Online security first for industry

APIR Certificates has unveiled a smart card it hopes to establish as the standard online security device for the financial services industry.

The smart card uses SecureNet technology and forms a key element of APIR's commitment to developing an identification system which tracks all financial planners holding proper authorities in Australia.

APIR managing director Andy Hutchings says the smart card system will provide a high level of protection to the personal data stored on each planner.

"We are trying to develop a community of trust that cuts across the industry," he says. "To do that we need to provide a high level of security for the information that is being transferred electronically around the industry."

The smart card system will also offer a system of security for e-commerce activity between financial planners, their dealers and fund managers. It provides for secure email, access security and digital signatures for online applications for transactions such as purchasing managed funds.

A number of funds management and financial planning firms have already got behind the concept and APIR is currently in discussions with the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and the Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA) with a view to agreeing on a standard format for online security.

APIR currently supplies product codes for Australia's 145 fund managers and 9,000 managed funds. The group was recently granted $1 million from the federal and ACT governments to develop the technology for the adviser numbering system which it calls the Compliance Reference Service Project.