24-2-99

Ericsson has acquired a GSM wireless electronic commerce solution from Swedish Postgirot Bank, offering superior security for financial transactions. The solution makes it possible for customers, to in a secure way, pay bills and access their bank accounts from their mobile phone. Any content provider will be able to use this solution to tailor services to their customers' needs, such as banking and trading.

The new technology will be integrated with Ericsson wireless e-commerce solutions. Postgirot Bank has spearheaded the development of this technology, based on extensive experience with services that offer strict security for bank transactions, and has carried out extensive pilot tests within its own organization since 1997. The solution includes a tailor-made SIM-card that offers digital authentication.

"At Postgirot Bank we will use the solution for our service mobile ePostgiro. A key user benefit with the solution, is the simplicity in accessing your account information and your bills - you can basically do it anywhere and at anytime within the GSM service area," said Bengt Mandell, responsible for business support at Postgirot Bank.

The solution can be adapted for virtually any transaction, to any company, from within the global GSM network. Service and content providers can use this programmable solution to offer a complete portfolio of wireless e-commerce to its customers.

For several years, Postgirot Bank customers have used a keycard to generate random access codes, together with a smart card, to secure their transactions with asymmetric encryption over modem connections to the bank. The principal difference with the new solution is that the mobile phone becomes the only device they need.