Tempe, AZ October 3, 2002 A pair of announcements this week from Valicert, a provider of software that connects companies with their customers, suppliers and partners across the financial supply chain.
The company rolled out a new version of its secure data-delivery platform and announced a deal with the Royal Bank of Scotland for Valicert's contract exchange and approval solution.
First, the company rolled out the latest version of SecureTransport, a data-delivery platform tailored to the needs of large corporate customers. According to Valicert, SecureTransport Enterprise Edition enables large enterprises to streamline and optimize their financial supply chain processes and to incorporate secure data delivery into the services they offer to their customers and partners.
Companies currently use SecureTransport for cash management, payments and order processing in the financial sector, as well as for corporate supply chain management, among other applications.
The Enterprise Edition offers data protection and encryption to match the higher security requirements of banks, insurers and government agencies, facilitating compliance with regulatory requirements and enterprise privacy and security policies.
Valicert also beefed up data delivery tracking and proof management to minimize the risk and liability associated with electronic transactions. Digitally signed audit records capture critical data transfer information, helping to ensure non-repudiation for high-value transactions.
In addition, the new edition offers a richer set of business process integration capabilities to provide a more flexible and scalable application integration framework for major corporations that have to deal with an enormous volume and variety of data. Enterprise Edition manages this data so that it can be processed by back-end applications, Valicert says.
Meanwhile, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has signed up to use Valicert's Document Authority in RBS TrustAssured Sign and Store, a secure document signing and archival service utilizing smartcard-based digital signatures.
Sign and Store is a centrally managed application that enables multiple parties to digitally access, approve and sign high-value documents with a standard Web browser. Document Authority, Valicert's document collaboration platform, provides the core capabilities of Sign and Store, such as secure document exchange, secure messaging, protected audit trails, a Web-based user interface and an Identrus-enabled infrastructure.
Lombard, the asset finance arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, is using Sign and Store to exchange leasing contracts with its corporate customers. Traditionally, these agreements were hand delivered by a Lombard agent or sent by courier, mail or fax. This process was both expensive and time-consuming, as both parties had to wait for contracts to be signed and delivered.
Valicert said that Sign and Store accelerates the whole process, reducing the time required from days to minutes, resulting in better customer satisfaction for Lombard and significant costs savings and improved cash flow for its customers. One client has already generated in excess of $100 million in business through the Sign and Store service, according to the solution provider.
"A key requirement for any e-commerce solution is assuring the legal enforceability of all electronic transactions," said Jeremy Rudge, head of e-commerce at RBS. "The ability of Sign and Store to speed up deals and eliminate expensive paperwork will translate to a significant competitive advantage for our customers."
