First Data Launches Internet Payment Company

By William Welsh, Staff Writer


OCT. 9 ? First Data Corp., an e-commerce and payment services company, announced Oct. 9 the launch of a new company dedicated to providing emerging Internet payment technologies to business-to-government and other key marketplaces.


Atlanta-based First Data Corp. and other investors will provide the new company, eONE Global LP, with initial assets of $600 million.


The specific technologies for Internet payment that eONE will develop include wireless and multi-applications smart devices, stored value, digital cash and micropayments and credit application and evaluation, according to company officials.


Although the company has no immediate plans for the citizen-to-government marketplace, it eventually may move into that sector, said Garen Staglin, eONE's president and chief executive officer.


First Data will provide eONE Global with two initial business units: SurePay LLC, and CashTax.


SurePay is a joint venture with Entrust Technologies of Plano, Texas, to provide trust and security products and services for business-to-business, business-to-citizen and wireless markets.


CashTax provides secure payment services for businesses to pay state and federal taxes electronically. It serves more than 2 million business taxpayers and processes 36 million annual payments valued at more than $1 trillion.


eONE will have offices in Denver; Menlo Park, Calif.; Melville, N.Y.; New York; and Omaha, Neb. Company officials are in the process of selecting a headquarters site in Northern California.


In 1999, First Data had more than 31,000 employees and sales exceeding $5.5 billion, according to Hoover's Online, of Austin, Texas.