Ecommerce hampered by payment methods

NEWS The development of ecommerce is being hampered by antiquated methods of online payment, according to Fabrice de Comarmond, executive VP of French software specialist, Globe ID. Comarmond blames the industry for this. He believes consumers are ready to use alternative methods of payment on the Internet, such as e-cash and e-wallets, but claims the industry is not providing the right technology. He said: "People are using credit cards online today because most of the infrastructure is set up by merchants doing their own processing and sending it through legacy networks." He added: "Consumers will use whatever is more convenient for them. It's about simplifying buying and selling, and today the convenience it just not there - forms are complicated and address verification is difficult." But Comarmond claims a high volume of small value business-to-business transactions will drive change. "You don't want to give a $2,000 credit line to buy paperclips. You need to manage their rights to buy and their budgets in much finer detail - cybercash will be helpful for that. "[The market] has been financial-industry driven, but now things are changing. Ecommerce portals are coming out with server-side wallet technology helping consumers to store their credentials and make quick purchases." To watch the full interview with Fabrice de Comarmond, tune into Silicon.com's Ebusiness Security Channel.