Ctt November/December 2000 • 11

Identrus system gets under way with Deutsche Bank pilot

Update

Identrus system gets under way withDeutsche Bank’s pilot programme DDeeuuttsscchhee BBaannkk, one of the world’s major financial institutions, has successfully piloted its first Identrus-based application –

electronic bill presentment and payment - in Singapore.

IIddeennttrruuss is the company formed by some of the world’s biggest banks

to provide their corporate customers (‘corporates’) with security for

Internet trading. In the Identrus system, smart cards are used to carry

and authenticate the electronic identity of firms engaged in business-

to-business electronic commerce. The creation of Identrus by major

financial institutions opens up a new market for smart cards, termi-

nals and related security products.

Deutsche Bank’s corporate customers are now working on other

PKI-secured applications for Internet trading, the bank’s Joerg Schneider

said at Cartes 2000. A range of services - including identification,

authentication, fee collection, payments, foreign exchange, trade finance

and risk management – was coming on line in mid-November, with such

customers as SSAAPP and MMeettaallllggeesseellllsscchhaafftt. The Identrus system will be

rolled out for Deutsche Bank’s customers during 2001.

Deutsche Bank has chosen to use Gemsafe IS, the smart card-

based PKI system designed by GGeemmpplluuss, for its Identrus operations.

Six more banks, names yet to be revealed, have also signed up to instal

the Gemsafe IS package. Gemsafe IS enables each end-user work-

ing for a corporate to digitally sign and authenticate themselves on

the Internet. The Gemsafe IS Workstation includes a PKI card, a reader

and the Identrus-compliant signing software interface. The Gemsafe

IS Manager is a card management system that enables the bank to

manage the lifecycle for millions of PKI cards held by their corporate

customers. The Gemsafe IS Personalisation Service is a set of proce-

dures and processes used to bind a card to its owner; the service oper-

ates through local personalisation centres across the world.

Another vendor of smart card products for Identrus operations isOObbeerrtthhuurr, which says it is basing its offering on the AuthenticID card.

Identrus was incorporated in April 1999, after two years of investigation

and planning, by AABBNN AAmmrroo,, BBaannkk ooff AAmmeerriiccaa,, BBaarrccllaayyss,, CChhaassee MMaannhhaattttaann,,

CCiittiiggrroouupp,, DDeeuuttsscchhee BBaannkk (including its 1998 acquisition of BBaannkkeerrss

TTrruusstt, another founder) and HHyyppoo VVeerreeiinnssbbaannkk. Identrus aims to become

a worldwide network of financial institutions that can certify their cor-

porate customers as genuine trading partners on the Internet. Identrus’

Peter Gien said at Cartes 2000 that 40 banks had now signed up for

Identrus and that an alliance had recently been agreed with SSwwiifftt, the

international banks’ communications network.

Identrus’ Laura Rime explains the issues that the Identrus system

is trying to resolve: “When trading partners are putting millions of dol-

lars, pounds, Deutschemarks, euros , francs, etc. at stake, how can

they know for certain that an e-mail message truly originated from the

ostensible sender ? Or when an Italian auto-maker wants to order

$1 million of Japanese steel over the Internet, how can the auto-

maker’s purchasing agent be absolutely sure that he or she is com-

municating with the steel manufacturer’s agent ? How can trading part-

ners manage the risk that an electronic identity is faulty ? How can

they lay down a bullet-proof audit trail in the event that something

goes away?”

Identrus attempts to resolve these issues by issuing digital cer-

tificates (as the ‘root’ Certificate Authority) to its member banks. An

Identrus bank becomes an Identrus Certificate Authority, and issues

certificates to its corporate customers. Once certified by an Identrus

Certificate Authority, a corporate can authenticate any other corpo-

rate with an Identrus certificate with which it wishes to do business.

Corporates will use smart cards to hold their digital certifcates. The

certificates will authenticate the sender of a message and enable the

recipient to verify the integrity of a message. Identrus also ensures

that that inter-corporate communications are secure and enables cor-

porates to create an indisputable record of their transactions.

In a typical transaction, a corporate offering goods for sale over the

Internet would ask its bank to validate the digital signature and cer-

tificate of a potential buyer. The seller’s bank would then communi-

cate electronically with the buyers bank to obtain verification of the

buyer’s identity and standing. The seller’s bank could then confirm

to the seller that the buyer was genuine and was a good credit risk

Trading partners on the Identrus system will know that:

their dealings are legally binding; they can protect themselves in

the unlikely event of an electronic ID proving to be faulty; and they

have recourse in the event that a trading partner attempts to defraud

them.

“Once certified by an Identrus Certificate Authority, a trading part-

ner can authenticate any other Identrus trading partner easily and with

assurance,” says Laura Rime. “Companies that have never done busi-

ness with one another - or never heard of one another – will no longer

need to go to great lengths to create trusted relationships. A company’s

relationship with its financial institution will instead place it in a vast

global network of trusted trading partners and their financial

institutions.” Contact: Laura Rime at Identrus, Tel: +1 212 551 7897,

e-mail: laura.rime@identrus.com