Electronic Commerce Modeling Language

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Electronic Commerce Modeling Language (ECML) is a protocol which enables the e-commerce merchants to standardize their online payment processes. Through the application of ECML, customers' billing information in their digital wallet can be easily transferred to fill out the checkout forms. [1]

Contents

There are various companies that have participated in ECML's alliances, including American Express and Mastercard. [1]

As a standard developed by the alliance, ECML has solved the problem of complex and confusing online manual payments caused by diverse web designs, and further reduces the chance of customer dropout (also called shopping cart abandonment). [1] On the other hand, ECML deals with sensitive information such as credit card numbers and home addresses—its data security is controversial, and privacy considerations should be taken. [2] [3]

Alliances

The members of ECML Alliance listed in alphabetical order below: [1]

  1. American Express
  2. AOL
  3. Brodia
  4. Compaq
  5. CyberCash
  6. Discover
  7. FSTC (www.fstc.org)
  8. IBM
  9. Mastercard
  10. Microsoft
  11. Novell
  12. SETco
  13. Sun Microsystems
  14. Trintech
  15. Visa International

ECML and customer dropout behaviors

Customer dropout is also called shopping cart abandonment—it is a type of behavior which customers display inclination of purchase without completing the final payment. According to a commercial study, there is a rate 25% to 75% that the customer would abandon a transaction before it is completed due to various reasons. [4] Aside from motivational factors such as customer's fundamental needs and spontaneous purchases, emotional factors such as irritation and disappointment also determine whether a transaction would be successful. Research has shown that payment inconvenience and perceived wasting time are factors that would contribute to customer's irritation. [4]

Electronic Commerce Modeling Language could potentially decrease customer irritation in two ways, and further benefit the industry of electronic commerce as a whole. First of all, it provides a standardized set of information fields which would improve the manual process of online payment. Entering relevant information into the checkout form would become an easier task for customers. Secondly, ECML allows a smooth information transfer between customer's digital wallet and e-commerce checkout form. Information does not have to be manually entered into the system. [1]

ECML and customer's privacy expectations

The application of ECML requires the online shoppers to disclose their personal information which includes financial, shipping, billing, and preference details. [1] According to relevant research, customers are able to categorize the level of risks associated with different types of information disclosure. [5] Among the information that is required to complete an online order, the user's home address is categorized as secure identifiers which is perceived as the most sensitive by customers. Other secure identifiers include DNA profile, medical history, and social security numbers. [5] Furthermore, other empirical studies has confirmed customers' consistent privacy expectation --- even they have revealed personal information in exchange for services, their expectation of privacy protection is unlikely to change. [6] [7] Firms that adopt to ECML should undertake the responsibility and regulate themselves to actively protect the information collected during transactions. [8]

Privacy considerations and suggestions

Electronic Commerce Modeling Language is consistent with Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P), [9] a controversial protocol which addresses online privacy concern. Initially, P3P is designed to simplify users' access and understanding on privacy policies posted on the websites. It has employed a multiple choice format to make connections between human readable privacy notices and privacy policies, as well as offering agents conduct policy evaluations. [2] On the other side, some studies have also argued that P3P has made users' private information more vulnerable. [3] The platform is accused for its exclusive nature that would disadvantage non-compliant websites with good privacy practices, and its lack of privacy policies' enforcements. [3]

Although the developers of electronic commerce modeling language have not explicitly specified how the information can be safely stored and protected, object security protocols (include XML encryption and XMLDsig), and channel security are all possible ways of privacy protection. [10]

Since ECML is an application related with sensitive information such as credit card numbers and home addresses. Privacy considerations thus have become crucial. There are several suggestions listed below to protect customer's privacy: [1] [10]

  1. ECML memory of sensitive information cannot exist. If it is installed on a public terminal, the wallet has to be configurable.
  2. A password should be set up and required each time when the user wants to access the stored information.
  3. Users need to have control of whether the stored sensitive information is released or not.

Example

<html><head><title>eCom Transaction Complete Example</title></head><body><form><p>Thank you for your order.  It will be shipped in several days.</p><inputtype="hidden"name="Ecom_Merchant"value="www.merchant.example"><inputtype="hidden"name ="Ecom_Processor"value="www.processor.example"><inputtype="hidden"name="Ecom_Transaction_ID"value="EF123456"><inputtype="hidden"name="Ecom_Transaction_Inquiry"value="http://www.merchant.example/cgi-bin/inquire?ID=EF123456"><inputtype="hidden"name="Ecom_Transaction_Amount"value="789.00"><inputtype="hidden"name="Ecom_Transaction_Currency"value="USD"><inputtype="hidden"name="Ecom_Transaction_Date"value="July 14 2000"><inputtype="hidden"name="Ecom_Transaction_Type"value="credit"><inputtype="hidden"name="Ecom_Transaction_Signature"value="ig6rh4;;20dfna00s34hj10s--s-45j30-22z92l-frwds-85"><inputtype="hidden"name="Ecom_TransactionComplete"><inputtype="hidden"name="Ecom_SchemaVersion"value="http://www.ecml.org/version/1.1"></form></body></html>

See also

Related Research Articles

E-commerce refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. E-commerce is the largest sector of the electronics industry and is in turn driven by the technological advances of the semiconductor industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobile payment</span> Payment services via a mobile device

Mobile payment, also referred to as mobile money, mobile money transfer and mobile wallet, is any of various payment processing services operated under financial regulations and performed from or via a mobile device. Instead of paying with cash, cheque, or credit card, a consumer can use a payment app on a mobile device to pay for a wide range of services and digital or hard goods. Although the concept of using non-coin-based currency systems has a long history, it is only in the 21st century that the technology to support such systems has become widely available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Online shopping</span> Form of electronic commerce

Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the retailer directly or by searching among alternative vendors using a shopping search engine, which displays the same product's availability and pricing at different e-retailers. As of 2020, customers can shop online using a range of different computers and devices, including desktop computers, laptops, tablet computers and smartphones.

Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) is a communications protocol standard for securing credit card transactions over networks, specifically, the Internet. SET was not itself a payment system, but rather a set of security protocols and formats that enabled users to employ the existing credit card payment infrastructure on an open network in a secure fashion. However, it failed to gain attraction in the market. Visa now promotes the 3-D Secure scheme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital currency</span> Currency stored on electronic systems

Digital currency is any currency, money, or money-like asset that is primarily managed, stored or exchanged on digital computer systems, especially over the internet. Types of digital currencies include cryptocurrency, virtual currency and central bank digital currency. Digital currency may be recorded on a distributed database on the internet, a centralized electronic computer database owned by a company or bank, within digital files or even on a stored-value card.

The Platform for Privacy Preferences Project (P3P) is an obsolete protocol allowing websites to declare their intended use of information they collect about web browser users. Designed to give users more control of their personal information when browsing, P3P was developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and officially recommended on April 16, 2002. Development ceased shortly thereafter and there have been very few implementations of P3P. Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge were the only major browsers to support P3P. Microsoft has ended support from Windows 10 onwards. Internet Explorer and Edge on Windows 10 no longer support P3P as of 2016. W3C officially obsoleted P3P on 2018-08-30. The president of TRUSTe has stated that P3P has not been implemented widely due to the difficulty and lack of value.

An e-commerce payment system facilitates the acceptance of electronic payment for offline transfer, also known as a subcomponent of electronic data interchange (EDI), e-commerce payment systems have become increasingly popular due to the widespread use of the internet-based shopping and banking.

A payment system is any system used to settle financial transactions through the transfer of monetary value. This includes the institutions, payment instruments such as payment cards, people, rules, procedures, standards, and technologies that make its exchange possible. A payment system is an operational network which links bank accounts and provides for monetary exchange using bank deposits. Some payment systems also include credit mechanisms, which are essentially a different aspect of payment.

The term mobile commerce was originally coined in 1997 by Kevin Duffey at the launch of the Global Mobile Commerce Forum, to mean "the delivery of electronic commerce capabilities directly into the consumer’s hand, anywhere, via wireless technology." Many choose to think of Mobile Commerce as meaning "a retail outlet in your customer’s pocket."

Shopping cart software is a piece of e-commerce software on a web server that allows visitors to have an Internet site to select items for eventual purchase.

A digital wallet, also known as an e-wallet or mobile wallet, is an electronic device, online service, or software program that allows one party to make electronic transactions with another party bartering digital currency units for goods and services. This can include purchasing items either online or at the point of sale in a brick and mortar store, using either mobile payment or using a laptop or other personal computer. Money can be deposited in the digital wallet prior to any transactions or, in other cases, an individual's bank account can be linked to the digital wallet. Users might also have their driver's license, health card, loyalty card(s) and other ID documents stored within the wallet. The credentials can be passed to a merchant's terminal wirelessly via near field communication (NFC).

Google Checkout was an online payment processing service provided by Google aimed at simplifying the process of paying for online purchases. The web checkout service was combined with the NFC mobile payments app launched in September of 2011 called Google Wallet under a platform brand of the same name. On November 20, 2013, the web checkout part of the service was fully retired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Pay Send</span> Mobile payment system developed by Google

Google Pay Send, previously known as Google Wallet, was a peer-to-peer payments service developed by Google before its merger into Google Pay. It allowed people to send and receive money from a mobile device or desktop computer.

Consumer-to-business (C2B) is a business model in which consumers (individuals) create value and businesses consume that value. For example, when a consumer writes reviews or when a consumer gives a useful idea for new product development then that consumer is creating value for the business if the business adopts the input. In the C2B model, a reverse auction or demand collection model, enables buyers to name or demand their own price, which is often binding, for a specific good or service. Inside of a consumer to business market the roles involved in the transaction must be established and the consumer must offer something of value to the business.

Privacy-enhancing technologies (PET) are technologies that embody fundamental data protection principles by minimizing personal data use, maximizing data security, and empowering individuals. PETs allow online users to protect the privacy of their personally identifiable information (PII), which is often provided to and handled by services or applications. PETs use techniques to minimize an information system's possession of personal data without losing functionality. Generally speaking, PETs can be categorized as either hard or soft privacy technologies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chase Paymentech</span> Payment processing company

Chase Paymentech is an American payment service provider and merchant acquiring business that is part of JPMorgan Chase. Paymentech payment platforms supports businesses to process payments. In addition to its payment services the company provides associated business services such as analytics, payment fraud detection, and data security.

YooMoney branded as ЮMoney, formerly known as Yandex.Money, is Russia's second largest electronic payment service after "Sberbank Online" according to a 2020 research by Mediascope. It is an online payment service that works with two types of clients — individual users and merchants.

Venmo is an American mobile payment service founded in 2009 and owned by PayPal since 2013. Venmo is aimed at users who wish to split their bills. Account holders can transfer funds to others via a mobile phone app; both the sender and receiver must live in the United States. Venmo also operates as a small social network, as users can observe other users' public transactions with posts and emoticons. In 2021, the company handled $230 billion in transactions and generated $850 million in revenue. Users can view transactions on the Venmo website but cannot complete transactions on the website.

A cryptocurrency wallet is a device, physical medium, program or an online service which stores the public and/or private keys for cryptocurrency transactions. In addition to this basic function of storing the keys, a cryptocurrency wallet more often offers the functionality of encrypting and/or signing information. Signing can for example result in executing a smart contract, a cryptocurrency transaction, identification, or legally signing a 'document'.

The Central Electronic System of Payments (CESOP) regime is an automatic exchange of information regime being introduced in the European Union from 1 January 2024. The rules were introduced by Council Directive 2020/284, amending the EU's Value-added tax Directive.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Goldstein <tgoldstein@brodia.com>, Ted (April 2001). "ECML v1.1: Field Specifications for E-Commerce". tools.ietf.org. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  2. 1 2 Cranor, L.F. (2003). "P3P: making privacy policies more useful". IEEE Security & Privacy. 1 (6): 50–55. doi:10.1109/msecp.2003.1253568. ISSN   1540-7993.
  3. 1 2 3 "Pretty Poor Privacy: An Assessment of P3P and Internet Privacy". epic.org. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  4. 1 2 Bell, Lynne; McCloy, Rachel; Butler, Laurie; Vogt, Julia (2020-07-03). "Motivational and Affective Factors Underlying Consumer Dropout and Transactional Success in eCommerce: An Overview". Frontiers in Psychology. 11: 1546. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01546 . ISSN   1664-1078. PMC   7351522 . PMID   32714258.
  5. 1 2 Milne, George R.; Pettinico, George; Hajjat, Fatima M.; Markos, Ereni (2017). "Information Sensitivity Typology: Mapping the Degree and Type of Risk Consumers Perceive in Personal Data Sharing". Journal of Consumer Affairs. 51 (1): 133–161. doi:10.1111/joca.12111. hdl: 10.1111/joca.12111 . ISSN   1745-6606.
  6. ↑ Martin, Kirsten E. (2019-11-24). "Breaking the Privacy Paradox: The Value of Privacy and Associated Duty of Firms". Rochester, NY. SSRN   3349448.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ↑ Karwatzki, Sabrina; Dytynko, Olga; Trenz, Manuel; Veit, Daniel (2017-04-03). "Beyond the Personalization–Privacy Paradox: Privacy Valuation, Transparency Features, and Service Personalization". Journal of Management Information Systems. 34 (2): 369–400. doi:10.1080/07421222.2017.1334467. ISSN   0742-1222. S2CID   38167192.
  8. ↑ Radin, Tara J. (2001). "The Privacy Paradox: E-Commerce and Personal Information on the Internet". Business & Professional Ethics Journal. 20 (3/4): 145–170. doi:10.5840/bpej2001203/418. ISSN   0277-2027. JSTOR   27801264.
  9. ↑ Eastlake 3Rd, Donald E. (March 2003). "RFC 3505 - Electronic Commerce Modeling Language (ECML): Version 2 Requirements". datatracker.ietf.org. Retrieved 2020-10-31.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. 1 2 Eastlake 3rd <donald.eastlake@motorola.com>, Donald E. (June 2005). "Electronic Commerce Modeling Language (ECML) Version 2 Specification". tools.ietf.org. Retrieved 2020-11-05.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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