SA's card issuing and card acquiring banks, along with the four credit card associations represented in the country, have jointly formed the South African Secure Payments Forum (SASPF).
Convened for the first time in late February, the SASPF elected Johan Rothmann as chairman.
The purpose of the forum is to investigate secure forms of payment on the Internet, and encryption technologies such as TripleDES, SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and SET (Secure Electronic Transactions).
"Our objectives are to increase business and consumer confidence in electronic purchasing through common card payment and acceptance standards, specifically in an online, or non-face-to-face environment," Rothmann says.
On a secondary level, he notes, the forum will interact with related industry bodies, such as the Wireless Payments Forum, as well as with international bodies involved in the creation of worldwide standards. The forum also intends to contribute in part to the ongoing discussion on the E-Commerce Green Paper.
"The biggest challenge that the industry is faced with, is to come up with inexpensive, globally accepted authenticated payment solutions in the virtual environment. There are many complex issues surrounding [this goal], but it is our responsibility to protect both the merchants and consumers."
An urgent goal, he says, is for industry to understand emerging technologies such as mobile commerce and transactions conducted via set-top boxes, in order to decide on an authentication method for those channels.
The SASPF meets again at the end of March.
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