Two companies that until now only had similar names in common, have formed a strategic alliance to combine each other’s internet payment-related products. Digital certificate company VeriSign Inc has teamed with electronic payment and processing company VeriFone Inc, which is owned by Hewlett-Packard Co. VeriFone will bundle VeriSign’s SET (Secure Electronic Transaction) 1.0 digital certificate services and technology either as a standalone product or as part of its own internet commerce product bundle, which includes the vGate gateway, vPos merchant software and vWallet consumer software. The VeriSign technology is said to enable companies to establish their own certificate authority. The companies use the software to establish their own-branded applications for a digital certificate – which are used to authenticate users – and VeriSign issues the SET certificates directly to the consumers. Meanwhile, fellow SET software company, GlobeSet Inc has signed OEM agreements with Portugal’s ParaRede and Sweden-based WM-data to resell GlobeSet’s products. Earlier this month HP installed Robin Abrams as the new CEO of VeriFone, replacing 12-year chairman and CEO Hatim Tyabji, who is to retire at the end of this year.
