Itochu Corp., Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank and others will establish a joint venture in June to provide payment guarantees for e-commerce transactions concluded between corporate clients, Itochu said Monday.

The service, eGuarantee, will involve having the DKB-led group of financial companies make quick, provisional payments for goods and services bought by corporate clients via the Internet on behalf of the purchaser, the major trading house said.

The new company, which has yet to be named, will levy a fee equivalent to up to 5 percent of the value of the transaction.

Fees will vary from 1.5 percent to 5 percent in proportion to the creditworthiness of corporate clients, to be appraised with the aid of Teikoku Databank, a leading credit research agency.

The new company, to be capitalized at 490 million yen, will be owned up to 70 percent by Itochu. Yasuda Fire will put up 10 percent and DKB 5 percent.

Capital contributors are still in talks with other possible participants over the size of their capital affiliations, it said.

Corporate clients qualified to receive payment guarantees will have to obtain a membership in the new service beforehand, it said.

Teikoku Databank will enable the new company to exclude paper companies from the list of eligible corporate clients, it said.

Participants in eGuarantee expect demand to shoot up in line with an expansion in Web-based transactions between businesses.

The new venture will seek to handle 500 billion yen worth of transactions concluded between clients in the third year of operation, when operating revenues are expected to come to 3 billion yen, it said.