SECURITY
Philips and Trintech link for secure t-commerce
05-10-2000
by Paula Mythen
Philips Digital Networks and Trintech Group have entered into a strategic partnership to integrate Trintech's payment technology into Philips' digital set-top boxes to enable easy and secure payment for television commerce (t-commerce).
Although no value is put on the deal, in view of Philips' global reach it is expected to be worth multiple millions.
The partnership follows a similar announcement yesterday by Baltimore Technologies and FutureTV. FutureTV will integrate Baltimore's UniCERT Certificate Management system to allow the use of digital certificates and signatures that attest to the identity of users and devices for a variety of e-commerce transactions over digital TV networks.
With the Philips and Trintech t-commerce payment solution, consumers can automatically provide their payment information so that when they wish to pay for a product they simply select which card they want to use and the requested data is sent to the merchant. The built-in security features authenticate the cardholder and provide a secure and convenient payment environment for t-commerce.
Philips manufactures digital set-top boxes for cable, satellite and terrestrial reception, which support interactive TV applications and Internet access. Combined with Trintech's PayWare eIssuer and PayWare mAccess payment technology, consumers can purchase products, made available to their TV screens from on-line merchants, via the set-top box. mAccess, released in July, offers security for payments made over mobile and handheld devices to credit card issuing houses, merchants and telcos.
Commenting on the newly-formed partnership, executive vice president of Royal Philips Electronics and CEO of Philips Digital Networks, Rob van Oostenbrugge, said: "With service operators constantly searching for new revenue streams through e-commerce, they can now look to Philips and Trintech for an elegant payment solution that is both secure and convenient for consumers." Compared to other existing interactive TV commerce applications, the Philips/Trintech solution is unique.
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