Whether it is safe to pass credit card information over the Internet has always been a thorny issue, but now the Barclays Merchant Services arm of Barclays Bank Plc in the UK has put its weight behind the idea with the first phase of its virtual shopping mall. The company, which claims to be the UK’s largest processor of plastic card slips and data has opened a site containing information from some of the country’s bigger names including high street retail store Argos; toy shop Toys ‘R’ Us; the Eurostar channel tunnel service; and high street supermarket J Sainsbury – which is offering a selection of wines. Purchases are delivered to the shopper’s home after credit-card details have been entered. The bank is using Netscape Communication Corp’s encryption system to secure transactions, and the site is run by Jersey-based Interactive Telephony Ltd which has added a few other security tweaks. The mall, dubbed ‘BarclaySquare’ by its creators can be found at www.itl.net/barclaysquare/
