FRESNO, Calif. -- Educational Employees Credit Union has become the first USERS Inc. client to use the Fiserv unit's multi-factor authentication system for Internet banking.

The $1.3 billion CU says 59% of its 49,000 home bankers successfully enrolled and began using the new system within two weeks of its launch in late October.

USERS, a Pennsylvania-based core processing unit of Fiserv Inc., says several more credit unions are expected to soon launch the service, now embedded in USERS' PCU Internet Banking suite.

The solution is the former PassMark system now owned by RSA and uses images and phrases, as well as forensic and risk-based technology to authenticate a member's identity and generate a profile of the member's computer and geographical location.

The feature was developed collaboratively by all seven credit union core processors at Fiserv using the former PassMark system now, itself a newly acquired part of data-management giant EMC.

"This solution was appealing because it has minimal impact on our members," says Michelle Forster, e-commerce manager at Educational Employees CU. "They will not have to load special software or carry a device to access their accounts. It's simple, but effective.

"When they log in and see their PassMark and PassPhrase, members know they're on our legitimate home banking site," Forster says.

She says an aggressive member communication campaign helped prepare the membership for the change.