NACHA pilot participants process Internet purchases using ATM cards
utmsystems.com
December 01, 2000
HERNDON, Va. -- Participants in NACHA's Internet Secure ATM Payments (ISAP)
pilot are successfully processing consumer purchases made on the Internet using
ATM/debit cards, according to NACHA. The pilot is being coordinated by NACHA's
Internet Council and involves approximately 100 consumers.
The pilot's goal is to establish technical standards, business practices and
processes that would allow consumers to purchase goods and services over the
Internet using their ATM/debit cards. Under the ISAP model, consumers are
authenticated through the use of digital signatures instead of PINs, and the
transactions are secured through the use of public key encryption technology.
"STAR's early and on-going development of this initiative reflects our belief that it is
important to the future of e-commerce," said Ron Patterson, executive vice
president, product development for Star Systems, Inc., the electronic payments
network that is processing the transactions.
In the pilot, a consumer makes a purchase at the MagnaCash merchant web site using an ATM/debit card issued by Commercial Capital Bank [Another common tie between ACTI and WAVX- check out bizssp.com]. But instead of using a PIN, the consumer digitally signs an electronic payment request using a private key that is stored on a "smart" chip, also issued by Commercial Capital Bank. Chip technology for the pilot is provided by both ActivCard and UTM Systems Corp.
The encrypted payment request is then sent by MagnaCash to its merchant
processor, AmeriNet. From AmeriNet, the transaction is routed to ANI Services,
Inc., which converts the request into a standard message format for the STAR
electronic payments network. STAR then validates the digital signature using the
public key provided by Commercial Capital Bank. The signature validation service
was developed for STAR by eFunds Corporation, which is also a switch processor
for the STAR network.
Once the digital signature is validated, the availability of funds in the consumer's
checking account is verified by Commercial Capital Bank through its service
provider, Fiserv. An authorization is then returned to MagnaCash, via AmeriNet. The
consumer's account is debited in real-time, and final settlement is accomplished
through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network, usually the next business
day.
"This payment technology addresses many of today's biggest barriers to the growth
of e-commerce: security, fraud, authentication, repudiation, and payment
methodology," said Stephen Gordon, chairman and CEO of Commercial Capital
Bank.
The pilot is scheduled to run through March 2001.
Additional information is available on the Internet Council's web site at
internetcouncil.nacha.org. |
