The Westpac Group (ASX: WBC) has confirmed it was initiating a token replacement program, as a result of the recent RSA security issue.
Customers the world over have been left wondering whether to trust RSA's security tokens since March 2011, when the company admitted it had been hacked and issued a warning. RSA Secure ID tokens are used by some business and corporate customers and Westpac employees.

Westpac previously denied replacements of RSA SecurID tags to customers. But less than a week later, the bank now back-flipped, saying it would replace tokens over the coming months to ease any customer concerns. The bank, however, maintains the security of customers’ online banking has not been compromised and will only be replacing tokens over the coming months to keep clients from worrying.

Harry Wendt, General Manager Online and Customer Service Centres said: “Our customers’ trust in the security of our systems is paramount. Although we do not believe that our customers are at risk from this event, we have initiated a token replacement program to alleviate any residual concern that our customers may have. There will be no expense for Westpac customers for any token replacements as part of this program.”

Westpac confirmed St. George and BankSA customers do not use RSA Secure ID tokens and as such are unaffected.