Saf-T-Pay enables safe on-line purchasing

There's good news on the way for people who wish they could buy goods on-line but aren't prepared to trust the sellers - or the Internet - with their credit card data.

Another barrier for would-be on-line buyers outside of the United States is that many e-tailer merchants require a U.S. credit card to complete the transaction; a credit card issued by a Mexican bank, for example, might not do the trick.

Saf-T-Pay is a new company that sees these concerns and limits as its market niche. In October - just in time to do your Christmas shopping on-line - SafT-Pay plans to launch a service that will enable you to buy on-line without having to use your credit card or give out any personal data.

Manuel Montera, Saf-T-Pay's CEO, says, "The new system would provide merchants with new business opportunities from among the estimated 100 million people worldwide who have the means to pay and the willingness to buy on-line, but who are unwilling to risk providing personal information."

José Hernández, general manager of Saf-T-Pay in Mexico, says his company is positioning itself to become the worldwide clearinghouse between the seller, the buyer, and the buyer's bank.

Here's how it will work. You make a purchase on-line. When you arrive at the last stage of the on-line transaction, you are asked to select the method of payment. Instead of selecting the credit card option, participating stores will offer a Saf-T-Pay option, so you choose that.

You then transfer the money to Saf-TPay. If you do on-line banking, you can complete the transaction without leaving your house. You simply enter your online banking system with your user code and PIN, select the Saf-T-Pay option, and make the payment. The bank authorizes the transaction and immediately transfers the money to Saf-T-Pay.

Once Saf-T-Pay receives your funds, it advises the seller that the goods have been paid for, and they will be delivered as scheduled.

Service charges? The seller takes care of that.

It's a win-win-win situation. The customer wins because he can safely make on-line purchases. The bank wins because it has one more service to attract customers. The Internet merchant wins because its base of prospective customers is broadened.

Saf-T-Pay's global headquarters are in Miami, but the worldwide launch of this service will take place in Mexico and Spain.

Hernández says his company is initially working with three of Mexico's major banks to set up the system.

Saf-T-Pay sees the skepticism of consumers as its opportunity. If you have doubts about on-line credit card buying, you have plenty of company. Thirty-nine percent of all consumers in Mexico worry about keeping their financial information private. Another 42 percent do not own any credit card, let alone a card from a U.S. bank.

Then there are the on-line buyers who reluctantly take a chance and give out their data, but would be happier if they didn't have to.

The future? Hernández knows how dramatic the growth can be for this type of service: like Montera and several other Saf-TPay executives, he worked with American Express in the early 1980s, when the explosion of credit card services occurred.