First Interstate, Norwest Card Services, and Old Kent are among the first client banks to announce that they intend to offer the Internet-based transaction services to businesses wanting to accept online payment. The new service, which will be available for all major credit cards including Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express will be free to consumers buying merchandise or services. It works in the same manner as today's mail or telephone order transactions, but without operator intervention.
"It is vital that payment services evolve along with technology," said First Interstate senior vice president Randy Kahn. "This service provides a secure, easy-to-use payment facility for the evolving information superhighway, an important step in the evolution of electronic commerce." First Interstate is the 14th largest commercial banking company in the United States, with 1,096 offices in 13 western states.
"First Data is pioneering a new era in business, one that will clear the way for electronic commerce to be conducted globally via the Internet," said Jim Clark, chairman and CEO of Netscape Communications. "The combination of First Data's payment processing expertise and our Netsite secure server will inspire a broad spectrum of businesses to create an online presence, giving consumers access to products ranging from airline tickets to office supplies to online service subscriptions, right from their desktops."
"Netscape Communications' secure server technology will provide a reliable mechanism for businesses to sell their products and services securely over the network," said Scott Loftesness, executive vice president of First Data. "This allows First Data to support its client banks in offering payment services over the Internet, and will allow merchants to expand their offerings with confidence in the integrity of the payment system."
Netscape Communications' Netsite Commerce Server software is designed to enable companies and individuals to easily set up and maintain servers for distributing information and conducting commercial operations on the Internet. Fully compatible with existing HTTP-based clients and servers, the Netsite Commerce Server incorporates Netscape Communications' implementation of RSA Data Security technology. This technology provides encryption, which creates a secure channel to prevent other people on the network from being able to intercept and read messages being exchanged between the client and server; and authentication, which uses a digital signature to verify the legitimacy of the server. The Netsite Commerce Server is designed for online transactions and electronic data exchange, enabling users to securely send sensitive documents and information over networks.
To take advantage of the new online capabilities, businesses create their own Internet presence or virtual storefront using the Netsite Commerce Server software, and then enroll in the First Data service through their bank. Consumers using Netscape Communications' Netscape 1.0 network navigator can then access and establish a secure link with that server, enabling credit card information to be sent securely over the net. The card information is then sent to First Data, which processes the transaction in real time. Businesses interested in the service can get more information from Netscape Communications by sending email to banking@netscape.com.
Netscape Communications' Netsite Commerce Server and Netscape 1.0 network navigator are scheduled for release later this month. The Netsite Commerce Server has a list price of $5,000. The Netscape network navigator for Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, and X Window System environments can be downloaded free on the Internet for individual, academic or research use via anonymous FTP from ftp.netscape.com. Commercial users can purchase supported, licensed copies of Netscape directly from Netscape Communications. Pricing starts at $99 per user, which includes a 90-day warranty and customer support.
Netscape Communications Corporation is a premier provider of open software to enable people and companies to exchange information and conduct commerce over the Internet and other global networks. The company was founded in April 1994 by Dr. James H. Clark, founder of Silicon Graphics, Inc., a Fortune 500 computer systems company; and Marc Andreessen, creator of the NCSA Mosaic research prototype for the Internet. Privately held, Netscape Communications Corporation is based in Mountain View, California.
Omaha-based First Data Card Services Group is the world's leading processor of transaction cards and other card-based services, providing services to more than 1.3 million merchants and 700 financial institutions. It is a business unit of First Data Corporation, which, in 1993, had net income of $173 million on revenue of $1.5 billion.
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