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Advancing PKI as the security standard on FundSERV core services

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By Bruce Striegler

"The electronic billing pilot project we launched last fall was a great success," says Frank Vree, CFO, FundSERV Inc. "We've learned from it, made some modifications to our original plans and are now preparing to fully roll it out."

FundSERV's electronic billing process uses the Company's public key infrastructure (PKI) to provide enhanced on-line security, so customers need to have an established local registration authority (LRA) to participate. "For our initial roll-out, we will focus on those companies already using PKI," adds Vree.

The pilot project involved three fund companies, one intermediary and 10 distributors represented by two service bureaus. Participants received their invoices electronically, rather than by mail, and then paid the invoices by cheque. They found the application easy to use, the screens simple to navigate, and they liked the new balance forward field.

Phase two of the project will involve paying the invoices electronically as well. "We are considering three options for payment," says Vree. "In the first option, a customer would sign a pre-authorized debit, allowing us to collect automatically. The second option is for customers to pay us electronically; that is, they 'push' the payment to us electronically. We want to be as flexible as possible in accommodating our customers' workflow, so of course the third option remains the traditional way of remitting by cheque."

Plans to have customers access FundSERV Web Services only through PKI, tentatively scheduled for June 2003, will determine the exact timing for full implementation of the electronic billing project. He adds, "During the next few months, we will work with the pilot group to finalize the payment options."

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