The new StarterPaks will be offered by VeriSign, Baltimore Technologies, BeTRUSTed/PricewaterhouseCoopers, Global Commerce Services and TC TrustCenter. The initiative is a refinement of the Identrus Express Program announced last year.

Financial institutions have traditionally spent two years and $5 million or more to build their e-commerce security infrastructures. With StarterPak product/service combinations, they can quickly and affordably go live as Identrus Certificate Authorities and begin deploying new e-commerce initiatives, whether their Identrus infrastructures are hosted or outsourced, say the companies.

StarterPaks typically cost $100,000 or less up front and $25,000 or less per month. They offer as many as 5,000 Identrus Global IDs.

Once live, financial institutions can issue Identrus Global IDs to their corporate customers. These digital certificate credentials enable companies to conclusively identify trading partners on the Internet, prove their communications didn't change in transit, and compile auditable records of their transactions.

"Many financial institutions are more interested in quickly and affordably deploying profitable new services for their customers than in immersing themselves in the intricacies of managing new technologies," says Jeanne Capachin, Meridien Research analyst.

StarterPaks typically includes Identrus certificate authorities - systems for issuing and managing Identrus Global IDs; registration authorities for creating certified users; hardware security modules for secure cryptographic key management; online certificate status protocol (OCSP) responders, which validate digital certificates at the instant they're being used; and smart cards, which carry Identrus Global IDs and digital signing keys.

The offering also streamlines the Identrus qualification process by providing a set of customisable templates and documents that help financial institutions prove they have taken the necessary steps to manage their customers' Internet commerce risks.