PassMark is an online security feature that will become part of your Online Banking login process. PassMark helps prevent unauthorized access to your accounts while reassuming you that you're at the actual SNB website.  PassMark has 3 components: An Image, a phrase and 3 challenge questions.  After you enroll in PassMark you will first enter your Login ID and then verify that your image and phrase are the ones you selected. If the items are yours, you're safe to enter your password and get logged into Online Banking.

PassMark helps to ensure your information is secure, thus helping to protect you from identity theft and fraud. PassMark is a great protector against phishing. By using PassMark, it allows the bank to identify your computer and in turn lets you know you are on the bank's actual site by showing you your PassMark image and phrase. This image and phrase are secret to you and the bank.

PassMark protects you from accidentlly revealing your username and password to a fake site.  in addition, if someone does shomehow get your username and password, they will still not be able to access your accounts because they are not at your registered computer. However, you can login from different computers. Your challenge questions will allow you to do so.

PassMark consists of 3 parts: an image, a phrase and 3 challenge questions. Once you enter your Login ID, SNB wants to make sure it is you logging into online banking, PassMark makes this easy.  Once you enroll in PassMark, you will know to only enter your password if you have successfully viewed your PassMark image and phrase. If you do not see your PassMark image and phrase you should immediately assume that you are not on the official SNB Bank's website and you should NOT enter your password.  Let's say you login from your office computer, PassMark protects you in this case as well. You will simply be asked one of your challenge questions to be able to proceed to the image and phrase viewing of your Login session.  PassMark allows you and the bank to have two ways to identify you, your PassMark and your password, will now compose your two-factor authentication for online banking transactions.

No. Your Login ID (User ID) and password will not change when you enroll in PassMark.  The changes made to your online banking experience just include adding the verification by you visually that the image and phrase we display to you is indeed the ones you have selected.  We also incorporate the added security of challenge questions to allow you to access online banking from more than one computer. The login screens are a little different, you will enter your Login ID first and then you will view your PassMark image and phrase. If these 2 items are what you selected, then you will be asked to enter your password.  After clicking submit you will be logged into online banking.

SNB will only show you your PassMark image and phrase if you login from your own computer, or after you have answered a challenge question correctly. So, it is not possible for an unauthorized person to get access to your picture.  This would be the same case if you and another customer selected to use the same image.  Your image and phrase will not show up on their computer.  Remember we will not show the PassMark image and phrase unless we can verify you are at your registered computer.

After you enter your Login ID and click the sign on button, SNB will only show your PassMark image and phrase automatically if you sign in from a computer we recognize as your registered computer. If you are at a different computer we will ask you a challenge question.  It is critical you remember your answers to the challenge questions.  This will help us identify that it is you trying to login from another computer.

From mid-March to April 30, 2007, SNB will not REQUIRE you to enroll in PassMark.  We will be offering it to you as a courtesy during this time frame. After April 30th, ALL SNB online banking customers will be required to enroll and use a PassMark to login to online banking.  PassMark is easy to use and will help you protect yourself against identity theft and fraud.  Don't hesitate to contact an SNB rep if you need further explanation of PassMark and how to enroll. Call 1.888.762.4762 to speak to a rep during office hours. Click the Online Banking tab on our website to find additional information on getting started.

Challenge questions help prevent unauthorized people from getting access to  your online banking information. That way, even if they've stolen your Login ID and PassMark image and phrase, they won't know the answers to your secret questions.  It is critical you remember the answers to your challenge questions.  As always, we strongly suggest you do not write them down.  The questions will be secret to you.  Challenge questions will be presented to you and all you have to do is answer the ones you will remember easiest or the ones that only you will know.

Sure.  The purpose of two-factor authentication or PassMark is not to limit your online banking access. It is to help you team up with SNB to protect your financial information. When you try to login to online banking from a computer other than your normal one, SNB will will ask you a challenge question that will help us ID you and allow you to view your PassMark image and phrase. When you recognize your image and phrase you can then enter your password and proceed to online banking from a different computer.

PassMark is extremely simple to use. You don't need to memorize anything new--just use the site as usual and look for your PassMark at login.

Yes. You both can use the same computer to sign in to your individual Online Banking accounts safely; you won't see each other's information. There's no limit to how many people can sign in to Online Banking at SNB from the same computer. Just remember not to share your Login ID, PassMark or answers to your challenge questions.

Yes. You can change your image and phrase anytime. Simply check the appropriate box on the PassMark screen and you can change your PassMark image or Phrase.  You can also click the “change my password” box on this page.

Yes. PassMark is SNB's version of implementing two-factor authentication.  Two-factor authentication is defined as using two ways to identity a customer prior to them accessing online banking and secure financial data.  Two-factor authentication is verified by the following two items: 1. your PassMark image and phrase and 2. your SNB password.

Recently there have been attempts by fraudsters to trick people into revealing their personal information such as passwords, by creating "fake" websites that look very much like the sites of legitimate financial institutions. They send out random emails with links to these fake websites. This phenomenon has been called Phishing, (pronounced "fishing").  To help you refrain from getting tricked by a Phisher, SNB has a standard that we will never send you an email with instructions to click a link to access our website.  Therefore, if you receive an email appearing to come from SNB asking you to click a link and enter your password, you can automatically assume this is a Phish and deem it fraudulent.  As always contact an SNB representative at 1.888.762.4762 to verify anything you are not sure about. 

Some fraudsters have been putting programs on random computers in order to harvest your user ID and password information used to login to websites. They collect this information and secretly transmit it to their own computers and attempt to login to your site. These are called Trojans (short for Trojan Horse) or Key Loggers (for logging your keystrokes).

Once you have a PassMark and have registered your computer, even if a fraudster steals your Login ID and password, his computer will not be registered and he will not be able to login as you; thus, PassMark protects your identity and your account.