Formalising business deals online has taken a step forward following the announcement that digital certificates issued under the federal government's Project Angus will meet international guidelines.

The project involves the rollout of digital signature certificates to businesses by Australian banks.

The ANZ, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia and Westpac banks are cooperating to establish a framework for e-commerce authentication and payments that is interoperable with international banking systems.

The certificates will be issued as part of the global Identrus public key infrastructure scheme, probably in the second half of this year.

The federal government has also indicated these certificates will be accepted by commonwealth agencies.

Under the Australian Business Number-Digital Signature Certificates (ABN-DSC) policy, businesses will need only one digital identity to deal with any commonwealth agency.