e-Commerce To The Billions of Un-Banked Mobile Phone Owners. How?

What happens when we throw out a lot of today’s assumptions around card payments and e-commerce and assume that the merchant shouldn’t have to store the data at all? What if we never even handed this sensitive information over to the merchant in the first place? With a few clicks (and an NSDT “chirp”) customers can now make purchases online conveniently and in complete security. This new function revolutionizes online shopping by introducing a critical security mechanism and opening e-commerce to the billions of un-banked mobile phone owners. In addition to the security risks in online card payments, e-commerce’s reliance on the card has resulted in the exclusion of un-banked populations. As the internet continues its expansion into developing countries, a solution allowing un-banked populations to participate in the e-commerce economy is needed. In many countries, even customers who do have payment cards do not have the possibility of using them to make purchases online due to high fraud risks. However, with MobiCash online mobile payments, the risk is eliminated and e-commerce can take place in complete security. The mobile phone is the key to solving both security and accessibility issues faced by e-commerce. Practically 100% of banked online shoppers own a mobile phone. In addition, over 3 billion mobile phones belong to un-banked individuals. Getting a mobile phone is infinitely simpler than opening a bank account and getting a payment card. The MobiCash e-commerce system is a secure online payments solution protected by Very Smart Authentication (VSA), which allows merchant websites to accept payments using MobiCash payment instrument. This solution can be easily integrated into all online commerce systems and websites. VSA is based on Tagattitude’s Near Sound Data Transfer (NSDT) technology, which transforms any mobile phone into a secure means of making proximity transactions. With a few clicks (and an NSDT “chirp”) customers can now make purchases online conveniently and in complete security. This new function revolutionizes online shopping by introducing a critical security mechanism and opening e-commerce to the billions of un-banked mobile phone owners. How it works for Online Payment? At checkout, the customer is redirected to the MobiCash Online Payment System server using an SSL link. They arrive on the merchant payment page and simply enter their identifier (typically the mobile phone number) and a secret pass code. MobiCash verifies this account and the pass code and launches a VSA authentication procedure towards this phone to sign the transaction. Unlike online payment systems where shoppers must locate, remember, and enter several pieces of information, when paying with MobiCash all they need to know is their phone number, pass code, and how to answer a phone call. MobiCash online mobile payment solution works instantly on any phone in the world. There is nothing to download on the phone or to modify on the handset. Furthermore, MobiCash is completely independent of the telecom operator. Any phone that can receive a phone call (all phones by definition) can be used to sign e-commerce transactions with MobiCash. This means that there are zero hardware deployment costs no heavy enrollment campaign. eCommerce transactions are made 3 times more quickly than with a banking card without compromising security integrity. Even relative to SMS or USSD based mobile authentication solutions, VSA is substantially more rapid and convenient. Studies show that 67% of online shoppers abandon the purchase before completing the checkout process. Faster and less tedious transactions will reduce this percentage, thereby contributing to an even more flourishing e-commerce economy. Author: Patrick Ngabonziza Gordon