Electronic payment system operator ePay.bg struck an agreement with Armeec insurance and re-insurance company to offer all ePay clients insurance against online payment fraud, ePay.bg said in a statement.

Any client performing payments through either www.epay.bg and www.easypay.bg, the company's two website, will be entitled to annual insurance of up to 100 000 leva. The maximum compensation for a single transaction is set at 10 000 leva. The company is yet to report the first fraud via its system, however.

This type of insurance is a novelty on the Bulgarian market and comes primarily to relieve consumers of the psychological stress associated with online payments, the company said.

The company has also been awarded Level 1 Payment Services Supplier from Visa and MasterCard card operators in recognition of its high security level.

To be eligible to indemnity, ePay.bg clients have to observe minimal transaction security rules. One rule is to use a legitimate e-signature for identity verification. If they have none, the verification may occur through a text message confirmation on each transaction. Clients have to register their personal mobile phone number and get a unique SMS code from the ePay system.

A client will be declined indemnification if he deliberately, or for gross negligence reasons, had passed on his passwords, PIN, smart cards with a digital signature, a mobile phone number or a temporary SMS code to a third party.

Currently, the number of active ePay clients is 60 000.

Last year, the ePay system processed 1.72 million transactions worth 85.68 million leva. In the first quarter of 2008 alone, the number of transactions totaled 0.6 million, up 54 per cent on the year. The value of payments rose by 48 per cent year-on-year to 32 million leva.

Epay.bg specialises in designing payment systems, e-commerce and security for information passed online. Currently, the payment systems operated by ePay.bg are in use by all cellular and fixed-line operators, electricity distribution systems countrywide, heating and water utilities and most cable, satellite and internet operators.