Mobile Payment Industry News: 11/07/08

Friday, November 7, 2008

"SwipePIN" Your Card Data...Better You than Fraudsters!

Click Picture to Enlarge

Cyber-Criminals Hate HomeATM Customers!

They're "SwipePIN" their own card data instead of versa-Visa (or versa-MasterCard for that Matter)...

HATM celebrated its first month of processing over $1 Million Dollars worth of Online, Web-based PIN-enabled payment card transactions...with ABSOLUTE ZERO fraud!

Certainly not a small accomplishment in the world wide wicked web that fraudsters weave."

HomeATM Chairman and CEO, Kenneth G. Mages credits HATM's growth and acceptance by both merchants AND consumers on its patented methodology of PIN and track2 data encryption occurring "outside" the PC ecosystem.

"I'm amazed that anybody would dare to enter personal information like card data into a browser." stated Mr. Mages.

In today's fraud-laden, world wide, wicked web woven environment, is there anyone armed with a little bit of knowledge on the inherent risks in a browser space who can actually doubt the merits of that statement? I'm not trying to make anyone insecure, I'm just telling them that they already are.

Here's some food for thought...digest it over the weekend...

Idiom of the Day: "Throwing Caution to the Wind" When people throw caution to the wind, they take a great risk.

Entering your Personal Account Number (PAN) into a web browser is analogous to throwing a blade of grass up into the air to see where the wind takes it...after already knowing there's a 50mph north wind blowing. You know where it's going to take it. You just don't know who's going to be the one taking it.

With all due respect, should anyone continue entering their private card data into a PC's ecosystem after reading this post, I suggest that you change the last letter in Idiom to a "T" (I've got you down to one...a T that is...)

Frankly, (and I am so entitled to use that phrase) it's "baffled" me for years that people would actually take a blank piece of paper, imprint it with all their personal information, including their PAN, bank name and routing number (a check) and "hand it over" to complete strangers in a retail store. It continues to puzzle me today why anyone would enter their personal credit and /or debit card numbers into what has become, a very unsafe web browser.

At least in the case of the paper check, it only had to get through approximately 7 people before it got to the Federal Reserve. In the browser space, there's an international band of thieves, hungry like the wolf, who have grown tired of phishing and who are now hunting for that very kind of information. Why would anyone put themselves in such a quagmire? Times are a changing, and astute consumers need to be wary.

If your Card Information is going to be Swiped,
shouldn't you be the one "SwipePIN" it?

This was Part 1...Caveat Emptor/Let the Buyer Beware:
Futurus Persevero (To Be Continued) Part 2...Caveat Venditor! (Let the Seller Beware!)

77% of Online Consumers Want PIN Debit?

In yet another Holiday Shopping forecast Javelin Strategy and Research says 77% of online consumers said they want more secure payment options, nearly 6 in 10 would spend more (higher ticket items) if there was a more secure choice and 32% said they would buy more if they could use cash.

Based on the fact that consumers already consider PIN Debit as the "most secure payment option" and that with PIN Debit, the "CASH" comes right out of their banking account, in real time with (see Related Article's at the bottom of this post) no chance for overdraft charges, it appears HomeATM's patented browser based PIN based solution is exactly what online shoppers are demanding.

PS: In this Perfect Storm Online Shoppers would Prefer Seeing a PIN Secure Payment Solution

Online consumers plan careful approach to holiday spending, study says

Nearly half of online shoppers say they plan to delay holiday spending this year because of the down economy, though 32% say they would buy more online if able to spend with cash, according to a recent study by Javelin Strategy & Research for eBillme, a payment service from ModaSolutions Corp. that lets online shoppers pay with direct debits from their bank accounts.

The eBillme Index, a periodic report issued by eBillme and Javelin, released data late last month based on a survey of how consumers plan to shop online throughout the holiday shopping season. “48% of consumers say they plan to delay spending because of the economy and that they are shifting away from credit to cash-like payment options, partly because of their financial health partly because financial institutions are tightening lending,” says Marwan Forzely, CEO of ModaSolutions.

When asked how much they planned to spend online during the holidays, the largest group of survey respondents, or 20%, said $100 to less than $250, he adds.

Following are expected online spending amounts by percentages of consumers, according to the study:

More than $2,000, 3%
$1,000 to less than $2,000, 4%
$500 to less than $1,000, 12%
$250 to less than $500, 18%
$100 to less than $250, 23%
$50 to less than $100, 17%
Less than $50, 14% No plans to spend online, 9%

In what amounts to further good news for HomeATM, the study also noted that 77% of consumers said they want to use more payment options that guard against online fraud; 57% would spend more online if they felt more protected from fraud, and that 28% would spend more online if they pay with available funds through their bank system.

China Online Shopping Surges 117.4%

Online payment surge in China

A recent report on the evolution of the online banking environment in China indicates that the in the wake of a marked increase in online shopping, the popularity of online payments made from consumers' internet banking accounts has also increased.

Thus, data from the survey shows that in 2007 the Chinese online shopping market reached RMB56.1 billion (USD 8.3 billion), marking a 117.4 percent increase compared to the previous year. The study also reports that trade volumes of C2C and B2C online transactions registered 125.2 percent and 92.3 percent climbs respectively.

As a result, the value of both personal and corporate online banking transactions also rose significantly, marking a 163.1 percent increase compared to 2007.

The value of online payments performed from individual online banking accounts in China has increased three times compared to 2006, while in 2009 the percentage of personal online payments is expected to reach 10 percent of the total.

The research was conducted by Chinese market research company Market Avenue.

Internet is Travel Booking Channel for Biz

Businesses Hit the Web for Travel - eMarketer

Businesses Hit the Web for Travel
NOVEMBER 7, 2008

Calling the airline is a thing of the past.

The Internet is the travel booking channel of choice for businesspeople. That is according to a September 2008 Business Travel News-sponsored study conducted by Equation Research and cited by Hospitality Net.

US business travelers surveyed who flew more than six times during the previous 12 months preferred to book their trips online instead of by phone or e-mail. That held true whether the travelers booked directly with suppliers or had their corporate travel departments handle the bookings.

“Travelers like the option of booking business trips online because it allows them to manage their itineraries from any location at any time, using their laptop or mobile device,” said Jeffrey Grau, senior analyst at eMarketer.

Preferred Method for Booking Travel According to US Business Travelers, by Segment, September 2008 (% of respondents) As appealing as it might be for business travelers to book through public Websites, corporate travel management companies hold the edge on pricing, judging by data from Topaz International.

The difference between average fares booked through public Websites and corporate travel management companies from 2003 to 2007 remained steady at around 13%. Moreover, average business fares fell overall in 2007 from 2006.

Forrester Says Online Christmas Shopping will Rise 12%

Deal-hunters will help online holiday sales rise 12%, Forrester says

Nearly half of online consumers this year say they expect to find the best holiday shopping deals on the web, as online retail spending is expected to reach $44 billion during November and December, up 12% from a year ago, Forrester Research Inc. reports.

In a survey conducted last month of about 1,000 U.S. online adults, 48% of respondents said they expect to find the best values and deals online, up from 41% a year ago, Forrester says in “Outlook for U.S. Online Holiday Sales, 2008,” a report authored by Forrester principal analyst Sucharita Mulpuru along with vice president and research director Carrie Johnson and analyst Peter Hult.

27% of online consumers say they plan to spend more online this holiday season than they did during last year’s holiday season, but 26% said they plan to buy less online during the holiday season because of the economy, and 47% said they expect to spend about the same as last year, the study found.

When asked which online shopping services for which they’d be willing to spend more, the largest group of respondents, or 31%, cited product personalization; 26% cited 2- to 3-day delivery; 22%, overnight delivery; 20%, shipping insurance; 20%, gift wrap or box; and 15%, extended warranty.