Internet security company Identrus yesterday launched a system to secure large online transactions.
Internet security service Identrus, backed by several major banks, yesterday launched a system that allows large secure transactions to take place online. The company aims to provide a worldwide Identity Trust service, delivered via banks and financial institutions that certify their corporate customers as trusted trading partners on the Internet under uniform rules, contracts and business practices.
Obviously, trust is essential to ensure a successful marketplace for large eBusiness transactions. Trading partners must know who their counterparts are, and need reliable proof that transactions have actually taken place. Banks and financial institutions are better placed than any other entities to offer ‘trust’ services to the business marketplace, since they are so dependent on trust in their day-to-day operations. Being backed by banks will give the Identrus service a major confidence boost in prospective users’ eyes.
In addition to this advantage, Identrus also assumes legal liability. The members have set up an insurance fund to cover loss if the technical safeguards fail to prevent impersonation and fraud; companies know that Identrus will cover any losses they make. This explicit contractual structure is vital, since it means that companies are covered even in transactions involving countries where there is no legislation yet in force covering electronic signatures.
Identrus is widely backed. At the moment, Bank of America and Deutsch Bank, along with ABN Amro and HypoVereinsbank offer Identrus-based services. In future, another 40 members will take the system live, adding to the 3500 smaller banks the consortium landed by allying with messaging firm SWIFT earlier this year.
eBusiness is an unpredictable market, and Identrus still faces strong competition from rival banks’ services and telecoms companies. It particularly needs to strengthen its base in the US, where rival ventures, such as the American Banking Association’s certification program, pose a serious challenge. However, it is the most globalized, open, and innovative payments authentication system available. The prospects for Identrus look good.
