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ATMs are ready for e-commerce, but EFT networks are not. That's the contention of Bruce Korman, chairman and CEO of Cash Technologies, Inc. "The terminal manufacturers are way, way ahead of the network guys," Korman said. "They're producing these beautiful Pentium-based machines that are capable of doing all kinds of fancy things. Except for one little detail -- there's no network to drive any of them." While nearly everyone in the ATM industry wants to bring electronic bill payment, e-ticketing and other e-commerce products and services to the ATM, Korman said it can't happen without the right transaction processing software. Global EFT networks communicate using ISO 8583. The same message protocol has been in place for over 20 years, albeit with some proprietary tweaking by big networks like EDS and Deluxe. It processes standard balance authorizations with ease but is stymied by more advanced transactions. "If you want to pay a bill, or issue an e-ticket, or issue a money order -- anything that requires any additional networking activity -- you're out of luck," Korman said. Korman's company, Los-Angeles-based Cash Tech, is introducing a new system called EMMA (E-commerce Message Management Architecture). Korman said it's designed to facilitate communication between banking networks -- including ATM networks, POS/credit card networks and the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network -- and non-banking networks, including the Internet. After receiving a message from an upgraded ATM, EMMA will recognize and route different types of transactions, including those not carried by an EFT network. "It knows when it acquires a transaction where it has to route that transaction for authorization," Korman said. "The intelligence is on the host." Like other companies experimenting with e-commerce, Cash Tech opted to make its system an open one. "Instead of us creating a closed system that works for only a particular type of application, our patent pending system provides a platform that allows any electronic commerce provider to have a robust path through which they can process financial transactions," Korman said. Korman thinks EMMA has the potential to become a standard protocol, which would clear the way for developers to create new applications. By adhering to EMMA's protocol, developers could develop new types of e-commerce transactions which would be processed by EMMA through financial networks. "We think that's what made Bill Gates so successful," he said, noting the huge number of applications based on Microsoft's Windows. Cash Tech already has partnered with several prominent e-commerce players, including Electronic Payment Services and CheckFree Corp. EPS will provide ATM and POS gateway processing services for EMMA, and CheckFree will process electronic bill payments. Cash Tech also plans to purchase up to 2,000 of Tidel's Internet-enabled Chameleon terminals to serve as the initial hardware platform for EMMA. Using biometric technology licensed by Sensar Inc., EMMA also enables security conscious consumers to make Internet purchases with an ATM/debit card. A photo of a consumer's iris, taken with a Sensar camera, will eliminate the need for a PIN in online transactions. "This offers significant advantages for online banking and trading operations, as well as merchants who will be able to expand their customer base to those without credit cards and consumers who are afraid to send credit card information over the Internet," Korman said. Cash Tech will initially drive transactions from its own data center. Later the company plans to license the entire EMMA platform. Korman thinks that it may hold the greatest appeal for retailers and ISOs, who either have their own networks or are interested in establishing one. "Off-premise operators who could not justify processing their own transactions because mainframe equipment is so expensive could afford to run NT-based systems with our software," he said.