CyberCash and Concentric Target Small Biz E-Commerce

High-speed ISP Concentric Network Corp. (Nasdaq: CNCX) and CyberCash, Inc. (Nasdaq: CYCH), the well-known online payment processing company, announced that they have signed an agreement to join forces to provide a new e-commerce offering for small to medium-sized companies.

The agreement will enable Concentric to deliver an integrated solution designed to help smaller businesses establish e-commerce Web sites and to use CyberCash for accepting secure, real-time Internet payments. Concentric is the first commerce service provider to directly resell CyberCash services for processing Internet credit card transactions.

According to Henry R. Nothhaft, chairman, president and CEO of Concentric Network, “This alliance with CyberCash marks an important cornerstone in Concentric’s continued commitment to the advancement of e-commerce initiatives, and will be leveraged extensively in the company’s next-generation e-commerce solutions.”

In addition to setting the stage for Concentric to distribute CyberCash services directly, this new arrangement will streamline and simplify the process of bringing an e-commerce site online. The alternative, in most cases, is for online merchants need to piece together their own solutions for Internet credit card processing, by establishing separate relationships with Internet payment processors, financial institutions and Web hosts. For most merchants, the process is time consuming and confusing.

This new agreement will allow small to medium-sized businesses to buy CyberCash’s Internet payment services as part of Concentric’s “complete, easy-to-use” commerce solutions.

“Together, CyberCash and Concentric are taking the guess work out of doing business on the Web by providing everything a merchant needs to get started easily and safely in e-commerce,” said Nancy Goldberg, senior vice president of CyberCash.

The Players

Concentric Network

Concentric Network Corporation provides Internet networking solutions for small to medium sized businesses, including high-speed dedicated and DSL access, Web hosting and e-commerce services. For larger enterprises, the company offers customized Virtual Private Network solutions. Concentric’s services rely on a high-performance, ATM-based network that covers North America. According to the company, through its various partnerships, the Concentric network also reaches South America, Europe and the Pacific Rim. Concentric Network is headquartered in San Jose, California.

CyberCash, Inc.

CyberCash is one of the first and best known providers of secure, online payment processing technologies and services. The company provides a variety of software products and services allowing merchants, billers, financial institutions and consumers to conduct secure transactions using various forms of payment, including credit, debit, purchase cards, cash, checks, smart cards.