GlobeSet Inc. of Austin, Tex., and GlobeID Software of Paris, France, may soon have more than their names in common.
GlobeSet, a leader in secure payment software, announced a strategic alliance agreement with GlobeID, an affiliate of the Bull Group with ambitious plans to sell what it calls "world-class" home banking and electronic commerce technology.
GlobeID said Monday it had signed a memorandum of understanding to link its GlobeID Banking package with the GlobeSet Payment System.
Each company offers a "suite" of software covering a range of on-line transaction needs. They could converge in an even more inclusive, globally available product line extending from home banking to virtual cash, with a smart card option for payment and authentication.
GlobeID, a company once known as GC Tech that struggled and was recapitalized last year by Bull and a management group called Edeltrust, is currently releasing its Banking 2.0 software.
With several modules-including Home Banking Handler, Internet Payment Handler, and Financial Electronic Data Interchange-it is designed to support a comprehensive electronic banking and commerce service.
GlobeSet Payment System's components-a virtual wallet, GlobeSet POS for merchants, a payment gateway, and CA, or certificate authority-are built around the credit card industry's Secure Electronic Transactions, or SET, protocol.
GlobeSet's products tend to be embedded in other companies' services under their names. A strong advocate of cross-vendor compatibility, the Texas company has had three of its products certified as SET-compliant by the SETCo consortium. GlobeSet said last week that it had completed interoperability testing between all four of its products and corresponding offerings of International Business Machines Corp.
"Interoperability is a key component in the adoption of SET" and such bilateral testing will "make the transition to SET as seamless as possible for consumers, merchants, and financial institutions," said Mark Greene, IBM's vice president of Internet payments.
GlobeID would be one of GlobeSet's growing number of international marketing partners, and the French connection has smart card implications. France's banking community, the first in the world to mandate smart cards, recently agreed to a national standard that integrates the cards with SET.
"GlobeSet is very excited at the prospects of leveraging GlobeID's know- how in implementing end-to-end payment solutions in Europe on the eve of the SET convergence," said Dennis Jolly, the U.S. company's vice president of sales, marketing, and operations.
GlobeID senior vice president Fabrice de Comarmond, one of the executives who made the transition from GC Tech, said Globe ID and GlobeSet together can "deliver unmatched advanced transaction services in the most secure environment available."
