Visa & Terra Lycos Join Forces To Electronic Commerce For LatAM.

Terra Lycos and Visa International entered into a major multi-faceted alliance to bring Latin American and Caribbean consumers and businesses the best Internet experience by providing security, trust and convenience.

The agreement leverages the companies’ well-recognized brands and extensive global networks to promote the ease and benefits of making secure on-line purchases. It capitalizes on Terra Lycos extensive reach — 70 percent of the Latin American Internet audience — and Visa’s ubiquitous on-line acceptance, currently accounting for 93 percent of e-merchants and 55 percent, or US$198 million, of the overall volume of on-line credit card purchases, as reported in the 2000 Boston Consulting Group study, Online Retailing in Latin America: Beyond the Storefront.

Terra Lycos will integrate Visa’s e-commerce Secure Transaction Platform through payment authentication for enhanced consumer protection while shopping on-line. This Platform assures e-merchants that sales of goods and services made through Terra will be valid, as the cardholder’s issuer will have validated and approved the transaction.

This partnership moves beyond traditional online advertising-based alliances by providing a Secure Transaction Platform, comprehensive marketing program, consumer awareness and a wide range of benefits for Visa cardholders and Terra users.