4th October, 2109

The aspects that make mobile commerce attractive and convenient for consumers also result in complex hurdles for merchants when it comes to keeping a tab on fraud and authenticating mobile orders.

Fraudsters have been targeting mobile commerce owing to the fact a majority of businesses generally don’t differentiate between mobile and web-based transactions. What it essentially means that merchants need to be spot on with what is relevant for evaluation – rather than considering cellular IP addresses as unique identifiers, watch out for unique identification number associated with such devices; a new Wi-fi network doesn’t necessarily mean that the order is fraudulent etc.

Mobile experience is resulting in a richer set of data, and it is imperative for travel e-commerce players to  focus on the right data points to deal with mobile commerce fraud, says Kevin Lee, Trust & Safety Architect, Sift.

Last minute mobile orders or even any conversion from mobile devices needs to be viewed as a testimony of appropriate experience being delivered. More importantly, the risk team or the one that is looking into the acceptance rate, they need to evaluate how that transaction came to be, from which channel and also the related user data, recommends Lee.  

In this video, Lee spoke about mobile authentication and ensuring the acceptance rate doesn’t take a beating.

14^th September, 2019

Ai Editorial: The behaviour of consumers when they shop via mobile and what makes such devices risky has to be ascertained. It is must to focus on the right data points to keep a tab on fraudulent transactions originating via mobile devices, writes Ai’s Ritesh Gupta

E-commerce players, including ones from the travel sector, are evaluating ways to keep a tab on fraudulent transactions emanating from mobile devices.

It is being acknowledged that merchants must drift away from those data points that aren’t astute pointers in identifying such type of fraud. The behaviour of consumers when they shop via mobile and what makes such devices risky has to be ascertained. When specialists point out that mobile fraud is different from traditional e-commerce fraud, it is owing to the fact that unlike browsing and accessing via a PC, mobile devices result in novel characteristics that obscure the user verification process.

Security measures for a mobile device

E-commerce players must dwell on ways to validate and authorize a purchase as quickly as possible.

For this, there has to be a mechanism for real-time mobile device detection and the journey for mobile orders. All of this isn’t easy. As Riskified points out, the aspects that make mobile commerce attractive and convenient for consumers also result in complex hurdles for merchants when it comes to keeping a tab and authentication mobile orders. Citing an example, the fraud prevention specialist shared that its team ended up unearthing a major botnet fraud ring by evaluating data garnered from consumers’ interaction with merchants’ e-commerce sites and mobile apps. For this, the team delved deep into the journey, starting from whether the order was placed on a mobile device or elsewhere. The team further explained: If mobile, note what type of device — was it an Android device or an iPhone? From here on, assess the starting point for mobile-related orders. Did the shopping originate on a PC and eventually finished the transaction via a mobile device? And was it via a mobile site or an app? Or did the shopper finish it via a traditional site only? If checkout was on a mobile device, it’s vital to identify whether the shopper was accessing the site through a mobile web browser, or the mobile app. By following these steps, a travel retailer can effectively spot the origin, and then plan and executive precise safety measures to combat fraud.

Analysis

Riskified also asserts that merchants “need to discern what is relevant for analysis”. The team refers to few crucial areas:

• Cellular IP addresses are not unique identifiers. Be careful when it comes to marking a red flag based on this. In fact, lookout for unique identification number associated with such devices. Not easy for fraudsters/ hackers to spoof the same. This identifier would enable the merchant to track the device regardless of the Wi-fi or cellular network the device is using.

• Remember that completing a transaction while being connected to a new Wi-fi network doesn’t necessarily mean that the order is fraudulent.

• Riskified’s data shows merchants can safely approve over 94% of mobile orders with a partial AVS match, and over 70% of mobile purchases with a full AVS mismatch. The feeble connection between AVS results and mobile order fraud may be owing to the fact that users find it tough to enter their billing address on mobile devices’ smaller screens.

• Securing the authentication process starts with the device itself. Using behavioral biometrics, merchants can verify a customer’s identity without making the process difficult for the customer. So focus on behavioral data unique to the mobile channel or focusing more on data that is equally reliable across mobile and desktop channels.” Mobile carrier information, GPS location, and advanced behavioral analytics can all be used. As a specialist in behavioral biometrics, SecuredTouch asserts that the days of static biometric techniques are numbered. Rather merchants now need to dwell upon continuous authentication that features device intelligence, behavioral anomalies. All of this becomes even more important as mobile-related fraud is on the rise, and the behaviour of consumers when they shop via mobile and what makes such devices risky needs to be ascertained.

It all boils to verification of the legitimacy of the user, but considering the usage of today’s devices for shopping and the tricks of fraudsters, merchants need to evolve as well.

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26^th August, 2019

#ATPS

Airlines need to proactively monitor their loyal shoppers’ membership accounts since the problem of loyalty fraud is on the rise. If on one hand airlines are offering more earning and redemption choices than ever, it also means that the overall loyalty earning and burning lifecycle has opened new avenues for fraud.   

“From a loyalty fraud standpoint, there is a lot of demand (for stolen loyalty currency among the fraudsters or in a marketplace on the dark web),” says Kevin Lee, Trust & Safety Architect, Sift.

This is because over a period of time, prices for such items (stolen credentials, miles, points etc.) even though they fluctuate a bit still they are going up in value. Data breaches are a big issue, and a lot of sensitive information is being sold.

There is a motivated seller out there plus there is a motivated buyer there too to cash in on the stuff, said Lee, who added that airlines or the originators of miles or the loyalty currency tend to suffer a lot in such cases.

A risk-averse mindset for controlling fraud, be it for fraudulent transactions or loyalty fraud, is commonly associated with rule-based systems. Machine learning technologies are emerging as an astute option to secure accounts. The efficacy of machine learning, especially real-time machine learning, can be explored for account protection. Rely on both supervised and unsupervised machine learning to comprehend both the historical patterns of use, as well as identify anomalies.

It is vital to keep a vigil on accounts for anomalies to effectively notice the behavior of genuine and fraudulent customers. Airlines should analyze user behavior throughout the entire journey- including account creation and login, any account activity and also at the point of transaction such as redemption of points.  

3^rd Februrary, 2020

Ai Editorial: Dealing with credit card decline codes is a daunting task. Ai’s Ritesh Gupta explores how a deeper analysis of these codes and collaborative approach can help in payment authorization.

Evaluating ways to improve upon approval rates for online card payments is always high on the agenda of travel merchants.

Independently travel e-commerce players are looking at ways to seamlessly authenticate users across the omnichannel customer journey. The role of cloud-based intelligence, backed by artificialintelligence and machinelearning, is coming to the fore. Assessment of both risk pointers and positive identity indicators is the way to go. This way travel merchants can better comprehend the context of a shopper, their behavior, and their score in terms of digitalidentity trust and risk. Other than ensuring that a legitimate shopper shouldn’t suffer owing to a wrong decline of a card, travel merchants also need to be in control of processing costs as well as focus on fraud prevention. There is no secret sauce for all this in the payment landscape, but crafting an astute authorization strategy is an ongoing effort that demands continuous introspection. Working with other stakeholders holds key here.

When it comes to authorization and acquiring for more than one market or cross-border transactions, a merchant can assess options such as  working with a payment services provider, setting up a local legal entity and entering into merchant agreements with local acquiring banks etc.

Coming to grips with soft and hard declines

Technically, credit card rejection happens when a card payment cannot be processed and the transaction is declined by the payment gateway, the processor, or the bank issuing the money. A credit card decline code is a message issued in response to a request for authorization during a transaction.

It is here dealing with the travel shopper in an apt way – via a simple and transparent communication – can help.

According to Chargebacks911, the issue is credit card decline codes are not standardized; they differ from one payment gateway to the next. They also tend to be rather unclear, as this helps in shielding the cardholder’s privacy and avoid giving away sensitive information in the event of a genuine fraud attack. Details pertaining to why a payment tends to get rejected can be provided by an acquirer and this in turn can boost the conversion rate. As Ingenico points out, even though the rejection or response codes offered by acquirers may appear dauntingly technical, it’s extremely useful to understand what they mean.

Adyen recommends that  profile of each transaction needs to be considered based on its amount, if it’s recurring, local regulations, issuers' authentication preferences, your relationship to your shopper, and more.

Some declines may be the direct result of the cardholder's actions while others are the result of external factors. The most important distinction is between “hard” and “soft” declines. A hard decline happens  when the issuing bank or processor denies the processing of the transaction and retrying the card won’t help at all. Hard declines are not recoverable at the time of the transaction. Whereas soft declines are generally a temporary issue. Retrying the provided payment method information may be successful.  One way to deal with such scenario is to automatically route selected failed transactions to a secondary acquirer for a “retry”. This can increase authorization with virtually no impact on the customer experience, asserts Ingenico. Essentially merchants need to constantly explore ways to salvage such situations.  A partner should be adept at analysis of past declines, transparent data, ongoing analysis of global transaction types etc. Also, developments like PSD2 are all about more carefully processing and managing data, including payment transactions.

PSD2 SCA 2020 - how to go about it as a travel merchant?

Not just merchants

And it’s not just merchants, but even other stakeholders, including card schemes and issuers, too, are focusing on sorting some common issues that tend to block transactions that simply should not have failed in the first place.

Traditional companies are stepping up their efforts  in the wake of increasing competition from alternative form of payments plus new developments that are fueling emergence of fintech digital payment specialists. For instance, it is being acknowledged that as a vital link in the payment chain issuers need to share relevant details regarding why the transaction has been declined. Many tend to supply response codes that are ambiguous and tough to comprehend. And in certain cases such codes cannot be interpreted at all. Effective fraud prevention and detection requires real-time collaboration and data sharing. In fact, with a collaborative approach where data on fraudulent and suspicious transactions is shared (and keeping it anonymous, too, where required), details are out on new fraud attempts no matter where they first appear.  But all of this demands a diligent effort. For instance, considering the case of passing SCA or Strong Customer Authentication  messages through complex transaction flow in the travel e-commerce sector.  

It is imperative for merchants to work collectively internally (fraud and risk management, customer service, operations, technology and product management teams) to optimize authorization and fraud strategies, and work with various external stakeholders as well for the same.

Keen on exploring fraud prevention and payment-related issues?

Check-out Ai’s conferences scheduled for 2020: https://lnkd.in/fE7UK_T

9^th September, 2019

The travel industry at large isn’t ready for the implementation of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), required for all online transactions in Europe from 14 September 2019.

A study initiated by Amadeus has indicated that only one in three travel merchants are expected to be SCA-ready by the deadline. The report featured 50 large travel firms (€1billion+ revenue).

Merchants will have to adapt to SCA, which aims to increase payment security and protect sensitive consumer payment data. The preparedness of the travel e-commerce sector in dealing with the anticipated negative impact is being assessed since SCA poses risks for travel merchants, not to mention implementation challenges. This requirement is being introduced as part of the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2).

A couple of issues that have been highlighted in Amadeus’ report, ‘Strong Customer Authentication in travel payments: preparing for two-factor authentication’ are: 

• Cart abandonment: Uneasiness and apprehensions being associated with SCA are valid as travel merchants dread the idea of adding any sort friction to a transaction process. SCA stipulates all electronic payments in Europe be subject to 2-factor authentication, meaning travellers must undertake extra steps to validate the transaction before payment is accepted.

The SCA requirements are going to impact the speed of consumer transactions and the number of steps to be completed when paying. One of the major concerns has been the inclusion of additional authentication into the checkout flow, since it introduces an extra step that can add friction and increase customer drop-off.

If one considers the growing prowess of mobile devices for shopping in general, it means that there could be even larger customer drop-off. So is the impact of SCA likely to be even higher on mobile devices?  

“…requiring travellers to undergo additional checks, such as providing a one-time passcode sent to their mobile device, introduces some friction to the digital experience. This may sound like a small price to pay but our research shows the industry expects this additional friction to increase abandonment rates by 10-20%,” mentioned Jean-Christophe Lacour, Head of Merchant Services, Payments, Amadeus. The company expects any drop in abandonment rates to be a short-lived phenomenon as travellers get accustomed to the new steps needed, which they’re actually already performing for mobile banking for example.

• Applying SCA: The report also mentioned that card issuers “are responsible for applying SCA to a particular transaction, yet many other players including acquirers and merchants themselves must upgrade systems so they are capable of handling 2-factor authentication. If that doesn’t happen, and an issuer therefore cannot request a traveller performs SCA, they may simply reject the payment”.

Much to the relief of the industry, many local regulators across Europe have introduced a grace period for SCA compliance for e-commerce transactions over recent weeks.

• Being ready for it: The top three authentication methods being studied by issuers include; One Time Passwords (OTP) (SMS to a mobile device), authentication within a mobile banking app, and 3DS. Among these, OTP and 3DS authentication are expected to adversely impact the user experience.

According to the report: “…with 65% of airlines and agents expecting SCA to negatively impact sales, how travel companies prepare has implications for the bottom line. There are steps firms can take to mitigate the impact of SCA, with 70% of respondents to our research intending to work with their acquirer and payments partners to apply the various exemptions provided for within the regulation and more than half signalling a move to the latest authentication technology (3D Secure 2.X).”

Specialists recommend that merchants should use exemptions where possible.

Also, by using fingerprints or facial recognition, one can combat fraud while also increasing convenience for consumers.  

Amadeus surveyed payments leaders from 50 large travel merchants regarding their approach to achieving SCA readiness. The majority of responding organizations generate more than €1 billion in annual revenue with respondents drawn from airlines (60%) travel sellers (30%) and hotels (10%). The survey was carried out in August 2019 with industry conference and media company ‘Airline Information’ providing support with respondent recruitment.

Related articles:

Businesses not ready for SCA, worried about impact on UX: report

Optimizing UX for transactions being “challenged” under 3DS 2.0

15th August, 2019

It is imperative for travel e-commerce companies to be ready for bots, emulators, malware etc. and be precise with their fraud prevention plan.

As a specialist in behavioral biometrics, SecuredTouch asserts that the days of static biometric techniques are numbered. Rather merchants now need to dwell upon continuous authentication that features device intelligence, behavioral anomalies. All of this becomes even more important as mobile-related fraud is on the rise, and the behaviour of consumers when they shop via mobile and what makes such devices risky needs to be ascertained.

Going deeper into the complexity of the mobile commerce fraud, it needs to be understood that there might be one actor in the whole chain, says Lewis Duker, SecuredTouch. “It could be that one fraudster is testing the credentials, and another one monetizing the credentials,” he says. Referring to the threat of bots, he said the malicious activity needs to be trapped as it is happening.

In this context, the limitations of static fraud detection methodology via CAPTCHAs, blocking known hosting providers and proxy services or static biometrics are coming to the fore.

It all boils to verification of the legitimacy of the user, but considering the usage of today’s devices for shopping and the tricks of fraudsters, merchants need to evolve as well.

Hear from senior executives about mobile commerce fraud at the 8th Annual ATPS Asia-Pacific to be held in Penang, Malaysia (27-29 August, 2019).

1^st August, 2019

A report released by the Emerging Payments Association has highlighted that the implementation of Strong Customer Authentication is a cause of concern at this juncture.

The purpose of the new Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) rules is to make online payment more secure and to cut down the risk of fraud. Even as the readiness for the same is being assessed, a report has highlighted that 75% of issuers said they would be ready by the 14th September deadline, from a compliance standpoint, but that they would not be operationally ready. New requirements for authenticating online payments will be introduced in Europe as part of the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2).

The PSD2 Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) specify these SCA requirements. SCA is based on the use of two or more of the following elements: knowledge (something only the user knows); possession (something only the user possesses); and inherence (something the user is).

The report, released by Emerging Payments Association (EPA) and Chargebacks911, features companies that issue over 107 million cards (comprising 61% of all cards issued in the UK). It is being recommended that more time is required. The enforcement of SCA at this pace is “likely to be extremely high and painful”. Rather, a managed rollout is needed.

Some of the key findings:

• The payment experience is going to be adversely impacted. More than half (58%) of the 13 UK issuers surveyed believe the new regulations are going to add friction. The SCA requirements are going to impact the speed of consumer transactions and the number of steps to be completed when paying. One of the major concerns has been the inclusion of additional authentication into the checkout flow, since it introduces an extra step that can add friction and increase customer drop-off.

• The number of transactions that are not going to be accepted is set to rise from today’s 3% to between 20-30%, according to what is being projected by issuers. While the number of step-up authorisation requests is expected to range between a third and half of all online transactions.

• The top three authentication methods being studied by issuers include; One Time Passwords (OTP) (SMS to a mobile device), authentication within a mobile banking app, and 3DS. Among these, OTP and 3DS authentication are expected to adversely impact the user experience.

• There is limited support of 3DS v2.1 today. Despite this, 66% of surveyed issuers expect to be ready by the end of 2019. 3DS v2.1 has an advantage over 3DS v1 because it has a surety of satisfying SCA legal requirements.

In an interview in April with Ai, Laurie Gablehouse, Global Head of Travel Solutions, Ingenico ePayments, did mention that it is a challenging phase for the entire payment ecosystem. Laurie pointed out that the standards are still evolving, with grasp over “80% - 90% of what needs to happen”. “(So) the timing is quite late from a technical perspective for everybody to be ready by September.” 

A major development in the recent past featured the European Banking Authority (EBA) as it published an opinion on the elements of SCA and accepted authentication in June. The report acknowledged the same, and shared that considering the recent EBA ruling on compliant SCA elements issuers are required to accelerate their support for biometrics merchants are advised to implement 3DS v2.1 now and then migrate to v2.2 once solutions are fully tested and available.

In its list of recommendations, the report emphasised that 3DS technology must be implemented as a priority. Rather than being bogged down by feeble v1.0 implementations, gear up for v2.2 as early as possible with v2.1 as a practical interim step. A couple of other suggestions:

• Actively engage with collaboration tools offered by Visa (VMPI) and Mastercard’s upcoming MDRI (Mastercard Dispute Resolution Initiative), which help combat fraud in realtime and maintain TRA exemptions.

• Make sure you correctly flag transactions and apply the right indicators and exemption requests. This may also require support for updated authorisation message formats.

Hear from senior executives about how the regulatory environment is impacting the world of payments at the 8th Annual ATPS Asia-Pacific to be held in Penang, Malaysia (27-29 August, 2019).

29^th July, 2019

Ai Editorial: The role of new technologies in the world of payments can’t be undermined but that’s not enough. In its new analysis, WorldPay has stressed upon the significance of having the right organizational mindset.

Travel merchants can’t afford to slip at a time when a customer is about to pay for their order. All that matters is the way a traveller wishes to pay – their preferred payment method, preferably not letting them fill any details on the device they are using etc.

A Chinese customer is likely to opt for scanning a QR Code and deduction of the final payment from their app, whereas an Indian might opt to pay via Google Pay or Paytm mobile wallet considering the increasing popularity of such options. Facilitating such transactions today is imperative and merchants need to keep pace or even gear up for the future. But it is clear that intricacies of applications and systems within payments continue to rise, mainly owing to use of alternate payment methods such as wallets and mobile commerce. So there is a need to put in a mechanism in place that not only streamlines back office and customer support processes, but also paves way for a smooth addition for any new payment method in the future.

The role of new technologies can’t be undermined but that’s not enough.

Organizational mindset

In its new analysis, WorldPay has stressed upon the significance of having the right organizational mindset.

This is required for making the most of following technologies:

1. Microservices

2. Test-driven infrastructure (TDI) - the developer creates tests before writing code

3. Event-driven architecture (EDA) - a producer-consumer model, where an event producer broadcasts a message that one or more event consumers capture

4. Hypermedia APIs - a sophisticated style of REST API (Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface) that can simplify client integrations and improve resilience to change.

WorldPay has explained the benefits of these technologies and also what is required internally to leverage them.

For instance, in case when one is focusing on the microservices model to amend and modernize particular services without affecting the rest of the system, it is vital that to have an apt team structure is in place. This model can result in an increment in complexity of day-today tasks, such as operations and security. Organizations have to do away with conventional monolithic-related ways and related control that they are used to for software development. Rather companies have to get ready for an environment that revolves around a sense of ownership and accountability from product engineering teams. The philosophy here is: to garner greater value from software to adopt the fail and learn fast attitude, quicker product cycles based on constant feedback from customers. And, this also means that certain tough questions are asked, for e. g. who owns the data in a microservices architecture—the database team or the application team? Teams must be structured and managed in a way that enables them to own what they’re responsible for, end to end.

WorldPay recommends a vigilant balance of autonomy and collaboration, with ongoing coordination and

monitoring from organizational leads. The study states: This balancing act starts with a shared understanding of some non-negotiable principles that act as a compass for ways of working. It continues with cross-team

discussions about product vision, design standards, and ways to improve, for example. It also means sharing specific decisions, solutions, and components. This requires time and investment but the return on investment is worth it. Ultimately, a smart organization will find ways to delegate as much decision-making as possible to smaller teams. But a truly successful one ensures teams work together coherently so their collective output is greater than the sum of its parts.

Another technology, Hypermedia, in its most basic sense is an extension of hypertext. Explaining the significance of the same, WorldPay points out that Hypermedia simplifies integrations between companies and provides a much more stable service than that offered by other REST APIs. Hypermedia includes images, video, audio, text, and links. In a REST API, it means API manages to operate similarly to a webpage, offering users with direction on what sort of content they can retrieve, or what they can do, as well as the apt links for the same. As MuleSoft explains, the simplest method to take advantage of hypermedia in API is to offer valuable information to direct the user or client to the next possible actions they can take based on the object (whether it be a collection, or item within the resource) or “page” they are on via links.

For mCommerce, hypermedia APIs allow merchants to conduct identity and risk checks with ease.

WorldPay highlighted that today’s mainstream API documentation and design approaches need to focus on their connectedness as a key part of the API and resource design process.

As explained by Kevin O’Shaughnessy, CityHook, during a workshop conducted by Ai in Long Beach, California late last year:

• First rule of setting up an API is focus on it internally (organizations can run better with their own APIs. This way they can capitalize on data from their business applications and act on it for particular needs), then limited public API and eventually privileged services.

• API means clear boundaries and ease of reuse.

• APIs should be easy for developers to comprehend. This means designing them with clear uniform resource identifiers and non-complex data structure.

WorldPay recommends that organizations need to design hypermedia APIs with a UX mindset. The study states: We often only think of UX in terms of the consumer experience. However, hypermedia APIs make integrating with complex payment services a simple, stable, and intuitive process for merchant developers. Enhancing the UX for developers has knock-on benefits for customers, including faster access to up-to-date payment services like new APMs. Overall, if APIs are designed with developers in mind from the outset, it’s possible to create a web of functionality that results in a more powerful, more efficient, and more useful service for all.

Hear from senior executives about the role of tech and organizational mindset in optimizing payments at the 8th Annual ATPS Asia-Pacific to be held in Penang, Malaysia (27-29 August, 2019).

19th July, 2019

Ai Editorial: How travellers transact has changed, and merchants can't ignore the role of e-Wallets and bank transfers while deciding on their payment acceptance mix, writes Ai's Ritesh Gupta.

Alternative ways to pay for travel, such as e-Wallets and bank transfers, are being used more often than cards and cash combined, according to a new report released by Amadeus and PPRO. This growth is occurring across the world with e-Wallets now twice as popular as cards in China, accounting for 49% of the country’s $155B digital travel spend.

Merchants like airlines, especially those operating in multiple countries, are looking at alternative payment methods because of several reasons:

• Settling in a market quickly (facilitate new local payment methods with minimal development effort).

• Checkout optimization (offering a payment method that works well with the traveller).

• Cut down on inefficiencies (local payment methods via one technical, operational, and funding flow).

Digital wallets

In this context, digital wallets have become popular owing to the fact users can avail preloaded credentials and this fastens the online checkout experience. And China has stood out for the usage, since payment is one part of an app. What makes an app like WeChat more compelling than just invisible payments or scanning QR Codes for completing a payment is the fact an ecosystem manages transactions along with ID management and many other aspects holistically.

Companies like Union Pay, Alibaba and Tencent chose to capitalize on the fact that the card usage wasn't as penetrative as one would expect in a populous market like China, so they came up with a payment method that proved to be convenient and ubiquitous. It was available to anyone with a mobile phone or an Internet connection. It was also driven by necessity, since Chinese travellers moving outside their country needed to have an alternative to using a standard credit card. "That is total freedom for the Chinese traveller as they no longer have to rely on cash as their only form of payment while abroad," pointed out Eric Liebman, Global Head of Travel, Ingenico ePayments.  

What works in favour of these payment methods is reduced friction. In today's world of instant gratification, as acknowledged by Ingenico ePayments, travellers "demand things now". "...customers want to be able to pay without any friction and with the method they prefer. They don’t want us dictating how they pay, it’s the other way around. That means things like Amazon Alexa, Apple’s Siri, e-wallets or even Uber-like experiences where experience is key, but payments are invisible," mentioned Liebman in a blog post.

Plus, for a merchant, one factor that goes in the favour of this form of payment is seamless convenience and built-in security. Encryption, tokenisation, and device authentication result in additional security.

"Ubiquity is one of the main key takeaways from Chinese companies. Chinese users are at a point where they are using their mobile wallet for anything. Alipay and WeChat Pay are present in online and offline stores alike, in use in China, and outside. It is an ‘all-in-one’ payment transforming solution, showing non-Chinese companies where innovation and an intimate consumer-knowledge can take them," says Rodrigo Sánchez Prandi, VP Product at payments technology specialist dLocal. "Simplicity will go a long way and it will always attract users. If you give your users ease-of-use by adding their preferred payment method, such as paying with one click, one tap, or even one smile, you are a step ahead in today’s payments’ world."

China leading the charge

According to WorldPay, this growth in China along with a surge of adoption in North America will propel eWallets to become the leading eCommerce payment method globally within five years.

With a validated business model, Chinese technology companies are taking their expertise to other markets as well. As indicated by Amadeus' report, Ant Financial, the owner of Alipay, is currently expanding beyond China. The company now has interests in Dana in Indonesia, Asceno in Thailand, Pi Pay in Cambodia, and Mynt in the Philippines, among others. It is expected that in these regions, accelerated transformation in payments will occur as a consequence, stated the report.

Hear from senior executives about eWallets in China and other Asian markets at the 8th Annual ATPS Asia-Pacific to be held in Penang, Malaysia (27-29 August, 2019).

17^th July, 2019

Mobile consumption patterns in general remain very exciting in China.

Ecosystems facilitate various daily activities and shopping requirements in a seamless manner. So a user doesn’t easily drop out from an ecosystem. The likes of Tencent and Alibaba continue to make rapid strides. There is plenty to learn from such extreme form of platform economies.

“They (Chinese companies and consumers) aren’t afraid of testing and embracing new concepts,” says Laurie Gablehouse, Global Head of Travel Solutions, Ingenico ePayments.

Indeed, as Laurie pointed out, Chinese consumers are more likely to adapt to technological innovations than travellers or consumers from other countries, say from Europe. China is shaping consumption patterns of global relevance.

The retail shopping/ experience on mobile has moved faster than the counterpart from the travel sector since the delivery of the product is different. “How has that crossed over into travel is still evolving,” said Laurie.

Convenience is clearly standing out as far as trends from China is concerned. It is all about instant gratification. Face recognition is one example of how companies are leveraging existing biometrics and will likely be taking them one step forward, authenticating and facilitating easier, faster, no-device-needed payments.

Hear from senior executives about mobile commerce in China and other Asian markets at the 8th Annual ATPS Asia-Pacific to be held in Penang, Malaysia (27-29 August, 2019).