National Australia Bank is preparing to launch a secure Internet-based credit card payment service into Europe.
The bank's Secure Internet Payment Service was launched in Australia in March this year after National signed an agreement with the e-commerce and smartcard company, Keycorp, to license its Internet payment processing system, Nobil.
A second license has been acquired from Keycorp to enable the service to be marketed in Europe by four of the National’s other banks - Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank, Northern Bank and National Irish Bank.
Peter Thomas, the National’s general manager, global payments, comments: "The forthcoming launch of the service into Europe is part of our global Internet payment strategy. The service offers levels of security, authentication and confidentiality that are uniquely high in both markets – Australia and Europe."
He says the technology ensures that customer transaction and credit card details are securely transmitted, kept private and always securely stored with the National - not the merchant.
The system can be quickly and inexpensively installed on a merchant’s Web site in less than 24 hours, claims Thomas. No special software or hardware is required, he adds.
In operation, consumer payments are authorised via a dedicated National Secure Internet Payment Web page, which sits behind the bank's firewall and is hosted on the National’s own computer server. Here the customer enters credit card details and the payment is authorised and processed in real time. Card details are not provided to the merchant.