Bermuda-based e-commerce company First Atlantic Commerce Ltd. has caught the eye of software giant Microsoft with its new Internet payment system.

And the international spotlight on the company and Bermuda could not have come at a better time for First Atlantic which is in the process of steering its private bill through the House of Assembly and Senate.

First Atlantic -- a subsidiary of Bermuda-based technology services CCS Group -- has kept Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb abreast of Microsoft's plan to profile its payment system, known as cGate, on the Microsoft website.

And the software supremo also looks set to distribute the story behind the development of cGate by First Atlantic and software development partner Tellan Software Inc. at e-commerce presentations.

The Bermuda start-up is in good company on Microsoft's website with companies including MSNBC, Boeing, Nabisco and General Motors.

First Atlantic teamed up with Tellan Software to develop the payment platform which is based on Microsoft Windows NT Server and Microsoft Site Server Commerce Edition.

The company is one of a new generation of e-commerce companies setting up on Bermuda shores with plans to sell segregated cells to e-commerce clients to give them legal "virtual stores'' from which to conduct business.

Last week's grand launch of EOCnet.com saw the coining of the phrase "e-suite'' to describe the segregated cell concept.

But unlike EOCnet.com, First Atlantic has not centred its marketing around the concept of retailers anywhere in the world taking advantage of Bermuda's lack of corporate tax and regulatory environment via the "virtual stores''.

President Greg Vasic said recognition by a major economic and technological force like Microsoft was great for the company and a positive endorsement of Bermuda's burgeoning e-commerce industry as a whole.

"In the view of many in Bermuda's financial and technology services sectors, Bermuda is now in a position to become a leading jurisdiction for offshore e-commerce,'' he said.

"We are optimistic that the Government of Bermuda will complete policies and legislation that will show the world that the Island is open for Internet business.

"And we are confident they will also make it possible for the Island's E-commerce enterprises to compete fairly for new opportunities.'' First Atlantic senior vice president Andrea Wilson said the cGate e-commerce processing platform was one of the first high-speed payment gateways to enable secure Internet credit card processing to Bermuda's banks.

"This is a significant step forward for both First Atlantic and Bermuda in support of Bermuda's e-commerce thrust,'' she said.

Bermuda's ability to compete globally in e-commerce was enhanced by the payment system which would also benefit local banks by attracting new international business to the Island, she said.

Microsoft's interest in the cGate payment system could stem from the fact that it works in virtually any Microsoft Windows-based web environment and offers industrial-strength server to server data security for payments.

Renee Webb