IBM is to trial a business-to-business (B2B) Internet payment
system that complies with Identrus's trust standard, the global
standard for B2B e-commerce trust and user authentication.
Identrus is a consortium of 50 major financial institutions from
across the world that aims to standardise global e-commerce payment
systems.
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and Industrial Bank of Japan, which have
been working with Identrus, will test the electronic payment
hardware and software. The system will be used to settle payments
between IBM Japan's Fujisawa plant and its suppliers, said IBM
spokeswoman Hiromi Ishida.
The project aims to promote Web-based payment systems among
financial institutions. The Internet can halve the time it takes to
clear payments, helping to reduce transaction costs, Ishida
said.
IBM said that digital signatures, smartcards and encryption
technology will protect the system.
The trial will begin early next year and IBM hopes to roll out the
products to financial institutions in the second quarter of 2002,
Ishida said.
It will be the first time that IBM has used the Identrus trust
system in an e-payment service, despite having several initiatives
in place to support the standard, the spokeswoman added.