[NEWS]

[dlv@bwalk.dm.com (Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM)]

SECURE INTERNET COMMERCE IS FOCUS OF SEVERAL PROJECTS
Visa Europe is testing a payment card designed for secure use in commerce
across the Internet, and hopes to bring it to market early in 1998. "We are
launching a pilot of our new card for secure electronic commerce with 38
banks around Europe in 16 countries," Steve Schapp, executive vice-president
marketing of Visa Europe said. "We expect Internet commerce to range from
between $7 billion and $32 billion a year by 2000 world-wide, extending Visa
payment service into a new environment," Schapp said. In a related story, a
group of Singapore scientists said they had invented a secure system for
financial transactions on the Internet. The system would allow individuals
and businesses to deal directly with banks via the worldwide computer
network, said Lam Kwok Yan, spokesman for a group of researchers at the
National University of Singapore (NUS). He said the new system, developed by
the NUS team in collaboration with several banks, used smartcard technology
which allowed the transmission of hidden digital signatures. The system,
which uses Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system, should be ready for use
by sponsoring banks by March 1997. Sponsors include Singapore's four large
banks -- Development Bank of Singapore, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.,
Overseas Union Bank, United Overseas Bank -- as well as Singapore
Telecommunications and Citicorp's Citibank.
-- Reuter, 10/22/96

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<a href="mailto:dlv@bwalk.dm.com">Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM</a>
Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps