Incentive to Offer Digital Certificates

Digital Signature Trust (DST), an affiliate of Zions Bancorporation and the creator of the digital certificate program endorsed by the American Bankers Association, announced a partnership referral program whereby DST partners will receive a commission on the sale of digital certificates.

DST will provide a link on partners' Web sites that will take individuals and businesses directly to a place they can apply for a personal, business or server certificate.

Digital certificates accomplish the same tasks that physical identification cards accomplish except the identification is stored electronically in a public key cryptography system. Recent legislation that legalized the digital signature process makes these certificates useful for electronically signing all types of legal documents. The individuals and businesses that have a certificate retain a private key in a secure location. That key must match up with a public key that is displayed on a person's digital certificate for the certificate to be valid.

DST outsources certificate services to banks, businesses, and other partners - holding the certificate information and public keys in a central repository. Financial institutions and businesses can offer their individual and business customers certificate services. The digital certificates are valid for one year. Once one is set up, it can be used a number of times.

Copyright © 2001 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 11, No. 10, 10/01