Officials at Norges Bank, the central bank, say the system will make it easier to track payments in and out of the country. Customs officials say they will be able to track missing payments more easily. The new regulations will take effect as soon as they are approved by the Storting, but a working system is not expected to be in place until close to the end of the year. Norwegian commercial banks have said it will take that much time to reorganise their routines to adapt to electronic payment on a broad scale. The country already has a law legalising electronic signatures for all types of contracts and payments.
Independent companies verify the signatures.
The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2001. All rights reserved.