Secure Electrans bids to bring chip

Secure Electrans has been working closely with both regulatory organisations alongside industry competitors in efforts to raise standards via the implementation of an Evaluation and Certification Framework. This aims to implement a single scheme for security in payment terminals and cards, incorporating recognition of multiple security certification card schemes and banking organisations across Europe.

Of the ￡45 billion per year spent online in the UK2, over ￡3 billion is either fraudulent or lost due to abandoned transactions 3. Under the current online payment system, 'card-not-present' transactions account for two thirds of all fraudulent card activity, leaving ecommerce as the weak link in card transaction security. This is exacerbated by the increased sophistication of cybercriminal activity, which is creating a real strain on the existing ecommerce infrastructure.

The Secure Electrans' HomePay device represents a simple, secure and convenient solution to online transactions for both merchants and consumers. Merchants or those that provide their payment processing simply add the Chip&PIN option to their checkout page. For the consumer the HomePay device is the size of a small calculator and can be connected to a home computer via USB or can access mobile devices via Bluetooth when on the move. The payment is made in exactly the same way as a shop Chip&PIN device (card-present and off-line PIN verified), providing the consumer and merchant the same security assurances online as in the high street.

The simplicity of HomePay overcomes an additional problem with current ecommerce transactions, which is that many customers are put off from buying online due to the increasing complexity of offshore merchant account, as merchants try to reduce their exposure to fraud. Indeed, current merchant examples show that between 6 and 60% of all Verified by Visa / MasterCard SecureCode / 3D-Secure transactions are abandoned4.

HomePay operates through the multi-billion pound global and trusted Chip&PIN infrastructure, and has the potential to create a standardised payment processing architecture for online transactions. Merchants would benefit from significant costs savings as Chip&PIN transaction fees are lower than the 'card-not-present' rates. This also will protect the merchant against significant chargeback costs incurred from current payment providers.

Secure Electrans' HomePay system is currently in trial phase within the UK for online shopping, smart energy pre-payment and mobile payment.

Chris Jarman, Managing Director of Secure Electrans commented: "With annual increases in ecommerce payments, it is important to bring the security and simplicity of the payment process up to a standard consumers have come to expect when paying by card on the high street. HomePay goes beyond security alone - simplicity is essential too, and consumers will no longer have to fill out page after page when checking out online; the sensation will be just like paying for a product in a shop, minus the queue!"

"We are delighted with the significant progress made by the HomePay device in the recent OSeC pilot project and audit." said the OSeC coordinator Regine Quentmeier of SRC representing the German Banking Industry Committee. "We believe that the process of implementing a Common CC Certification Scheme for SEPA is vital for raising standards and transparency within the industry in Europe. Secure Electrans have achieved an outstanding result."

A spokesperson for CESG added: "CESG acknowledges the work that has been performed by a technical community (JTEMs) consisting of equipment developers, evaluation laboratories, European Common Criteria certification bodies, and payment scheme representatives, in the production of a detailed specification (protection profile and associated supporting documents) suitable for use in the evaluation and certification of payment terminals. This work has also been greatly assisted by the OSeC Group in working towards a Common European Payment scheme, and has been able to take account of both the technical security needs and the wider operational and risk management approaches used by payment schemes. CESG is pleased to see that a UK developed product HomePay HP 100 Series, has successfully completed its evaluation in a UK CLEF and is the first in its category under this approach."

Secure Electrans Managing Director Chris Jarman concluded; "This latest achievement, when considered in addition to the huge scope of commercial uses to which HomePay can be put, is extremely exciting, since it gives a clear and comparative indication of HomePay's technical capability and versatility."

In addition to the CAS POI accreditation, the HomePay system achieved Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) level 1 and 2 certification in late 2011 and secured PCI PTS 3.1 Global Certification in October 2012. These are significant achievements that allow for interfacing with the same systems banks and merchants use in the authorisation of debit and third party merchant account.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) this week attacked Mozilla, the maker of Firefox, for being anti-business, hiding behind a veneer of populism and harboring "techno-libertarians and academic elites who believe in liberty and freedom ... as long as they get to decide the definitions of liberty and freedom."

In a long -- almost 4,000 words -- blog post, Randall Rothenberg, the CEO of the IAB US, took Mozilla to task over the open-source company's revamped third-party cookie blocking scheme, a point of contention between the online ad industry and the browser builder since the latter unveiled plans to block some of the cookies used by online advertisers to track users' Web movements, then deliver targeted ads.

While the most provocative of Rothenberg's criticisms were aimed at what he called Mozilla's values, his biggest beef with the Firefox-CCH plan seemed to be that Mozilla had set itself up as an unelected "gatekeeper" with the power to decide the fate of online businesses.

"The company's own statements and explanations indicate that Mozilla is making extreme value judgments with extraordinary impact on the digital supply chain, securing for itself a significant gatekeeper position in which it and its handpicked minions will be able to determine which voices gain distribution and which do not on the Internet," charged Rothenberg.

"The browser is certainly the gatekeeper and the gateway to the broad landscape of the Internet," agreed Ray Valdes, an analyst with Gartner, acknowledging the realities of the Web. "But most users are not aware of privacy, or simply don't care, whether it's in the browser or on Facebook. It certainly doesn't loom large in the minds of the average consumer [although] it is a hot-button issue for a small part of the user population."