Your Security

One of the things we are often asked is: just how secure is POLi™?

We always encourage our customers, merchants and the banks to become educated about exactly what goes on during a POLi transaction, so it’s worth taking some time to understand the security of POLi and ensure that you are comfortable using the service.

The two main elements that make up the POLi transaction are your existing internet banking site and the POLi Browser. Before you can pay with POLi, you will need to have installed the POLi Browser software on your computer. Without it you cannot make a POLi payment.

In simple terms, the POLi Browser is a cut down (single purpose) version of Internet Explorer. It is used to display the instructions required to complete the POLi payment and provides the interface for accessing your Internet Banking site. It does not capture nor does it store any of your sensitive details (including account numbers and internet banking logon credentials or passwords).

During a POLi transaction, no one can access or see any of the details displayed by your Internet banking site - this information remains secure within the bank’s environment. It is important to remember that when using POLi, you only ever exchange sensitive information directly with your bank. In this sense, POLi is unlike other online payment methods, such as online credit card transactions where your information is passed via a series of third parties.

Apart from the bank you choose when beginning a POLi transaction, the only other piece of information stored is the receipt number generated by the bank upon completion of the payment. This information allows us to confirm to the merchant that your payment has been completed and also helps with support and basic troubleshooting.

You can check that you are installing a legitimate version of the POLi Browser simply by checking the name of the publisher when prompted to ‘run the application’. This will always be displayed as Centricom Pty Ltd, the owners and operators of the POLi solution. Click here to visit the Centricom corporate website.

Centricom regularly makes enhancements to the POLi Browser. These enhancements are usually simple things such as like improvements to the look and feel of the browser itself, but occasionally they include more important updates related to security. As the POLi Browser is deployed using self-updating Microsoft ClickOnce technology, every time you begin a new transaction, POLi will check itself to see if a newer version is available and will automatically replace any updated files. This means that you can rest assured that you will always be using the most secure and up-to-date version of POLi.

One of the biggest security benefits to users of POLi is the protection we provide against malicious behaviour. An example of this is the protection against phishing attacks; in the unlikely event that the POLi browser was to navigate to a fake bank site, a fraudulent SSL certificate would be detected and the POLi transaction aborted before the user could interact with the page. In simple terms, we ensure that you are only ever connected to your legitimate internet banking site.

But rather than take our word for it, we have included below summaries of two independent security reviews conducted on the POLi service. The first review was completed by VeriSign and the other by Security-Assessment.com - both world leaders in the provision of web application testing, network security and penetration testing.

VeriSign Report (PDF)

Security-Assessment.com Report (PDF)

If you require further information about the security of POLi, please do not hesitate to Contact Us.