CD Credit Card Promises Security for Net Shoppers

Online shoppers wary of sending their credit card numbers over the Internet may soon get an alternative from Los Angeles-based Einux. The company will announce today that it has formed a joint venture with CD Cash of South Korea to produce credit card-size CD-ROMs that could substitute for regular credit cards.

A shopper using a CD credit card would log on to the Net and save her personal information on an Einux/CD Cash secure server. When she is ready to make a purchase, she puts the CD credit card into her computer’s CD-ROM drive. Instead of typing in her credit card number, she types in her Einux/CD Cash password. That prompts the Einux/CD Cash server to contact her bank for authorization, then send an authorization number for payment processing to the online merchant.

With a CD credit card, merchants never lay hands on a customer’s credit card number. Because the cards need a password to be activated, cards that are lost or stolen can’t be used to make unauthorized purchases, according to an Einux spokeswoman.

The companies intend to issue 50,000 CD credit cards in Korea next month, with a U.S. roll-out planned for later in the year.