Tech Bytes: B of A, Verisign Completing On-Line Test

BankAmerica Corp. and Verisign Inc. said they were completing the first phase of testing of their portion of an on-line commerce pilot sponsored by the National Automated Clearing House Association.

Each of the banks in the test-others were units of Citicorp, Mellon Bank Corp., and Zions Bancorp.-paired off with a digital-certificate vendor to ensure interoperability among their respective certification authorities.

Bank of America, using the Verisign Onsite program to distribute certificates, became one of the first financial institutions to test the Online Certificate Status Protocol, a newly promulgated standard for ascertaining that a given digital identification code has not expired or been revoked.

Members of the Nacha Internet Council were the "consumers" in the trial. Science Applications International Corp. was the "merchant" that turned to BofA for certificate validation.

"Bank of America's participation in this pilot illustrates our commitment to providing leading-edge Internet technology solutions to our customers," said Elizabeth Ghekiere, senior vice president of electronic commerce, interactive banking division. "Working with the Verisign Onsite solution, Bank of America will be able to provide both consumers and merchants with the necessary trust to conduct secure transactions via the Internet in real-time."