Mobile Payment

Mobile payment (M-payment) is a point-of-sale payment made through a mobile device, such as a cellular telephone, smart-phone or personal-digital-assistant (PDA). It is already being used in some parts of the world, including Malaysia. There are many types of M-payment available in Malaysia, such as MMWallet, Mobile Visa Wave Payment Pilot, MobileCash and etc.

Mobile Visa Wave Payment Pilot is the first credit card payment pilot system for the Visa International, in collaboration with Maybank, Maxis Communication Berhad (Maxis) and Nokia. Consumers who are both Maybankkard Visa cardholders and Maxis mobile phone subscribers will have qualify to use this system.

The backbone of the mobile payment system is Visa Wave smart card technology. The technology is equipped with sophisticated radio frequencies that eliminate the need to swipe credit cards into a reader. Mobile Visa Wave Payment can be made across all merchants in Malaysia that have Visa Wave-supported terminals. No change is required to the current acceptance infrastructure.

Although it has favorable market conditions, but it is yet to achieve widespread acceptance. To date, there are only 1.8% of the 25 million mobile phone subscribers in Malaysia. Therefore, certain steps need to be taken to encourage consumers to adopt this payment system.

There are still many people yet to favorable and even don’t know with this payment system. So, the advertising activities for the M-payment system should much more attractive and interesting. The system should also attract more merchants to join this system. When this system is wider use in the whole country, the consumers will be more easily to accept and adapt to this system. However, the security provided by a system is always the main barrier for a consumer to accept those systems. The M-payment system should have great anonymity and privacy to protect consumers’ personal information and purchase records.

The step of transaction for mobile payment system:

For additional information about the mobile payment system available information in Malaysia & other country:
1) http://www.mobile-money.com/








2) http://www.squidoo.com/mobillcash-pay-by-mobile-phone

3) www.mobilepointview.com/mobile_payments/

Electronic Currency

Electronic currency refers to money or scrip which is exchanged
only electronically. Typically, this involves use of computer networks, the internet and digital stored value systems. One of the web services that provide the use of electronic currency as a transit payment system is PayLoadz.

PayLoadz (http://www.payloadz.com/) is a privately held company based in New York, NY. With over 70,000 merchants selling over 400,000 digital goods, they are a clear leader in the space of downloadable goods eCommerce. It is a service which not only provides the means to sell intangible products such as software, e-books, digital art, manuals, article and other files, but also manages the transaction through eBay and provides the server space to store the files. PayLoadz is an automated deliver service which means that the seller can go on vacation without worrying about sending download links to customers every time a payment is made. This files can be either downloaded via hyperlink or send via e-mail based upon seller’s product.

PayLoadz has launches a new PayLoadz Express Service (http://express.payloadz.com), which is the biggest enhancement to its services since its launch in 2002. The new service provides a simple way for anyone, even inexperienced sellers, to begin selling products without a learning curve. Before the launch of PayLoadz Express service, anytime a person wanted to sell a file would have to register for a service, install complicated scripts or program their own solution. Now, with the new system, a person simply fills out a few fields, uploads his/her file and he/she is instantly selling her goods. The system relies on PayPal for payment processing and the standard PayLoadz service backend to handle the file delivery.

Credit card debts

Credit card has commonly been used in our life, not only adult but also for students. However, there are many users facing credit card debt problem. Credit card debt results when a client of credit card company purchases an item or service through the card system. Debt accumulates and increases via interest and penalties when the consumer does not pay the company for the money he has spent.

So here goes: Your top 4 causes and preventions of debt!
1. Poor money management:
Most of us didn’t have a monthly spending plan which is essential. Without one we have no idea where our money is going.
Planning is no more difficult than writing down our daily expenses and income and reconciling the two in monthly basis, in order not to exceed the credit limits.

2. Financial illiteracy:
Many people don’t understand how money works and grows, how to save and invest for a rainy day or even why they should balance their checkbook caused them having credit card debts.
Nonetheless, you are responsible for your life and your money. Financial mistakes are increasingly expensive and complicated to resolve. Get educated and get in control!

3. No money communication skills:
This cause mostly refers to couple. Many people didn’t communicate with their spouses or children about financial planning. Some of them even found that their spouses have racked up thousands of dollars in a credit card debt and they had no knowledge about the existence of the card.
Consequently, it is important to communicate or discuss with your spouses and children about the financial goals and spending styles. Sometimes, you also may want to map out a strategy for you both to get what you want. Know what credit accounts you each have and promise each other to be honest about what each other spends.

4. Saving too little or not at all:
People in modern life have less saving especially for the users of credit card. They have no preparation for unexpected expenditures for instance: a job layoff or divorce which will cause immediate financial strain and increase debt.
To avoid unwanted debts, having saving for three to six months of living expenses is essential. No one has ever regretted having a savings pattern.

Look before you leap!! Good Luck!!

1)http://www.ehow.com/how_2038727_avoid-credit-card-debt.html? ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art

2)http://www.top-10-business.com/top/19822-debt-tips2008.html

3)http://www.fool.com/personal-finance/credit/60-second-guide-to-getting-out-of-debt.aspx

The application for pre-paid cash card for consumers

In Malaysia context:

The Touch 'n Go (TnG) smart card is one of the pre-paid cash cards that is used in Malaysia.

The Touch 'n Go systems are designed to process up to 800 vehicles per hour to ease the queue congestion at toll plazas. If it is used together with Smart TAG (a non-stop electronic toll collection system), it will be able to process up to 1,200 vehicles per hour.

A standard TnG card can be purchased at the price of RM20. It consists of RM10 deposit value and RM10 usage amount. The cards may be reloaded from 10 denominations ranging from RM10, RM20, RM50, RM100, RM150, RM200, RM250, RM300, RM400 and RM500.

In Hong Kong:

The Octopus card is a rechargeable stored value (without contract) smart card used to transfer e-payment in online or offline systems in Hong Kong.

Launched in September 1997, it is used to collect fares for the city's mass transit system. It is used for payment at convenience stores, supermarkets, fast-food restaurants, on-street parking meters, and so on.

According to "Octopus Cards Limited"(operator of the Octopus card system), there are more than 16 million cards in circulation, i.e. more than twice the population of Hong Kong. The cards are used by 95 percent of the population of Hong Kong aged 16 to 65, generating over 10 million daily transactions worth a total of about HK$29 billion (US$3.7 billion) a year.

Others:

Other examples such as BPI Express Cash is a MasterCard Electronic prepaid card.

It's used to:

1. pay for purchases in establishments that honor MasterCard and/or MasterCard Electronic.
2. load Globe/Touch Mobile prepaid mobile phones. Your mobile phone number has to be linked/enrolled with your BPI Express Cash card.
3. inquire account balance, withdrawing cash, and for getting a mini statement .

How safe is our data?

Nowadays, we as internet users used to online everyday and expose more of our personal information on social networking Web sites and office workers upload more sensitive data to online software programs. However, there are vast cyber attacks which fall under several general categories: accidental actions and malicious attacks-computer viruses, denial of service attacks and distributed denial of service attacks. A third area of cyber vulnerability, online fraud, comprises issues such as identity theft and data theft.

Computer hackers are employing increasingly sophisticated methods to pry that information loose. In many cases, they're devising small attacks that can fly under the radar of traditional security software, while exploiting the trust users place in popular business and consumer Web sites.

A case from Florida: In January 2001, the entire municipality of Largo lost e-mail service for over a week when an unknown company based in Spain compromised its identity. The company hacked into the city’s e-mail relay system to steal the Largo.com identity. Soon enough, e-mail spam from Largo.com addresses flooded the net, and many Internet Service Providers blacklisted all incoming and outgoing electronic messages from the city.

Social networking sites (MySpace and Facebook) are favorite targets, as a successful compromise gives attackers access to a large number of people who are likely to trust the sites. These sites often expose confidential user information that can then be used in attempts to conduct identity theft or online fraud. Moreover, our newest technical fascinations—iPhones, Internet calling systems, and smart phones—all might present tempting targets in 2008.

So ladies and gentlemem, please be careful yo~

Table 1. Site-specific Vulnerabilities. Source: Symantec Corporation
During the last six months of 2007, 11,253 site-specific cross-site scripting vulnerabilities were documented, compared to 6,961 between February and June in the first half of the year.

The application of 3rd party certification

What is 3rd party certification?

There are various types of SSL Certificate Authority that are available in Malaysia. VeriSign is one of them which enable security of e-commerce, communications, and interactions for Web sites, intranets, and extranets.

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is the leading security protocol on the Internet. It is a protocol developed by Netscape for transmitting private documents via the internet. SSL is widely used to validate the identity of a Web site and to create an encrypted connection for sending credit card and other personal data.

Customers merely want to protect themselves. But how can they rely on SSL for assurance that they are doing business with valid organization and not an un-trusted third party?
To solve their problem, VeriSign have some sub-system program (Asset Layer Protected) to support the overall system work.

Customer Protection
A trusted provider provides an Easy-to-use authentication and transparent fraud detection to protect online transactions without slowing down the transactions.

Brand Protection
Domain names, Web sites, and digital logos present the company’s brand. Early detection and fast response to misuse preserves brand equity and helps stop counterfeiting.

Web Site Security
It gives consumers the confidence to transact online by displaying the green address bar in the latest high-security browser with Extended Validation SSL on the Web site.

Network Security
An authentication solution for the enterprise, Web applications, and e-mail combined with comprehensive network protection that helps reducing risk while meeting compliance requirements.

Expert Assistance and Intelligence
Security consulting and advanced intelligence reporting that help consumers assess analysis and update a layered approach to secure business assets.

Supply Chain Visibility
Provides convenience to large retailers and suppliers when they need to open networks to partners, affiliates, and customers to enhance services and speed operations while keeping confidential data secured.

VeriSign believes that by increasing trust, transaction can be increased. Thus, its mission is “Providing trust for the Internet and Electronic Commerce through our Digital Authentication services and products”

VeriSign security experts help balance risk, cost and users’ experiences to apply the most effective security approach to users’ unique business. By this, it can increase the consumers’ trusts. It secures over 750,000 Web servers worldwide, including 93% of the Fortune 500 and the world’s 40 largest banks.

Phishing - example and prevention methods

Phishing is an attempt to acquire sensitive information (such as usernames, passwords and credit card details) criminally and fraudulently, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. It is typically carried out by e-mail or instant messaging, and often directs users to enter details at a website, although phone contact has also been used.

What is the example?
One of the examples is identity theft which is becoming more popular, because of the readiness with which unsuspecting people often divulge personal information to phishers, including credit card numbers, social security numbers, and mothers' maiden names. Once this information is acquired, the phishers may use a person's details to create fake accounts in a victim's name. They can then ruin the victims' credit, or even deny the victims access to their own accounts.

What are the prevention methods?
There are several different techniques to combat phishing, in social as well as technology aspect.

Social aspect
Train people to recognize phishing attempts, and to deal with them. People can take steps to avoid phishing attempts by slightly modifying their browsing habits.

Technical aspect
Helping to identify legitimate sites
Some anti-phishing toolbars might display the domain name for the visited website. For example, some websites let users to type in their own labels for the particular websites, so that they can later recognize when they returned to the site. If the site is suspect, then the software may either warn the user or block the site outright.

Augmenting password logins
A method to prevent simple phishing of transaction numbers (TANs) is to associate each TAN with a "lock number". The bank's server sends the lock number as a challenge, and the user provides the corresponding TAN as the response. The server selects the key-lock pair randomly from the list to prevent acquiring two consecutive TANs. Lock numbers are not sequential, so that phishers can only guess correct lock numbers.

Eliminating phishing mail
Specialized spam filters can reduce the number of phishing e-mails that reach their addressees' inboxes. These approaches rely on machine learning and natural language processing approaches to classify phishing e-mails.

Monitoring and takedown
Several companies offer banks and other organizations likely to suffer from phishing scams round-the-clock services to monitor, analyze and assist in shutting down phishing websites. Individuals can contribute by reporting phishing to both volunteer and industry groups, such as PhishTalk.
1)http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid14_gci916037,00.html
2)http://www.symantec.com/norton/security_response/phishing.jsp

How to safeguard our personal and financial data

Nowadays, online shopping has become a popular way to purchase goods which offers a convenience that is not available from any other shopping outlet. We can search for goods from various vendors, compare prices with a few simple mouse clicks and make purchases without waiting in line. However, the internet is also convenient for attackers to access the personal and financial information of unsuspecting shoppers. This information enables the attackers to commit numerous forms of fraud such as transfer all the money available in the victim’s account to their account, using the victim’s financial account to apply for loan, make purchase using victim’s financial account or even selling the information to someone else.

Therefore, as an intelligent online shopper, it is important to take steps to protect ourselves when shopping online. The following are some of the ways to keep us being protected against attacker:

Use and maintain anti-virus software, a firewall, and anti-spyware software
Install anti-virus software, firewall, and anti-spyware software in our computer to protect us against viruses and Trojan horses that may steal or modify the data on our computer. Use also legitimate anti-spyware program to scan computer and remove spyware or adware hidden in software program which may give attackers access to our data and make sure to keep our virus definitions up to date frequently.

Keep software, particularly web browser, up to date
Keep our web browser up to date on a regular basis. Many operating systems offer automatic updates. If this option is available, we should enable it.

Shop with companies that we know
Try not to make any transaction with those merchants that you are not familiar because some attackers may try to trick you by creating malicious web sites that appear to be legitimate. If you have to do so, you must make sure you are interacting with a reputable vendor, ask for a paper catalog or brochure to get a better idea of their merchandise and services, and determine the company’s refund and return policies before you place your order.

Check privacy policies
Before providing personal or financial information, check the websites privacy policy. Make sure you understand how your information will be stored and used.

Keep your password private
When you establish a password, try to be creative such as using a combination of letters, numbers and even symbols. Avoid using a telephone number, identity card number, birth date or numbers that someone could easily guess.

Make sure your information is being encrypted
Indications that your information will be encrypted include a URL that begins with “https:” instead of “http:” and a lock in the bottom right corner of the window.

Be wary of emails requesting information
Attackers may attempt to gather information by sending emails requesting that you confirm purchase or account information. Legitimate business will not send this type of information through email.

Discuss how E-commerce can reduce cycle time, improve employees’ empowerment and facilitate customer support.

Cycle time is the time period from the beginning to the end of the business process, as defined by the seller and the buyer. Traditionally, producer will sell their goods through intermediaries such as wholesaler and retailer before the goods were transferred to the customer. This process will specifically increase the cost of the goods when arriving in the customer’s hand. With the introduction of E-Commerce, customer can directly purchase goods from the manufacturer by just one click on the mouse. It is more efficient, convenient, reduce cost and time for both the buyer and seller.

Besides that, with the presence of intranet, employees are able to access to company’s database and able to alert whatever information about upcoming events or company’s certain decision that had been made. Employees may also deal directly with the complaints that had been made by customers, answering customers’ request and take action to solve their problems. Employees’ empowerment can be improved by giving more flexibility to the employees to access to the information and make decision.

Furthermore, E-commerce may allow customers to get relevant and detailed information that they needed about certain product in seconds. E-Commerce enables customers to shop or do other transaction 24 hours a day, all year round and from almost any location they are.

Kozmo.com

An example of an E-commerce failure and its causes~

“You could order anything from snacks to movies at any time and have them delivered direct to your door within 1 hour with no delivery charge!”

This was a great idea that founded by young investment bankers, Joseph Part and Yong Kang in March 1998 in New York City. Kozmo.com was a venture-capital-driven online company that promised free one-hour delivery of anything from DVD rentals to Starbucks Coffee in the United States.
Kozmo promoted an incredible business model; it promised to deliver small good free of charge, typically by using bicycle messengers. The idea was great but ultimately a little too good to be true. One of the basic problems with its business model was offering a costly home-delivery service for free, even on very small orders on which it was impossible to turn a profit.
Moreover, Kozmo’s greatest error with their customers occurred when they stopped catering to their main client base of middle class college-students. This was done so that they could target more upscale client who would order expensive products. This was a misguided decision making because the college student customer is made up 76% of its business.
A simple idea turns into a multi-million dollar company in a few years. Kozmo.com’s aura helped it raises more than $250 million, but the company was unable to generate enough revenue to cover costs. In 1999, it had $3.5million in revenue, compared $26.4 million in net losses.
Not surprisingly, the company failed soon after the collapse of the dot-com bubble, laying off its staff of 1,100 employee and shutting down in April 2001.

AMaZon.com

An example of an E-commerce success and its causes~
Amazon.com Inc is recognized as one of the most popular and successful e-commerce company.
The keys success are lowering price, offering convenience, expanding selection, increasing availability and its strong focus on customer experience which is infused throughout all levels of the company and includes all aspect of the buying process. It is famous among online shoppers with its good-quality search function, understands customer profiling without invading customer privacy, and remembers your shopping cart even you left for several months compare with other online retailers.

It also gives you options that most online retailers can only dream of, such as the ability to group your items into as few shipments as possible. Amazon.com has grown its business in many ways to increase its revenue such as it has managed to build a retail business with a negative operating cash flow cycle which enable the working capital effectively become a source of investment cash for the company, the Marketplace of third party sellers created by Amazon enable Amazon receives a commission on products sold, new product categories, and other businesses.

Unlike eBay/Paypal, Amazon sellers do not have to maintain separate payment accounts - all payments and payment security are handled by Amazon itself. Customers are more confidence and trust them. According to a Compete.com survey, Amazon attracts approximately 50 million U.S. consumers to its website on a monthly basis.

Are you one of the Amazon.com’s customers?

History and Evolution of E-commerce

Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. Since its early development, the meaning of e-commerce has changed over the last 30 years.

In the late 1970s, e-commerce meant the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, using technology such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). These both allowing businesses to send commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices electronically.

In 1980s, there are growth and acceptance of credit cards, Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and telephone banking.

From 1990s onwards, e-commerce includes Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing.

In summary, below is the important Timeline showing evolution of e-commerce:

1990: Tim Berners-Lee wrote the first web browser, World Wide Web (www), using a NeXT computer.

1992: J.H. Snider and Terra Ziporyn published Future Shop: “How New Technologies Will Change the Way We Shop and What We Buy”.

1994: Pizza Hut offered pizza ordering on its Web page. The first online bank opened. Attempts to offer flower delivery and magazine subscriptions online. Netscape released the Navigator browser under the code name Mozilla and introduced SSL encryption that made transactions secures in late 1994.

1995: Jeff Bezos launched Amazon.com. The first commercial-free 24 hour, internet-only radio stations, Radio HK and NetRadio started broadcasting. Dell and Cisco began to widely use Internet for commercial transactions. eBay was founded by computer programmer Pierre Omidyar as AuctionWeb.

1998: Electronic postal stamps can be purchased and downloaded for printing from the Web.

1999: Business.com was sold for US $7.5 million, which was purchased in 1997 for US $150,000. The peer-to-peer file sharing software Napster was launched.

2000: The dot-com bust.

2003: Amazon.com had its first year with a full year of profit.

~Self-descriptions~

Ai Ting
Let me introduce myself. My name is Ai Ting, an undergraduate accounting student of University Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) FAM, year 3 semester 1, and I am from group 4. This is my first time posting a blog entry just because this is an assignment, strangely enough for me. Since the life is short, everything must get a try.
I believe nowadays everyone knows about what is internet, so am I. The top 5 websites and internet activities that I frequently visited are:
Google – I always use the Google search engine to search for information for my assignment.
Friendster – I can get know new friends.
Xunlei – this is the website which has the latest movie, drama, and song for users to download. This is also my favourite website because one of my hobbies is watching movie, especially animation type.
Yahoo and Hotmail – I can check and forward mail through this website.
SinChew daily – this website lets me get to know all the news in our country without going through physical newspaper.
Despite having internet activities, I enjoy my hobbies during leisure time too. I like reading novel, watching movie especially animation type and listening to music. Oh ya, I enjoy watching movie at cinema too..since the atmosphere and sound equipment at cinema are quite good.
Here ends my short description. Want to know more about me? Let’s read through our blog!

Hui Jun
I am Hui Jun, a simple yet an ordinary girl. Since “Jun” means the 6th month in our calendar year, therefore many think that I am born in June, but in fact I am born in September, the month which I prefer most. (^0^)
I like cooking, sewing, reading travelling, and sleeping. Cooking improves my creativity when preparing meals, while sewing and reading are the hobbies that I used to do especially during long break of our studies. Travelling enables me to experience amorous feelings of different nations. Lastly, sleeping is “unavoidable” since everyone should take a good rest before continue to a long life journey. Don’t you agree?
I always stay online all the day, although sometimes I might be away. It can help me staying connect with someone I love despite physical distance during weekdays. I like chit chatting via skype and msn, listening music, reading some meaningful articles, downloading dramas and the most importantly, I can update my Friendster blogs.
Therefore, from my preferences, the top 5 websites that I visited the most are:
www.friendster.com , where I can update my blogs
www.yahoo.com , where I can search for some useful information for assignments
www.gougou.com , where I can download some dramas
www.readnovel.com , where I can read some novels
www.chinapress.com , where I get to updated about local as well as global news


Pek Hua
I was born in KK, not Kota Kinabalu but is Kuala Kangsar(Perak). However, I was shifted and staying in KL now, so don't date me in KK ya. =P. Few days later I will become an adult. Although going to be getting metal key, but still behave like a small kid and with a childish mind (sometime when necessary) =P. There’s always an urge, telling me to change, unnecessary a change physically but a change mentally. Can’t always stay in comfort zone, right?
I like watching TV, reading whodunit and science fiction during sem break, sleeping and traveling but unfortunately at this moment I might not be able to travel a lot because of financial problem.
I seldom online but still have some favourite websites to surf, such as:
http://www.yahoo.com/ as it can help me find information and check mails.
http://www.friendster.com/ broaden my sociality
http://www.baidu.com/ enable me download my favourite songs
http://www.google.com/ as search engine which helps me finds information that I needed to do assignments, DIY presents and etc.
chinese.cari.com.my where I can read some forums.Moreover, I also like chatting with friends, listening music, checking mails, downloading music, reading novels and other’s blogs, and playing online games through internet.
That’s me. I am Pek Hua.


Melissa
I’m Melissa, an independent girl coming far away from KK, Sabah. Sometimes, my friends will ask me that whether Sabahan is still staying up on the tree. It sounds really weird and ridiculous. So, please come to visit Sabah and you will know that whether we are still staying up on the tree or not..haha :p
When I’m free, I like to watch TV (especially Hong Kong TVB drama), listening to music, chit chatting with friends, shopping…etc
The top 5 websites that I used to visit the most are:
http://www.friendster.com/ - where I can stay connect with my new friends and old classmates.
http://www.hotmail.com/ - where I can check my mail box.
http://www.sogou.com/ - where I can download latest music.
http://www.google.com/ – where I can find information for assignments.
http://www.airasia.com/ – where I can check cheap air tickets to back to my hometown.