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FIRM FOCUS: FOR ONE CPA, WEBTRUST BECOMES A FULL-TIME BUSINESS

Have all your clients registered domain name? Nelson Traverso, a licensee in Puerto Rico, registered all of his clients about three years ago as part of an effort to lead his firm and his clients to the cutting edge of e-commerce. Today, Traverso devotes all of his time to WebTrust and related engagements—and his firm size has jumped as a result.

How does he do it? The secret of his success has been a combination of immersion in the subject matter and savvy marketing tactics.

The Digital World

Traverso’s background includes experience with consumer giant Unilever and working with the Puerto Rican government to stamp out fraud in cellular communications. "I became fascinated by using encryption and fingerprinting during the migration from analog to digital cellular/wireless infrastructure mainly to eliminate fraud, so I decided to open my own firm specializing in e-commerce." He became a CPA WebTrust licensee in 1997 and was soon teaching WebTrust seminars in Florida and Puerto Rico.

He explains that last year the Puerto Rican government enacted a law requiring digital signatures for e-commerce transactions. "The Puerto Rican digital signatures law is based on the same technology that is used in the WebTrust program," Traverso says. He became certified by Verisign as a digital engineer to understand the technology behind the WebTrust seal and created a separate firm—SayNet—which has become the first digital signatures certificate authority in Puerto Rico that complies with local legislation requirements.

Traverso’s Company

  • Has a graphics director who specializes in the creative concept and look of Web sites.
  • Builds the security into client’s sites as they are created, making the sealing process less expensive and time consuming.

Promoting the Seal

Traverso constantly seeks ways to promote WebTrust. To streamline the certification process, Traverso formed a joint venture with Resource Marketing, the first Internet service provider to receive the WebTrust seal, offering a special service to island licensees. Using Resource Marketing as the host for their clients and relying on Traverso’s consulting skills to speed the e-commerce launch, it can be possible to reduce the sealing time to six months. "It’s like using a franchise to get the seal faster," he explains. Traverso also invested in creating a laboratory and training center for senior managers and IT personnel interested in gaining a thorough understanding of digital signatures.

Some of the CPAs who are working with Traverso have clients in these industries who are interested in the seal:

  • Healthcare. A doctor of nuclear medicine seeks to send patients copies of their tests with digital signatures to ensure privacy. Plans include allowing patients to make appointment online in complete confidentiality and to securely provide credit card or insurance information.
  • Fast foods. In Puerto Rico, Burger King is planning to allow parents to arrange and pay for birthday parties at local outlets in complete security online.

The Puerto Rico Society of CPAs, which has a CPA WebTrust seal, has also come to appreciate the seal’s value. Society members can sign up for seminars online, reducing costs for the association. About 200 members sign up over the Internet each month, Traverso says. He has leveraged this success by approaching another association, which is also poised to receive a seal. A drug store chain is considering getting the seal for a site that will accept prescriptions directly from doctors’ offices and offer patients differing online purchasing and delivery options.

Giving and Receiving

Traverso began his WebTrust marketing push by creating an event in conjunction with the University of Puerto Rico. Registrants were required to sign up online.

  • Not only did the event receive attention, a professor at the school asked Traverso to contribute a chapter about WebTrust and Internet security to a book she was writing.
  • Newspaper stories followed—and news about Traverso’s e-commerce knowledge quickly spread.

Many of his clients use much larger firms for audits but choose smaller firms like Traverso’s for e-commerce consulting.

The CPA Web Trust Update. Volume 1, Issue 3, August 1999, Pages 3-4, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Inc., Harborside Financial Center, 201 Plaza Three, Jersey City, NJ 07311-3881.

cpa@nelsontraverso.com | Calle José R. Acosta, Num. 520, Hato Rey, PR. 000918-2847 | Teléfono (787) 753-7800 | Fax (787) 753-4882