In Brief: Barclay Coin Taking Payments Outside U.K.

Cybercash Inc. said its joint effort with Barclays Bank of London, BarclayCoin, has begun accepting small-value payments from debit and credit-card holders outside the United Kingdom.

The service, which revolves around a virtual electronic wallet containing the payment options, was launched in October 1997 for the U.K. market. It allows customers to purchase goods over the Internet at prices up to the equivalent of $16.

The companies said they started an international pilot in response to growing demand. More than 60% of visitors to the BarclayCoin site are from outside the U.K., a majority of them from the United States.

"The interest in the BarclayCoin service from both content providers and consumers has been excellent," said Nigel Moloney, emerging markets group manager at Barclays.