Simplifying User Journeys: BNP Paribas’ Partnership with TrustBuilder

BNP Paribas, a leading European financial institution, recognized the need to enhance the login experience for its corporate e-banking solution, “My Corporate Bank.” The goal was to maintain the highest security levels. The challenge was to provide a user-friendly and efficient authentication process that met the stringent PSD2 directive requirements. It also needed to overcome the limitations of traditional hardware-based solutions.

Enhancing BNPP’s e-banking Solution

“My Corporate Bank” is one of BNP Paribas‘ corporate e-banking solution, catering to the diverse needs of its business customers. This platform allows corporate clients to access a wide range of banking services, including account management, payment processing, trade finance, and more, all through a secure digital interface.

As the adoption of digital banking continues to grow, BNP Paribas recognized the importance of providing a seamless and user-friendly experience while maintaining the highest levels of security and compliance. The challenge was to strike the right balance between convenience and robust authentication measures, ensuring that corporate clients could access their financial data and services with ease, while safeguarding against potential threats and adhering to regulatory requirements.

The Quest for a Frictionless and Secure Solution

Gabrielle Foubart, Head of the Business Unit Solution & Connectivity Customers at BNP Paribas, emphasized the importance of managing authentication methods for the “My Corporate Bank” online banking solution for businesses. “One of our department’s main responsibilities is to manage the authentication methods for this solution that we provide to our clients,” explained Gabrielle Foubart.

BNP Paribas aimed to make the user experience as smooth, simple, and frictionless as possible, while ensuring compliance with the European PSD2 regulations. A study conducted by the bank also revealed that the majority of users did not have a professional smartphone, which led Gabrielle Foubart to state: “We did not want to rely solely on strong authentication via SMS OTP every 90 days.”

The challenge, therefore, was to offer a simplified user journey while maintaining a high level of security and avoiding additional hardware devices.

Ensuring Compliance with Regulatory Requirements

“Just like any other e-banking service, “My Corporate Bank” must comply with both PSD2 directive and the GDPR”. Indeed, the PSD2 directive imposes new requirements to financial services in order to increase the security of online payments. As a result, strong customer authentication (SCA) has become mandatory when it comes to accessing and managing banking data.

Adhering to these stringent regulations was a critical factor in BNP Paribas’ decision to enhance its authentication methods. The bank needed to ensure that its corporate e-banking solution met the highest standards of security and data protection, while also providing a seamless and user-friendly experience for its customers.

Embracing a SaaS-Based Multifactor Authentication Solution for it’s e-banking Solution

To comply with PSD2 requirements and to avoid hardware constraints of some multifactor authentication solutions, BNP Paribas chose TrustBuilder’s TB Authentication Manager for its MFA solution. “Prior to the implementation of TrustBuilder’s solution, the e-banking corporate service ‘My Corporate Bank’ was already using two other MFA solutions: Secure Transfer Card (smart card + reader) and electronic certificate (issued by an independent accredited Certification Authority),” explained Gabrielle Foubart. “TrustBuilder’s solution completes this offer and replaces the login experience that requires to enter a username and a password.”

“The simplicity of the user experience is one of the key benefits of TrustBuilder’s MFA solution.” 

“The solution streamlined and simplified the login experience through its passwordless approach, allowing users to connect rapidly by entering a PIN code as a knowledge factor combined with a possession factor,” Gabrielle Foubart explained. “The truly disruptive feature of TrustBuilder’s MFA solution is its Deviceless (or Smartphoneless) token, which enables users to authenticate themselves without the need for any specific hardware device. Instead, the browser itself becomes the trusted device, providing a PSD2-compliant authentication method.”

Lastly, the costs related to implementation and licensing were also a significant driver for the BNP Paribas MFA project. “It was important for us to keep delivering a free authentication solution to our customers,” Gabrielle Foubart stated.

Successful Implementation and Positive Feedback

The implementation of TrustBuilder’s MFA was a success. Tens of thousands of licenses were deployed rapidly across BNP Paribas’ corporate customer base. Both users and the technical team provided overwhelmingly positive feedback on the solution’s simplicity and effectiveness.

The Administration part is fairly intuitive and easy to configure. The very few questions that arose during the configuration process were promptly and expertly addressed by TrustBuilder’s teams.

Gabrielle FoubartHead of Solution & Connectivity Customers Business Unit

The flexibility of TB Authentication Manager enabled BNP Paribas to deploy it on a large scale in a short period. It ensured a smooth transition for customers without any service disruptions or downtime. The bank provided comprehensive training and support to ensure a seamless adoption by their corporate clients.

“TB Authentication Manager being a SaaS solution is a real added value. We were able to benefit from a “ready-to-use” MFA without the need to integrate a back-end part which is usually the most complex to set up.”

Tangible Benefits

The benefits of TrustBuilder’s MFA solution for BNP Paribas included:

• Extremely high security standards for B2B customers, meeting PSD2 compliance requirements
• Rapid deployment to tens of thousands of users across multiple regions
• Easy configuration and administration for the IT team
• User-friendly and hassle-free experience, eliminating the need for additional hardware or devices

Future Expansion Plans

Given the resounding success and positive feedback, Gabrielle Foubart shared that the bank is actively exploring the possibility of deploying TrustBuilder’s TB Authentication Manager on other e-banking solution of BNP Paribas. This expansion would further solidify the bank’s commitment to providing secure and user-friendly digital experiences across its entire corporate banking portfolio.

As the financial industry continues to evolve and embrace digital transformation, BNP Paribas’ partnership with TrustBuilder positions the bank as a leader in delivering innovative and secure solutions that meet the ever-changing needs of its corporate clients.