Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and JCB Company have banded together to oversee the implementation of the SET 1.0 protocol, a means for securing credit-card transactions over the Internet.
"Our goals in designing SET as an open standard were to represent and reinforce the positive characteristics of payment cards in the physical world, and use technology to translate them to the virtual world," Steve Herz, Visa International's senior vice president of Internet commerce, said in a press release.
The companies have formed a group, SETCo, to manage the evolution of the SET specifications and software-compliance testing associated with the system. MasterCard and Visa have promoted the SET specifications thus far, and by letting AmEx and JCB into the game, the companies hope to demonstrate a more united and global support for the system.
Vendors and consumers will need digital IDs and other software to verify the identity of each party involved in a SET transaction. One of the missing components thus far, however, is the software that will be used to make transactions. Vendors are now developing the various pieces, and those that meet all SET requirements will be stamped with a "SET-compliant" logo.
SETCo will also establish an Industry Root Key Certificate Authority to manage the component of SET software that will allow for verification of transactions by an authorized party.
All four of the companies will share equal voting rights in SETCo, and technology vendors will also be able to participate in the process. IBM, for instance, has been active in SET initiatives since its announcement in early 1995.
