Microsoft to scrap Passport wallet

Microsoft will today debut a new e-wallet service as it strives to phase out its current Passport wallet by March 2003.

The move to a new service under the company's MSN portal will allow Passport to focus on its "core mission" of authentication services, Microsoft said.

Passport was supposed to be a central aspect of Microsoft's consumer web services plan, called .Net My Services. But that project has caused confusion over just how the technology will work, while raising hackles over consumer privacy.

Creating a new system to store payment and shipping information could address some of these privacy concerns.

Rob Bernard, product unit manager with MSN Shopping, said: "We've done a bunch of work with partners and consumers, and it's clear that they want [Passport] to be an authentication service. The aggregation of the wallet and authentication service was not attractive to them."

The Passport wallet will continue to work until March so that customers and retailers won't have to make changes over the Christmas shopping season, the company said.

Data won't be transferred between the old and new services, however, meaning customers will have to re-register for the new service.

Customers will need a Passport account to access the MSN wallet service. People can start signing up for e-wallets from today and Microsoft expects the first retailers to go live with the service in the next few weeks.