end of the year.

And First Atlantic Commerce also said it was doubling its staff and moving to larger offices in Hamilton in the next few months.

The company was set up just two years ago and appears to have already made a name for itself both in Bermuda and abroad.

One of the founding members and senior vice president Andrea Wilson said: "It is our intention to have a place in the global market place. We are looking at Asia and Europe to have offices, keeping a head office in Bermuda. That it why it is important for us to set up a good base on the Island and we need to have good qualified people in place to allow us to do this.'' Ms Wilson added that with the rapid growth of e-commerce, it was possible that in a year's time the size of First Atlantic could have doubled again.

"We need to keep pace with demand and be flexible enough to keep growing when needed.'' The company has just taken on a marketing manager and has hired a further four Bermudians to take the total number of full time staff up to ten.

A senior Bermudian -- who is still to be named by the company -- will take over the position of vice president. Other positions are two sales account executives and a chief financial officer.

The business has not yet signed and sealed a deal on new premises, but will be moving to new offices in the next few months.

First Atlantic was one of the Island's first e-commerce companies and has established itself as a leading business to business operators, helping to provide secure payment systems to its clients.

First Atlantic main remit has been working on finding secure ways to bridge the gap between traditional payment systems and the Internet. First Atlantic has done this by forming alliances with offshore banks.

And this week the company has been invited to attend VISA International's annual meeting in New York and set up a stand. The company has also strengthened its position by announcing that it has just formed an alliance with an international lawyer, Glenn Erickson, who specialises in corporate laws.

First Atlantic director, Greg Vasic, said: "Today many questions are being asked about the security of web sites in terms of the technology, but there is an equal concern that a site may be making claims that could be misinterpreted or be in violation of the law.

"Our customers are interested in establishing a successful, on-line business -- they are not legal experts or even necessarily e-commerce experts. The alliance will provide our customers with access to additional resources to help them set up a viable e-commerce site.''