Momentum Builds in Support of SET Secure Electronic Transaction Protocol.

PURCHASE, N.Y. and SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 10, 1999--

-- Extensions to SET 1.0 Meet Market Requirements & Enhance

Functionality --

-- Technology Advisors Group Spur SET Deployment --

-- Second Interoperability Festival Ensures Interoperability --

-- Business Advisors Group Forming --

SET(TM) Secure Electronic Transaction LLC (SETCo), the consortium that manages and promotes the SET Secure Electronic Transaction(TM) standard, implemented several significant initiatives during the first quarter of 1999 that build momentum behind the specification and will spur its ongoing deployment.

Extensions to SET(TM) 1.0 Spec will Enhance Functionality

SETCo will implement several extensions to the SET 1.0 specification to accelerate and streamline deployment of SET in the marketplace. These enhancements will extend the protocol's functionality, meet current business requirements and enable cost effective migration from SSL to SET, while at the same time maintaining interoperability across all SET software implementations.

The extensions include:

-- An extension that allows a merchant to use SET for authorizations

from its financial institution, even when transactions are

received from consumers via SSL, mail or fax. This enables

merchants and payment processors with common processes and a

single technology platform for all Internet payments, thereby

avoiding redundant investments and providing a smooth evolution

from SSL to SET;

-- A smart card extension that would allow for chip-based

transactions to occur in the SET environment;

-- An extension to carry Personal Identification Numbers (PINs),

facilitating debit card transactions; and

-- Standard profiles that provide a simplified common subset of

implementation approaches. Use of these profiles will simplify

implementation of SET merchant software and financial gateways

with pre-packaged solutions.

Technical requirements for some of these extensions are already published on the SETCo website at www.setco.org. Others will be finalized over the coming months. Once published, vendors will be able to immediately add the extension to their software offerings.

Technology Advisors Group to Spur SET Deployment

SETCo also announced the formation of the Technology Advisors Group (TAG), a new, key advisory group made up of leading SET technology developers. The TAG plays an important role in the development of SET by providing counsel and input related to specifications and implementation of the protocol. Key responsibilitieing at a significant rate. It is absolutely imptachi, IBM, SIZ and Tenth Mountain Systems. Addre eligible to display the SET Mark on their software. A number of key software vendors have recently completed SET Compliance Testing for their payment The current list of SET compliant products follows:

- ACI Worldwide Certificate Aunt POS 

- DataDesign Paymatics CA - nv Element Gateway

- Data - GlobeSet CA Ascenent Certificate Authority - Tandem iTP Payment

Gateway - HyperCom Ascenent Merchant - Tandem iTP Wallet

- HyperCom Ascenent Payment Gateway - Trintech PayWare

- HyperCom Ascenent Wallet - Trintech PayGate

- IBM Payment Registry - Trintech PayPurse

- IBM Payment Gateway - Trintech S/Pay

- IBM Consumer Wallet - VeriFone vPOS

- Info Otomasyonve Entegrasyon Info Wallet - VeriFone vGatew

- Netlife AG Certificate Authority - VeriFone vWallet

- Netlife AG POS - Verisign Certificate

Authority - Netlife AG Payment Gateway

The latest list of SET compliant products is available at http://www.setco.org/matrix.html.

Interoperability Festival Focuses on Cross-Generation Root Tests

In February, the SET development community conducted its second round of interoperability testing. Seven SET developers - Entrust, GlobeSet, GTE CyberTrust, IBM, Trintech, VeriFone and VeriSign - participated in the testing.

The products tested included 5 wallet applications, 5 certificate authority applications, 4 merchant server applications and 4 payment gateway applications. The results were extremely successful. Vendors successfully tested a total of 73 interfaces: 47 between CA and cardholder, merchant and gateway components; 14 between cardholder and merchant components; and 12 between merchant and acquirer components. These results clearly demonstrate the great strides made in the industry toward a globally interoperable software. As more parties become involved in SET deployment, SET's global hierarchical trust model will be an essential part of global interoperability. A key focus of this interoperability festival was to verify that different generations of certificates would work in the same transaction.

"As more consumers and businesses use the Internet for electronic commerce, transaction integrity and the authentication of all parties become extremely important," said Art Kranzley, Senior Vice President of electronic commerce at MasterCard International. "For this reason, financial institutions, businesses and electronic commerce vendors around the world are adopting SET. The SET community organized and participated in this festival to ensure that the many products that now support SET are interoperable on a global basis."

With the support of SETCo, vendors have been conducting interoperability testing since December 1997. Complete results of the interoperability festival - plus historical testing results - can be found on the SETCo website by selecting Interoperability.

Business Advisors Group Forming

At the February TAG meeting, SETCo announced that the Business Advisngoing business requirements and marketing plansing Participation.

About SETCo

SET Se more information about SETCo and SET, visit http://www.setco.org/.

Editor's Note:

INTEROPERABILITY TEST RESULTS: 1) Every vendor tested their products in someble cardholder, merchant, and gateway products;ces; VeriFone with 3 products enrolled tested 12 other products and a total of 20 interfaces; VeriSign with 1 CA product enrolled tested all 13 cardholder, merchant, and ces: 47 of a possible 58 between CA and cardholut capture (100%); authorization with capture (93%); purchase inquiry (93%); and merchant to acquirer scenarios such as authorization (100%); authorization and capture (867%); credit (75%); credit reversal (75%); authtes (92%).