Something about Ecommerce and Hyip

MasterCard has partnered with Irish e-payments firm Payzone to deliver a point-of-sale reload service targeting prepaid cardholders in Europe. The service allows for customers to reload their MasterCard and Maestro prepaid cards by means of chip, conventional ‘swipe’ and PIN-based technology.

For issuers and retailers, chip and PIN reloading is a means of authenticating cardholders, allowing for Europe's migration to EMV and the adoption of prepaid card programmes for loading and activating money held on the chip.Studies estimate that spending on prepaid payment cards will amount to USD 164 billion by 2010 across Europe. UK's Newcastle Building Society along with prepaid card provider Altair Financial will be the first institutions to roll out the service in 2009.

Private charitable foundation MasterCard Foundation has awarded a two-year grant worth USD 0.740 million to not-for-profit private company Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX). MIX will use the donation to upgrade its MIX Market platform, a Web platform for sharing comparable and publicly available information on the financial strength and performance of microfinance institutions.

The Mix Market platform serves more than 25,000 visitors per month and provides annual financial and operating information on more than 1,150 microfinance institutions, as well as profiles of 100 funders that invest in microfinance and almost 200 partners.

The new platform is called Mix Market 2.0 and will feature an enhanced platform for data searches and analysis, display and transfer of information.

A study reports that 75 percent of online retailers consider multi-channel expansion as an important part of their marketing strategy. 98 percent of respondents claim they market on a minimum of two online channels.

Among retailers who use multiple online channels, 75 percent enjoy a growth in sales, 80 percent of them achieve increased customer acquisitions, while 71 percent mention significant growth in qualified customers. 73 percent of retailers operating in six or more online channels need additional support staff. More than 60 percent mention the ability to target new demographics or intensify lifetime customer value. 55 percent of respondents outsource marketing initiatives.

Among retailers who outsource their multi-channel initiatives, 69 percent mention increased sales and 65 percent experience increased customer acquisition. Almost 60 percent face higher returns on marketing spend and 70 percent cite a more rapid adjustment to market changes and new initiatives.

Credit card issuer MBNA teams with European flyer program Miles & More to launch the Miles & More American Express Credit Card.

For every GBP 1 spent with the card, 3 award miles will be credited to the user’s mileage account during the first six months from the account opening date and 2 award miles per GBP 1 spent after the 6-month period. On top of that, new card members will receive a welcome bonus of 6,000 award miles when they make their first card purchase within 90 days of their account opening. Customers’ award miles never expire, giving cardholders the possibility to redeem their miles whenever they like.

The new Miles & More American Express Credit Card from MBNA offers 0 percent p.a. on balance transfers for the first 12 months from the date the account is opened ( 3 percent handling fee applies), plus 0 percent on card purchases for the first 3 months. After the introductory period the card will revert to a 15.9 percent annual percentage rate.

US-based financial institution Central National Bank of Enid (CNB) has selected payment processor Postilion to deliver self- service banking options, such as Postilion Retail Internet Banking, Postilion Business Internet Banking and Postilion Voice Banking.

The electronic payments association NACHA has launched the Secure Vault Payments alternative payment option. The ACH-based internet payments network enables consumers to process e-commerce and bill payment transactions without disclosing personal account information.
Secure Vault Payments operates on existing financial institution platforms, providing businesses with payment authorisation. It allows consumers to pay for purchases and bills via their financial institutions’ online banking platforms, implementing the ACH Network and eWise Systems Payment Switching technology. Financial institutions authenticate consumers and offer businesses the authorisation and confirmation of payment.

study reports that the continued use of cash in the economy will require all stakeholders involved in the cash supply chain to improve productivity of cash processing and increase the efficiency in delivering cash to merchants and consumers.

Since the euro was introduced in its physical form on 1 January 2002, circulation of banknotes has grown by 75 percent to reach EUR 677 billion at the end of 2007, surpassing the dollar as the world’s premier currency. The proliferation of new payment instruments such as the payment card is challenging cash with competition particularly intense in the low value segment. However, cash represents 8 out of every 10 transactions, remaining the most widely used payment instrument in the eurozone. Changing payment behaviour is proving to be a slow process despite the rise in new forms of money such as virtual currencies and loyalty programs.

Software services supplier Postilion has integrated financial services provider Yodlee's PersonalFinance and DirectPay options into its Retail and Business Internet Banking systems. The initiative enables Postilion's financial institution customers to deliver online banking services and develop revenue opportunities by means of card-based online bill payment.

Yodlee PersonalFinance is a personal financial management service allowing for consumers' control over finances. Via Yodlee PersonalFinance, consumers can manage spending, set budgets, supervise transactions and review cash flow trends and predictions. Yodlee PersonalFinance enables consumers to manage and transact upon held or held-away accounts by means of one online experience at their primary financial institution.

Yodlee DirectPay is the company's card-based payment network. Its 300 DirectPay billers stand for more than 40 percent of major US billers by volume. The service enables consumers to pay almost half of the monthly bills by means of a card.

A report shows that customers who pay for flights online and meals at restaurants by means of credit cards are most exposed to fraud.

Gaming and gambling on the web are activities that also attract fraudsters, while the most common crime against non-cash payments is skimming, that implies copying card details by specific reading machines especially used in restaurants, as waiters ask for cards for payment and can copy them when not seen by the owners.

Online fraud is considered the easiest due to the relative simplicity of stealing an identity in the online world. Some eCommerce activities are more likely to attract fraudsters, since they do not have their protection systems in place. Among them, the study mentions the airlines, travel agencies and gaming and gambling sectors.

Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce has registered a total transaction value of USD 148 million during Q1 2008, declining by 4.4 percent compared to the previous quarter but increasing by 19 percent on year-to-year basis. Of the transaction value, nearly USD 89 million or 58.7 percent was due to imports and exports while the remaining 41.3 percent was from domestic trades.
Business-to-customer sales transactions for online shopping during Q1 2008 reached USD 183.71 million, dropping by 1.2 percent compared to Q4 2007 but growing by 25.7 percent compared to Q1 2007.

A third of the US banks are planning to launch mobile banking services in the next 12 to 24 months, according to a survey which included views of 92 of financial institutions (32 European banks, 30 banks in the United States and 30 banks from the Asia-Pacific region).

66 percent of banks consider mobile banking as an excellent opportunity to enhance existing customer service, while 65 percent of the banks who currently offer mobile services respond that marketing budgets and activities to raise awareness are part of their strategic plan for 2008.

The most common mobile banking services currently available to customers include balance on demand (offered by 87 percent of banks with mobile banking services), transaction alerts (77 percent), money transfers (74 percent) and balance alerts (71 percent). Banks that offer these types of services intend to improve the customer experience (87 percent), extend internet banking (81 percent) and to achieve competitive advantage (71 percent). The report is titled ‘Mobile Banking: The Second Wave. Global Mobile Banking Survey 2008’ and is published by UK independent research consultancy Loudhouse research.

Mobile payment service provider Paybox has partnered with MoneyBoxAfrica, an initiative from Nigerian investment and financing institutions ICSL, Interswitch and e-Tranzanct, to roll out a new micro banking product in Nigeria. Blending Paybox's Mobiliser Platform and the Money Mobiliser product with Nigerian financial institutions, the new partnership aims to create the largest mobile financial ecosystem across Africa.
The MoneyBoxAfrica is a savings and payment system based on a scratch card and enabled by mobile phones. It comes with a cash-like way to remotely save, spend, and transfer money. Via the MoneyBoxAfrica, a mobile phone can function as a micro bank, enabling users to remotely open their accounts, save money into their accounts, top up their phones, pay utility bills, buy insurance premium, send money to friends and relatives, withdraw cash at agents' locations or ATMs, get access to credit and make investments. Apart from basic m-payment services, the tool is also designed to provide end customers with an easy upgrade path to a stored-value-account and eventually a bank account.

Heartland Payment Systems, payroll service provider and the 6th largest credit card processor in the US, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the provider of payment processing services Network Services, a business of Alliance Data Systems. Heartland is paying USD 77.5 million in cash for Network Services. The acquisition is expected to close within the next 30 days, subject to customary regulatory approvals.
According to a recent report published by Nilson, Alliance Data’s Network Services handles over USD 17 billion of total annual bank card volume and 604 million transactions in 2007. On top of the Visa/MasterCard acquiring, Network Services handles a wide range of payment transactions for its predominantly petroleum customer base, including providing approximately 2.6 billion transaction authorisations each year. Heartland handled USD 51.9 billion of total annual card volume last year.

Provider of technology services to the financial industry CheckFree and Bank of America sign an agreement to prolong their strategic relationship.

Following the move, Checkfree will continue to provide Bank of America with online consumer bill payment services untill 2013. The new agreement includes higher technology and customer support levels for Bank of America’s online consumer bill payment service. Specific terms of the amended agreement signed in December 2003 were not disclosed. Bank of America has over 24 million active online customers and 12 million active bill pay customers.

Bank of America introduced a web-based mobile banking service in March 2007 to consumers in selected markets and expanded the service across the country in May 2007. In November 2007, the Mobile Banking service reached half a million mobile customers.

Electronic invoicing services supplier Transcepta has filed patent applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in connection to its Virtual Printer electronic invoicing technology. The patents imply the deployment of a light vendor interface which enables the delivery of electronic invoices from a billing system.