When the mouse rules

With the click of the mouse, almost anything on the net can be yours. In these days of plastic money, however, you can be easily sucked into the vortex of online shopping.

While the US takes the top spot in a survey of Internet shoppers, Trinidad is not to be left out. Republic Bank, in collaboration with TSTT, recently launched its Republic/TSTT Visa Internet Shopping facility, the first and only facility so far in TT designed exclusively for Internet shopping.

According to Republic Bank’s Assistant General Manager of Card Business, Anthony Wong, “Today’s technologically savvy customers demand increasing levels of value while seeking security, efficiency, convenience and high quality service.” “When you shop online,” he said in an interview, “you want a secure, convenient and hassle-free way to conduct your transactions.” The Republic/TSTT Visa Internet shopping facility, he said, is the first of its kind to cater to these specific needs. In TT there are presently 60,000 credit card holders, according to a survey conducted by Republic Bank six months ago.

When Republic did its analysis on credit card usage in TT, Wong said the bank was surprised to find out the number of cardholders who shop on the Internet with hardly any advertisement. He noted that more than 30 percent used their credit cards to shop on the Internet for goods and services. “With significant growth in both e-commerce and credit card usage over the Internet, as well as increased credit card Internet fraud, we felt that customers would appreciate a more secure form of payment over the Internet,” Wong maintained.

This, he said, was the major motivation behind establishing this facility, noting that Republic chose TSTT as its strategic partner because it had the largest ISP market share in the country - approximately 80 percent. The facility, it was revealed, provides daily fraud-monitoring services, lower credit limits and a stronger focus on payment safety allowing customers to shop confidently online at any time. Wong stressed that the facility was not a credit card, but rather a reference card which included the customer’s name, the expiry date of the facility and an account number. It also has a special code which is used to identify that the card is present when doing Internet transactions.

When the customer is ready to complete his Internet transaction, Wong explained, he simply has to key in the account number along with the CVV2 code on request and his account is debited. Customers can also very easily track their internet expenses via a separate monthly statement. There are a number of benefits to this arrangement, Wong said. “Apart from the fact that you get a special facility with a lower limit, there is no plastic which means that if the card is lost or stolen it cannot be used or counterfeited.”

The Visa Internet Shopping facility is designed exclusively for TSTT NetXpress users, who will receive a 15 percent discount on their monthly internet dial-up package once their subscription to the Visa Internet Shopping Facility is active. Additionally, new NetXpress customers will receive free activation, one-month’s free rental and the additional benefit of the 15 percent discount on their monthly internet dial-up package. Customers with the facility will also earn valuable bonus points on all purchases made online.

Internet shopping does have its benefits: the opportunities to save time and money, greater choice, the convenience of shopping when you like and having goods delivered, as well as the ability to find and compare information, products and prices. According to Miles Faulkner, Principal with Ernst and Young’s Consumer Collections and Strategic Service, “Shopping on the Internet is no longer a luxury. It’s a competitive necessity for retailers, consumers and manufacturers.” It is projected that electronic commerce is expected to grow from the $3 billion figure of 1997 to $1 trillion by the year 2010.

However, many people have been deterred from shopping online because of the fear of credit card fraud which has been a major teething problem for the online shopping industry. Credit card fraud affects thousands of people on a weekly basis. While consumers are significantly affected, statistics show that it is the online retailer who suffers the most. Credit card company figures show that 90 percent of consumers are reimbursed when their cards are used fraudulently. However, 75 percent of online retailers basically have to bear the cost when they are victims of fraud.

This is mainly because online payment is done by either credit or debit cards and the payment protocols for these were originally intended for “face-to-face” transactions where the card holder and card are both present. It is believed that physical presence offers security based on a customer signature and card imprint. Wong agreed that internet fraud was a problem for e-commerce, noting  that when information was stored on a business site, it became susceptible to hackers who could get into the site and get hold of credit card information. However, he went on, many present practices require that any credit card information to be stored on merchant sites be in an encrypted format. Therefore if the site is invaded by hackers, the actual credit card numbers are not exposed, but rather a coded rendition of the number which has no value. “When you go to a site you want to be confident that you are not unduly exposing yourself, so that if any fraud does occur, there are sufficient systems in place to detect them,” Wong said.

Wong explained that the Republic/TSTT Visa Internet Shopping facility had a dedicated 24-7 fraud monitoring service, which also carries a lower credit limit so that customers do not have to expose their cards with the larger limits and therefore risk exposing it to possible fraud. Republic Bank is not the only organisation which has joined the internet shopping fraternity. JSL Speedpak, the Miami-based courier service, has established its own online shopping service at www.shopmetoo.com. JSL’s CEO, Linda Kendal, revealed that the idea behind the site was to allow locals to be able to benefit from the seasonal sales which take place in the US, including Christmas, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July Independence celebrations among others. “When the sale begins,” she said, “it will be advertised on the site so that customers can stay home and still enjoy the sales.” “In addition, they can pay for the items with their local credit cards, since a number of US companies do not accept foreign credit cards now because of fraud.”

The site is hosted by Interland, which is one of the biggest names in webhosting and security. Credit card acceptance is being handled by Verisign. “We have taken great care to ensure that our customers are protected,” Kendal maintained. “We have never had a problem and hope never to have one.”