SecureKey Technologies Inc. announced that it has been awarded a contract by the Government of Canada to provide a Credential Broker Service that will enable Canadians to use their bank authentication credentials to obtain access to online government services.

To ensure privacy protection, users of the service will authenticate through their bank but neither their login credentials nor the identity of their bank will be shared with the government. Similarly, no information about the government service being accessed by the user will be shared with the user’s bank.

The new service is part of the Canada’s Cyber Authentication Renewal initiative and leverages SecureKey’s authentication solutions, which enable banks, credit card issuers, governments and health care providers to extend the security capabilities of chip-based payment and identity cards to their mobile and online offerings.

Management of security credentials is a challenge for online government services. These used IDs and passwords are not used frequently and often forgotten. SecureKey’s new authentication service will enable consumers to access government services using their online banking login credentials or, if offered by their bank, by tapping their bank-issued chip card on one of SecureKey’s easy-to-use USB card readers or, in future, on a SecureKey-enabled laptop or mobile device.

To provide consumer choice and broad national coverage for the launch of the service, three of Canada’s largest banks, BMO Financial Group, TD Bank Group and Scotiabank have been selected as the inaugural credential providers.

The CBS will go live in 2012 and will be made available to all Government of Canada departments and agencies.