Customer Profile

Enterprise Financial Services Corporation, the parent company of Enterprise Bank & Trust, is a full-service financial institution that operates commercial banking and wealth management businesses in metropolitan St. Louis and Kansas City. The organization’s primary focus is on serving the needs of privately-held businesses, their owners and other success-minded individuals. The company's stock is listed nationally on NASDAQ under the symbol EFSC.

Background

As a leading commercial banking and wealth management services provider in St. Louis and Kansas City, Enterprise Bank & Trust is committed to providing its customers with the highest standards of service and security. To this end, a few years ago the bank's IT team implemented unique and complex passwords that bank staff had to remember to gain access to their many applications. Complex passwords were also put in place to comply with FDIC audit regulations mandated by Sarbanes-Oxley and FFIEC.

Challenge

The complex password implementation frustrated both users and IT staff. Users struggled to remember many unique and difficult passwords, even resorting to writing passwords down, which compromised security. Since users often forgot their passwords, they frequently got locked out of their systems and were unable to do their work. This led to frequent calls to the help desk for password resets, resulting in increased IT costs and resource requirements.

Solution

Enterprise Bank's IT team began looking at fingerprint biometric and Enterprise Single Sign-On (ESSO) solutions that would alleviate users' password burden, tighten security, and ensure compliance with intensifying audit regulations. Since the new solution would need to be deployed company-wide, it was a high-profile situation that required careful and thorough evaluation. The bank's IT team, led by Steve Siress, network systems manager, conducted an extensive review process, including on-site testing.

After completing the evaluation, Enterprise Bank chose UPEK TouchChip fingerprint readers and Imprivata OneSign SSO. Bank employees are using UPEK fingerprint readers and OneSign SSO to access 35 business-critical applications across a number of departments at the Bank's Operations Center and six branch offices in St. Louis and Kansas City. 

Results

Enterprise Bank achieved increased password security immediately. Bank staff is no longer tempted to write down or share their passwords since all they have to do is place their finger on a sensor. Fingerprint biometrics replay passwords that have been made more secure by increased length to 32 characters, increased complexity, and automatic rotation by OneSign. This new level of password security complies with Sarbanes-Oxley and FFIEC requirements.

The easy-to-use user interface requiring the simple touch of a finger has resulted in higher user satisfaction levels, fast enterprise-wide adoption, increased staff productivity, and reduced IT and help desk costs.

"We've found a way to comply with audit regulations while significantly reducing help desk costs and improving employee productivity," said Siress. "From the IT perspective, we are happy knowing our security has increased. Meanwhile, our employees absolutely love the new system, and in fact, have told us they will not give it up."