All articles by EPI editorial
EPI editorial
Consumer patience wears thin with online service
During the late 2007 holiday season in both the US and the UK, the internet again proved to be a marketing platform merchants cannot afford to ignore.In the US, amidst disappointing overall retail sales, online retail sales during the 1 November to 27 December season reached $28 billion, a solid 19 percent increase compared with the same period in 2007 according to online data analysis firm comScore In the UK online retailers enjoyed even more robust sales, estimated by the Association for Payment Clearing Services to reach £5.6 billion ($10.9 billion) during December, an increase of almost 56 percent compared with a year earlier.But despite all its attractions, merchants in both countries who approach online retailing with a complaisant level of customer service do so at their peril This is made abundantly clear by surveys of consumers in the US and UK conducted on behalf of online customer solutions provider Tealeaf by market research firm Harris Interactive in late 2007.In the US the survey revealed that for the third consecutive year, about nine out of 10 consumers conducting transactions online experienced problems
TARGET2 brings Europe a step closer to financial integration
The launch of TARGET2 is a historic step forward on the way to an integrated financial infrastructure in Europe, said Fabritius at a press conference marking the launch.TARGET2 is the product of a decision taken in October 2002 by the European Central Bank (ECB) to develop a single centralised platform to replace the Trans-European Automated Real-time Gross settlement Express Transfer system (TARGET1)
SMS password security flawed
In practice, the method is seriously flawed, according to a study conducted by Mohammed AlZomai, a researcher at the Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT) Information Security Institute in Australia.The vulnerability of single-use passwords sent via SMS lies in the fact that the customer must manually copy the password from the phone in order to confirm the online transaction
Technology opens the door to use of graphical passwords
According to the lead researcher on the project, Jeff Yan, graphical passwords are more than 1,000 times more secure than ordinary textual passwords.The work by Yan and co-researcher Paul Dunphy was initially based on Draw a Secret (DAS), a graphical password research project undertaken by New York University, Bell Labs (a unit of telecommunications equipment group Alcatel-Lucent) and AT&T Labs (a unit of telecommunications group AT&T) At the time the joint research team carried out its work the late 1990s it noted: Our DAS scheme is motivated by the experimentally proven fact that pictures are easier to remember than words.The UoN researchers were motivated by a similar viewpoint
Prepaid cards via the ATM
Prepaid cards via the ATMPhoenix in the US state of Arizona has been chosen by technology developer Better ATM Services (BATM) for the launch of a new concept in the prepaid card market ATMs that dispense cards via their cash tray.According to BATMs CEO, Todd L Nuttall, the technology offers retail merchants and financial institutions the opportunity to expand the utility of the ATM without any costly upgrades.Our technology means ATMs can dispense gift cards, event tickets, transit passes or any other type of prepaid card without investing in additional, costly equipment like sidecars, said Nuttall.According to BATM, its cards are contained on a single plastic sheet that consists of three panels
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Get industry leading news, data and analysis delivered to your inbox
Easing the compliance burden
Where theres a problem theres usually a solution as US payments processor Electronic Payment Exchange (EPE) is proving with BuyerWall, a product designed to ease merchants onerous and costly burden of complying with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).
NSW authorities hoping it will be second-time lucky for Sydney ‘Tcard’
If at first you dont succeed, try again is the approach of the New South Wales governments Public Transport Ticketing Corporation (PTTC) which has called for tenders for implementation of a smartcard ticketing system in Sydney, Australia.
ATM volumes soar in the UK
ATM volumes soar in the UK From all accounts the credit crunch is having a significant influence on how British consumers spend, not least of these an increasing use of cash Indeed, the increase became particularly notable during September and October, the period when what had appeared to be a manageable global financial problem erupted into a global crisis.
Makeover in store for London’s Oyster
Makeover in store for Londons Oyster Londons Oyster card electronic ticketing system is set for major overhaul This follows findings by the digital security group of the Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands in October that NXP Semiconductors Mifare Classic contactless payment solution, on which the Oyster system is based, has serious security flaws
Fiserv’s ‘Online Advantage’
Fiserv has combined the best of its internet banking technology unit Corillian and online bill payments unit CheckFree to develop Online Advantage, an internet banking product it unreservedly describes as a revolutionary online banking solution.