Waiting for bank transactions to “clear” overnight just became a thing of the past for businesses yesterday with the launch of the Bank of Bermuda's GlobalConnect Internet banking service.

The bank's business customers, large and small are assured of comprehensive security and flexibility, and can now be confident of instant confirmation of transactions including wire transfers and payments and account management - in the time it takes to download a web page.

“This is a huge step forward,” Michael Collins, the bank's Head of Banking Services declared yesterday. “We had a strong sense of what the client required and yes, I do think it puts us a step ahead.”

GlobalConnect reduces to a minimum the manual processing of transactions both for businesses and the bank, reducing the risk of error and improves efficiency with the reduction in the time spent on banking matters. With the new service, businesses can make payments, deposits, make money transfers and manage company investments instantaneously.

The bank now provides a complete range of online services with the Corporate Banking division's GlobalConnect paired with the Community Banking department's Easylink Online. Easylink has more than 6,000 customers signed up since its February 2002 launch.

GlobalConnect was developed by the bank, with IBM and Entrust, the world's leading enhanced Internet security company. Ernst & Young reviewed GlobalConnect's security software for quality assurance.

Mr. Collins said: “GlobalConnect was created because we saw the advantages our corporate clients would gain from the right online banking service. We had the corporate banking expertise, but we knew that to build an exceptional online banking platform, we needed to partner with the leading experts in technology and online security.

Mr. Collins continued: “We know that corporate clients are looking for online solutions that will enable them to undertake complex financial activity, but which their staff can quickly learn and easily use. A well structured user experience - which GlobalConnect provides - minimises the likelihood of mistakes and means businesses do not have to spend extensive time and money training their staff.

“GlobalConnect is designed, to be easily navigable and users will quickly become familiar with the system. We also provide extensive online help and access to a service desk during bank hours. Such simplicity and support are critical for carrying out banking activities quickly and efficiently.”

Mr. Collins explained that the bank's first online banking service for corporate customers, eBankline, is still competitive, but it lacks “straight through processing” or a real-time connection to the global banking system.

GlobalConnect also provides digital signatures for each staff member authorised to make transactions, and each transaction has its own digital signature - thereby giving a clear audit trail and legal authority.

Of particular concern to the bank was security. GlobalConnect uses industry standard 128 bit encryption to protect the data while it is in transit over the Internet, but goes further in using highly secure Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology to generate digital signatures for each transaction and at each stage of a transaction.

Unlike regular online banking programs, like Easylink which allow a user to log on from any computer connected to the Internet, GlobalConnect requires its special security and encryption software to have been installed on company computers and it provides multiple access levels for staff.

Ian Curry, Entrust's vice president and chief marketing officer said of PKI: “An online banking system of GlobalConnect's capacity demands the highest levels of security.

“PKI manages the keys and digital certificates used for identification, proof of entitlement, verification, privacy and security management. These security foundation capabilities enable the use of encryption and digital signatures, to secure information while in transit or in storage, and provide that each and every transaction can be traced to the individuals who executed them.”

Mr. Collins touted GlobalConnect's user-friendliness, but explained the bank had formed five Relationship Management Teams of five to eight people each to walk customers - particularly small businesses clients - through implementation.