OREANDA-NEWS. CentralNic plc, (AIM:CNIC) the global provider of domain names, today announces the availability of domain names ending  .BANK, the new secure internet designation reserved exclusively for eligible Financial Institutions as an alternative to .com and .co.uk.

The .BANK domain has strong industry support with over 4,000 .BANK domain names already requested, and endorsers including the British Bankers Association, the American Bankers Association, the Financial Services Roundtable, the Institute of International Bankers and the International Banking Federation.

.BANK domain names are now available through CentralNic FinTech. The London-based business has representatives in New York, Hong Kong, Switzerland and the Middle East to assist qualifying institutions around the globe with the stringent application process.

CentralNic CEO Ben Crawford said, "As the internet becomes increasingly vital for the global banking industry, the .BANK Top-Level Domain addresses a number of urgent needs. By making it easier for consumers and search engines to distinguish legitimate bank websites, the .BANK designation will help combat online fraud, improve consumer protection and simultaneously reduce the burden of security costs for the banking community."

"CentralNic FinTech will take the time to ensure that all eligible banks around the world understand how to get a .BANK domain name while they assist through every phase of the application process. With their 20 years' industry experience we are glad to have them working alongside us," added Craig Schwartz, Managing Director of fTLD Registry Services, which established and operates the .BANK TLD on behalf of a coalition of banks and financial services trade organisations.

The introduction of the .BANK "top-level domain" ("TLD") as an alternative ending to .COM and .CO.UK forms part of a restructuring of the internet presided over by industry regulator ICANN. Under this restructuring, global industry verticals are adopting TLDs specific to their business types, such as .design, .college, .bar, .tickets and .host - which are all supported exclusively by the CentralNic technical platform.