Under the licensing and development agreement, CUP Data will use Arcot's TransFort family of solutions in the joint development of a common risk management outsourcing service for marketing to card issuers in China.

Established in January 2003 in Shanghai, CUP Data provides professional and highly customizable bank card processing platform outsourcing services for financial institutions. It also offers system integration, solutions, services, platform and network infrastructure associated with bankcard issuing and processing in order to help customer banks succeed in the highly competitive banking card industry.

Arcot Systems is a leading provider of secure e-payment, strong authentication, credential management, and digital signature software solutions. Arcot Systems has a suite of software-based solutions expressly designed to meet the need for online transaction authentication, identity management and secure digital signature solutions.

As a start, CUP Data will use Arcot's TransFort solutions to enable customer organizations to roll out their credit card Internet transaction authentication programs including Verified by Visa, MasterCard SecureCode and JCB J/Secure, based on the 3-D Secure Protocol that Arcot co-invented with Visa in 2000.

Wang LiWei, EVP of CUP Data, said, "This agreement is an important step towards achieving our vision of using one bankcard for transactions around the world. Only the most robust security measures will give card issuers, banks, and customers the confidence necessary to make this happen, regardless of time zone, geography, or currency. Arcot provides that unique combination of transparent, fail-safe technology that is easy to use - the best of its breed. TransFort is the leading 3-D Secure solution used by over 11,000 banks globally and we are pleased to introduce it to the market in China."

Ram Varadarajan, president and CEO of Arcot, said, "CUP Data is the recognized leader in card issuing services across all of China. As Internet transactions become the norm, we must implement the same security measures that have made cash and in-person credit cards acceptable. Customers can complete their Internet transactions with confidence thanks to the powerful combination of CUP Data's hosted card system platform and Arcot's TransFort solutions."

Under the agreement, Arcot is also designating CUP Data as an authorized reseller and integrator for Arcot's products, providing customization/localization and after-sale service work to Arcot's bank or financial institution customers in China. Both parties will jointly market, promote and sell Arcot Solution to other banks or financial institutions in China.

Arcot's TransFort family maintains legal enforceability, validates that the correct individual approved the transaction, and provides easy detection of unauthorized changes, reducing the incidence of fraudulent and disputed online payments and their associated costs. The product is designed to be as unobtrusive as possible, so the shopping experience has minimal interruption while providing chargeback protection for the online merchant.