These e-commerce transactions today are moving over a mix of public and private networks. This marketplace is taking shape today, and the most significant, sophisticated applications--those bringing competitive benefits to those companies with the vision and the sense of urgency require a blend of software, services and systems integration ("Internet Banking, 1999).

Companies adopting e-commerce need to understand all of the elements and options involved to be able to choose the appropriate mix. For example, many companies are now grappling with the most basic decision--whether to outsource the cost and complexity of electronic commerce or keep it in house. There is a growing market for products and services that simplify the e-commerce decision and implementation process. Among the top benefits cited for a move to electronic commerce are decreased overhead costs from interfacing to back-end functions.

This indicates that businesses expect to gain the most advantage by streamlining their processes rather than by simply increasing sales by adding the Internet as a new channel. These agile, global corporations using e-commerce technologies are the wave of the future. T

Automated tax and shipping processing

According to Price Waterhouse, about 70% of a bank's earnings--typically come from consumers (Oliver, 1997). And those earnings are generated more efficiently. In consumer banking operations, returns on equity of 20% to 25% are common. However, that rate of return, according to most experts depends on a large percentage of customers using ATM machines at bank locations and in supermarkets and other locations. The rate of return can drop as much as 10 percent if a large percentage of customers insist on coming inside the bank doors ("Electronic banking", 1999).

he only question is which corporations will succeed in incorporating these fundamental changes, and which will be left behind.

First Union already has 30 merchants up and running on its Secure Sales e-commerce enabling service, which the bank provides as a value add-on to its commercial customers conducting online e-commerce. According to publicity statements, the bank chose ICOMS as a partner in order to expand the Secure Sales program to not only offer secure on-line transaction processing, but a host of other services as well.

The alternatives that banks must consider today have to follow this formula: (a) define and clarify the problem, (b) formulate questions, (c) observe without prejudice, (d) report as accurately as possible in a format everyone can understand, and (e) begin again.