Internet startup SafeTPay has launched a new service that allows consumers to purchase goods and pay bills over the Internet using their existing ATM-card and Personal Identification Number. The service enables Internet merchants-especially those with frequent shoppers such grocery retailers, brokerage firms, airlines, utilities, bill payment firms, pharmacies and fast food companies-to accept ATM-card payments in a safe and secure manner, says the Las Vegas-based company. The SafeTPay service will be marketed to Internet merchants by banks and Independent Sales Organizations, it says.
Universal Payment Processing, a wholly owned subsidiary of merchant processor Universal Savings Bank, has signed an agreement with SafeTPay making UPP the first reseller for the service. Consumers use a low-cost device attached to their PC to perform the transactions. This device reads the magnetic stripe on the consumer's card, and in the case of ATM cards, encrypts the consumers' PIN. SafeTPay devices will initially be provided by Phoenix, Ariz.-based Innovonics. Additional vendors may be certified in the future, says SafeTPay, which hopes that the needed equipment will eventually be built into new PCs at the factory. Most merchants will be able to implement SafeTPay in less than one day, the company says, with no outside assistance. The system works with merchant Web sites on UNIX, Windows NT, and LINUX platforms.
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