FishMarket Scales Up

The business customers of FishMarket, a global fish trading and auction service based in Scandinavia that's currently in its pilot phase, needed to feel safe with buying and selling fish and seafood online. To answer this need, two Norwegian financial institutions that play a key role in FishMarket's financial transactions-Den norske Bank (DnB) and Nordea-have turned to the global trust system offered by Identrus LLC.

New York-based Identrus provides identity validation and certification, fixed warranties and e-payment services to its members, who include over fifty financial institutions worldwide.

The Identrus solution allows FishMarket participants to reap the benefits of cost-savings, speed, efficiency and market reach that e-commerce has promised but rarely delivered.

"This solution brings security to e-commerce, which lets us put all of our activities, including contract signings and payments, online," said Olli Kahkonen, B2B concept manager at Nordea.

With electronic payments and Identrus identity services, more FishMarket trading activities can occur online instead of on paper, making the trading process faster, more efficient, more reliable and more secure.

Identrus, which currently provides identity certification services to FishMarket's customers, later this year will expand its offerings to include e-payment services.

"Identrus is a very strong candidate to be a major player on the market, due to the extensive number of banks already members in Identrus," said Olli Kahkonen, B2B concept manager at Nordea. "The global reach as well as the connection to banking services distinguished Identrus from its competitors."

FishMarket is the result of a European fishing industry initiative to develop an online marketplace for fish and seafood in the Atlantic region.

Created by members of the fishing industry and a variety of investors, FishMarket (www.fishmarket.no) enables commercial relationships on the Internet and online transactions that are fast and efficient.

As a leading marketplace, FishMarket offers a variety of online services to its customers-primarily fishing companies and fish wholesalers-including auctions, reverse buyer auctions, and catalog sales. It's also currently developing an online solution for negotiating long-term supply contracts between suppliers and buyers.

Although the services FishMarket offers are fairly standard in the world of portal B2B trading, through its partnership with Identrus it promises to offer a high standard of efficiency and security for the financial transactions of its business customers.

What made Identrus especially appealing to DnB, Nordea, and FishMarket was its alliance with SWIFT, the Brussels-based financial messaging company that has developed an Internet-based service called TrustAct, which ensures the safe, secure exchange of online messages between businesses.

"When SWIFT and Identrus announced their strategic partnership, we clearly saw the benefits of this alliance," said Kahkonen. "Nordea has moved in anticipation that banks will realize the value for SWIFT being part of this evolving market."