During the EBAday, last Tuesday in Edinburgh, Thuiswinkel.org - one of the founding associations of Ecommerce Europe - has advocated the active involvement of the (online) retail industry in the payments area.
The Dutch Upper House enacted the Telecommunications Act yesterday (8 May 2012). The act is expected to come into force as early as May. Thuiswinkel.org is disappointed because this will mean stricter rules for Dutch webshops.
On Monday, MasterCard launched the digital purse, Paypass Wallet, which can be used to pay throughout the world via tablets, smartphones and personal computers. Payments via Near Field Communication (NFC) are also possible.
A group of American retailers, including Walmart and Target, are working on their own system for mobile payments. This is their way of avoiding being dependent on providers such as Google and Visa.
On Friday 17th February 2012, the associations that promote the interests of webshops in seven countries decided to set up a new European association for the promotion of interests. E-commerce Association Europe (EAE) should commence its activities in the spring.
The cold winter weather has not done online shops any harm. During the past week various webshops reported a rise in sales due to the chilling weather conditions. According to Wijnand Jongen, director of Thuiswinkel.org, it's standard practice for extreme weather conditions to boost online sales.
The largest bank in the Spanish consumer market, La Caixa, is introducing wireless payments in Barcelona.
Together with VISA, La Caixa will start issuing a million bank-cards to its customers. The two parties are also going to up-grade 17,000 point-of-sale terminals in local shops. These will be converted to make them capable of receiving payments via wireless communication. In addition, 500 ATMs will be converted to NFC-technology.
The entrepreneurial climate for webshops, the interests of consumers and the development of viewpoints regarding durability are central to the promotion of interests by Thuiswinkel.org in 2012.
Thuiswinkel.org recently expelled 36 webshops from the association. These webshops have by now been removed from the list of members and have already received a registered letter stating that their membership has been terminated.
The mobile version of the iDEAL payment system is catching on among consumers. 94% of the test group state that they regard the service as a welcome addition. Thuiswinkel.orgis keeping a watchful eye on its safe use.
