IBM Corp has added support for the nascent ECML standard to its new electronic wallet in an attempt to spread its use in the US. In addition, IBM has signed a distribution and marketing deal with MasterCard to encourage the use of what remains a scarce technology in the US.
The new 2.1 version of the IBM consumer wallet supports ECML (Electronic Commerce Modeling Language), as well as SSL and EET, which were supported in the previous version. The SET (Secure Electronic Transaction) standard is yet to be widely adopted in the US, although IBM claims to have 2.8 million of version 1.2 of the wallet distributed mainly in Europe and South America, demonstrating the level of take-up of SET in those regions. Of the 52 distributors already signed for version 1.2, only two are in the US and Canada.
ECML is a modeling language agreed upon by vendors including IBM, Compaq, American Express, CyberCash, MasterCard, Microsoft, Visa USA and others back in June. It sets out a way to lay-out the customer name, title, credit card numbers and son so that a wallet vendor can auto-fill forms on web sites that support the standard.
The wallet, which is available in 24 languages, is downloadable now and MasterCard will license it in to its member banks and other financial services customers for them to put on their web site or distribute via CD-ROM. It enables users to drag and drop their details from the wallet into any merchant site that supports ECML, which is admittedly not very many yet as it’s so new. Once downloaded users will probably have to carry it on a disk if they want to use it on another PC, says Ralph Hertlein, IBM consumer wallet product manager. In areas outside the US where smart cards are more prevalent, they can be used for this purpose.
IBM is charging MasterCard and any other licensees of the wallet a one-time license fee that allows them to distribute as many wallets as they choose. The price starts at $50,000, says Hertlein, but moves down on a sliding scale. However, there are no per-transaction or clickthrough charges levied by IBM. MasterCard says it will license the software on very favorable terms to its credit card and other financial partners, which can then re-brand the wallet.
