opportunities
TrustAssured’s core service now meets the needs of organizations
developing online
commerce or collaboration with a network of partners requiring “trust” as
a critical component of
completing a transaction. Inherent in the TrustAssured solution
is the comprehensive IdenTrust rule
set that governs the procedures, policies, legal framework and
operations for identity authentication
and validation. RBS now has an interoperable infrastructure for
relying on digital identity certificates
issued by banks supporting their customers’ global e-commerce
needs.
In addition, the platform provides easy adoption that allows RBS
TrustAssured to deliver
solutions via different media (USB, chip, branded card or soft
certifications) at different price points.
RBS also reduces costs and IT complexity by using IdenTrust to
manage both RBS’ identity
authentication infrastructure and scheme.
Additional Benefits
Additional operational and technological benefits resulting from
the IdenTrust solution include:
• 45% Reduction in Average Cost per Certificate -- RBS is now planning
to manage
higher-volume transactions, due to the lower costs associated
with issuing certificates
as well as the increased flexibility of the IdenTrust platform,
including the ability to
employ the onboard key generation capability.
•
Lower Infrastructure Costs – By implementing the IdenTrust
solution, RBS is
achieving significant savings on infrastructure, hardware/software
refresh, and disaster
recovery/business continuity, tracking toward a savings of approximately
$3.17 million
(£1.6 million) over five years.
Quantifiable Benefits
“
In analyzing RBS’ results, the overarching theme for us was
simplicity, flexibility and ease of
adoption – all at a lower operating cost. We believe RBS’ results
are indicative of what is possible
when identity authentication is weaved into business capabilities – leveraging
digital signatures to
enable secure commerce in a straight-through-processing world,” said
Timothy Guyre, Managing
Director, Thoughtware Worldwide, LLC.
To view the comprehensive Royal
Bank of Scotland ROI study by Thoughtware Worldwide,
LLC, please visit http://www.ThoughtwareWorldwide.com/downloads/RBS_F.pdf
About Thoughtware Worldwide, LLC
A privately held company, Thoughtware Worldwide, LLC is headquartered
in San Francisco,
California, USA and was founded in 2005 by a team of leading
experts in value management
bridging the best of academia and real-world execution.
Thoughtware Worldwide delivers credible,
comprehensive research and analysis that gives clients and
their customers the means to make
sound and insightful business decisions in today's volatile
economic climate. Thoughtware
Worldwide works with companies around the globe to audit
and understand the value realized from
their investment decisions.
For more information about Thoughtware Worldwide, LLC, please
log on to
www.ThoughtwareWorldwide.com.
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