Amex Signs with Four Internet Services To Let Cardmembers Pay by

American Express Co. announced it is working with four major Internet service providers to allow consumers to pay for goods and services on-line using American Express cards.

American Express cardholders can now make computer-based purchases through the secured payment systems offered by Cybercash Inc., Netscape Communications Corp., and Open Market Inc. By next month, American Express members also will be able to use cards on First Virtual Holdings' on-line system.

The deals, coupled with a related announcement last week, are perhaps the most significant moves by the credit card giant in the burgeoning area of electronic commerce and banking.

Last week, American Express was one of a score of banks and financial service companies that announced alliances with Intuit Inc. to offer consumers on-line access to their accounts via Intuit's market-leading personal finance software, Quicken.

In explaining American Express' approach to this emerging business, David Bauman, the company's vice president for interactive services, echoed the approach to electronic commerce espoused by Intuit founder and chief executive, Scott Cook.

Mr. Bauman said American Express would stress nonexclusivity in their alliances and an acceptance of market-driven standards. "American Express is interested in working with any and all companies," he said. "These are four that we think have already created a safe and secure system to make payments on the Internet."

Mr. Bauman said American Express, for now, is more concerned with giving cardholders the ability to make payments than with setting standards.

"We are not going to define and decide what the standards are, as some have," Mr. Bauman said. "We are less interested in promulgating any standard than in providing what our customers want."

American Express is certainly not alone in its efforts to move credit card transactions to the Internet. The bank card associations, Visa International and MasterCard International, last month agreed to work jointly on security standards for transactions over the worldwide computer network.

Both companies also have struck alliances to allow for payments - Visa with Microsoft Corp. and MasterCard with Netscape.

In addition, banks, financial service companies, and providers of traditional computer services have been rushing to define their role in the developing equation. As the nascent business racks up greater support, these companies are racing to ensure they will not be left behind.

"I think this flurry of releases is coming from players who are working from the outside," said Jeff Treuhaft, a product manager at Netscape. "They want to make sure they're part of the game."

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