SECURE INTERNET COMMERCE IS FOCUS OF SEVERAL PROJECTS Visa Europe is testing a payment card designed for secure use in commerce across the Internet, and hopes to bring it to market early in 1998. "We are launching a pilot of our new card for secure electronic commerce with 38 banks around Europe in 16 countries," Steve Schapp, executive vice-president marketing of Visa Europe said. "We expect Internet commerce to range from between $7 billion and $32 billion a year by 2000 world-wide, extending Visa payment service into a new environment," Schapp said. In a related story, a group of Singapore scientists said they had invented a secure system for financial transactions on the Internet. The system would allow individuals and businesses to deal directly with banks via the worldwide computer network, said Lam Kwok Yan, spokesman for a group of researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He said the new system, developed by the NUS team in collaboration with several banks, used smartcard technology which allowed the transmission of hidden digital signatures. The system, which uses Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system, should be ready for use by sponsoring banks by March 1997. Sponsors include Singapore's four large banks -- Development Bank of Singapore, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., Overseas Union Bank, United Overseas Bank -- as well as Singapore Telecommunications and Citicorp's Citibank. -- Reuter, 10/22/96 --- Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps