Mobile payment systems in Malaysia: Its potentials and consumers' adoption strategies

Nowadays, there is high potential for mobile telecommunication networks to become an important electronic payment channel in our country as mobile phone services will make life easier for everyone. Mobile payment system is a system using mobile devices to make monetary transactions such as pay bills, perform banking transactions or shop online beyond voices.

In Malaysia there are several companies that already launched mobile payment systems such as Celcom, Maxis, Digi, TMtouch, Maybank, Hong Leong Bank, Mobile Money International Sdn Bhd, and mobileExec Sdn Bhd.

Celcom (Malaysia) Berhad, Malaysia's premier mobile network with the widest coverage, and paybox, the trendsetting company for mobile payment solutions, will be launching a mobile Banking & mobile Payment solution for the Malaysian market. Mobile Banking (m-banking) and mobile Payment (m-payment) in Malaysia provide real-time banking and payment instructions that enable customers access to their current e-banking systems using a Java client on their phone. It allows customers to access their accounts at any bank, at a minimal investment by the participating banks. Besides, Celcom will expand the system to include other partners and provide extended remittance, bill payment and merchant payment services.

As for consumers shop and pay via mobile phones, Visa International collaborated with Nokia Corporation had introduce the world's first credit card payment pilot system in Malaysia recently, called "Mobile Visa Wave Payment Pilot". The backbone of the mobile payment system is Visa Wave smart card technology. The technology is equipped with sophisticated radio frequencies that eliminate the need to swipe credit cards into a reader. The service will be available on the Nokia 3230 prototype phone. Users will be able to use the phones to make payments in 2,500 outlets equipped with Visa Wave readers. Nokia's business development senior manager Risto Sipila expects such services to become more popular as, mobile phone users worldwide are likely to go up to 3 billion by 2008. It is because visa is using a specialized chip with the latest cryptography, security and smart card technologies which making the system extremely secure and forging difficult.

MobileExec currently provides premium rate SMS messaging across the all major Malaysian carriers. In the Malaysia, premium rate SMS and reverse billing services are regulated by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). Such services are developing fast in the Europe and recently in Malaysia. It provides customers with admission or money off vouchers which can be unique coded or designed to allow viral spread. The mobile payment gateway service covers all mobile operators on Malaysia, with support for prepaid and postpaid service billings. Those packages include the following:

1. Project Planning and Management Services


2. Product Catalogue Submission (to all mobile operators)


3. Premium Billing System Configuration


4. Systems and Load Testing


5. User Acceptance Testing (UAT) will all mobile networks


6. Service Launch


7. Monthly Service Monitoring and Progress Report


8. Settlement Reports, collections from mobile operators

In short, the mobile payment system is easier, more cost-effective and more convenient for consumers, merchants and service-providers to execute and receive payments. Furthermore, mobile payment is safe and secure. It allows people to make payment at anytime from anywhere with just one SMS. It also allows people to receive money from anyone at anytime. As for merchants, business can be done anywhere such as conduct billing. There will be increased business opportunities for merchants as remote mobile payment can be done easily with the lower transaction and maintenance cost.

Electronic currency

In our study electronic currency is the digital equivalent of paper currency and coins, which enables secure and anonymous purchase of low-priced item which is maybe the item, is selling below RM10. Electronic currency also called electronic money it also known as electronic cash, digital money, digital cash or digital currency.

Electronic currency refers to money or scrip which is exchange only electronically which mean do a transaction through online and pay the payment through online. Typically, this involves use of computer networks, the internet and digital stored value systems. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and direct deposit are the examples of electronic currency. Also, it is a collective term for financial cryptography and technologies enabling it.

Nowadays electronic currency is widely used throughout the world. Today nearly all the bank and institution are handled electronically though a series of computer network.

Many systems will sell their electronic currency directly to end user, such as Paypal, WebMoney, BitPass, Firstgate’s Click and Buy, PayLoadz, Paystone, Peppercoin, Beenz, Digicash, and also Flooz. Thus, Paypal is my target to discuss.

Paypal is an e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfer to be made through the internet. PayPal serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods such as checks and money orders.

A PayPal account can be funded with an electronic debit from a bank account or by a credit card. Paypal is an example of a payment intermediary service that facilitates worldwide e-commerce.

Currently, PayPal operates in 190 markets, and it manages over 184 million accounts. PayPal allows customers to send, receive, and hold funds in 19 currencies worldwide such as Australian dollar, Chinese renminbi, Hong kong dollar, Mexican peso, Singapore dollar and etc.

Credit Card debts: Causes and Prevention

CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC, due in theaters on February 13, 2009!

Rebecca Bloomwood is a sweet and charming New York City girl who has a tiny, little problem that is rapidly turning into a big problem: shes hopelessly addicted to shopping and drowning in a sea of debt. While Rebecca has dreams of working for a top fashion magazine, she can't quite get her foot in the door that is, until she snags a job as an advice columnist for a new financial magazine published by the same company. Overnight, her column becomes hugely popular, turning her into an overnight celebrity, But when her compulsive shopping and growing debt issues threaten to destroy her love life and derail her career, she struggles to keep it all from spiraling out of controland is ultimately forced to reevaluate whats really important in life. END!

Just click the following link if you wish to see the trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYYCSEV-i1Y&feature=fvst

Alright, no more discussion about Confessions of Shopaholic, please!!! I mean no more cos we are heading back to week 5 task. Oh ya~! Week 5 task. What is it, ya?! Oh..It's Credit Card debts: Causes and Prevention. Ever wonder why I suddenly link "that movie" with one of this week task? It's so simple. If you already watched "that movie" then you will know what exactly happen to Rebecca Bloomwood. She drowning in the sea of debt from her credit cards and struggle to save herself from suffocated. Haha..! I do believe that now you realize the relationship of "that movie" and my task.

Allows me to start my task. I believe that everyone is familiar with credit card (Magic card is the term used in "that movie"). It allows consumers to repeatedly borrow money or purchase products and services on credit. Normally, it is issued by banks, savings and loans, retail stores and other businesses. Credit cards or magic card suppose to make our life easier, but it gives rise to negative consequences in our society.

Today, credit card debt has become the main contributor to personal debt and cause for many financial problems. The following are some of the common causes of credit card debts.

1. Maintaining expenses on a reduced income ~ Excessive spending is one of the common causes of credit card debt. This is especially true if you continue to make charges after experiencing a reduction in your monthly income.


2. Poor money management ~ Spending without planning is likely to result in excessive expenses and inability to pay the monthly credit card bills. Higher interest rates will be charged on late payment and further increase your debts.


3. Not savings or saving too little ~ Those who are contributing very little or no funds to savings, are likely reach for their credit cards to cover any unexpected or emergency expenses.


4. Overspending ~ People often spend too much on things that they may not really need. As we live in a consumer culture, with glittery advertisements beckoning us to buy, around every corner, sometimes, we may use credit cards beyond our means.


5. Banking on windfall ~ Spending tomorrow’s money today is very tempting. Relying on credit cards to meet your monthly purchases will lead you down into credit card debt at the end.

Ladies and gentlemen, don't worry! Be happy~! There is always someway you can do to save yourself, right? Here are some useful tips to prevent credit card debts.

1. Manage Your Finance ~ Plan for your money by listing out all income and expenses on a monthly basis. It is important to know exactly where all of your funds are going. With a great management plan, you won't need to pull out your credit card from your wallet.


2. Choose Credit Card Wisely ~ Be cautious when choosing credit card. Try to find the credit card offers the lowest interest rate by reviewing and comparing various offers in the market.


3. Control Spending ~ Be extremely careful with your spending once you get the credit card. Consider whether you can afford the amount credited at the end of the month each time you use credit card. Set a credit limit as low as possible but sufficient to meet your daily needs.


4. Always Pay on Time ~ Paying on time is one of the best solution to shun away from debt. This can restrict debt from being grow into a huge amount that contributes to financial problem.


5. View Credit Card the Same as with Cash ~ Keep an equal perspective regarding credit card and cash. This helps you to be more aware and keen on spending too much.

Be a wise consumer and use your credit cards cautiously and don’t let credit cards control you. Do remember this: "You're the magician. So, magic card depend on you to show the magic to the people around you. Don't let magic card control you!"

References:

http://www.cardratings.com/howtoavoidcreditcarddebt.html

http://www.3debtconsolidation.com/creditcardmistakes.html

http://www.stop-credit-card-debt.com/2008/07/24/tips-on-credit-card-debt-prevention/

http://learnfobia.com/category-Business-62/tutorial-Manage-and-Eliminate-your-Credit-Card-Debt-1989.html

***HAPPY 19TH BIRTHDAY TO YOU, JIN!***

The application of pre-paid cash card for consumers

Pre-paid cash card is an electronic card which has monetary value loaded into it and it is reloadable. This electronic cards had maked our life become more convenient and its not like credit card we do not need pay extra charges for it. It is easy to be use, just tap the pre-paid cash card on the entry card reader then can straight go.

First example: Octopus card in Hong Kong

Hong Kong government had launched this pre-paid cash card called Octopus card in September 1997 to collect fares for the public transport and also use for payment of purchasing goods for small amount of money at retail shop, supermarkets, fast-food restaurants, car parks, and parking meters in Hong Kong. The octopus card system was the first contactless smart card system in the world since grown into a widely used payment system. Octopus card are very familiar to the Hong Kong peoples, the cards are used by 95 percent of the population of Hong Kong.


Second example: Touch 'n Go card in Malaysia

Besides Hong Kong, Malaysia also had launched pre-paid cash card called Touch 'n Go card. Touch 'n Go was develop by Teras Teknologi Sdn Bhd and owned by Rangkaian Segar Sdn Bhd as is now known as Touch 'n Go Sdn Bhd. Touch 'n Go card can be used at all highways in Malaysia when we pass through the toll we can pay for it by Touch 'n Go card. Besides that when we using public transport we can pay the public transport fare by using this card such as KTM, LRT, and Rapid KL bus. We can even pay our parking fees using this card in some shopping center located in KL. This card can make our life easy like we no need queue so long when buy public transport ticket.
Users can reload the card at toll station, particular train station, Atm machine and even now petrol station also provides this reload service to the public. So it is very easy when the money inside the card has finish

The application of 3rd party certification programme in Malaysia

Nowadays, e-commerce is used widely all around the world. In the developed country, the usage of e-commerce is extremely high as compare to Malaysia. The main reason that Malaysian does not practice e-commerce in daily life is because they feel unsecure. They worried that their personal details will be disclosed in the internet since there are lots of fake website existed.

Therefore, 3rd party certification programme took place to ensure the securities of users where a digital certificate issued. A digital certificate is a digital document that validates the identity of the certificate’s owner. Certificate Authority (CA), a trusted party, issued the digital certificates to users or to organizations. Furthermore, the digital certificate will valid for a certain period of time.

Digital certificates rely on public key cryptography for their own authentication. When a digital certificate is issued, the issuing certification authority signs the certificate with its own private key. To validate the authenticity of a digital certificate, a user can obtain that certification authority’s public key and use it against the certificate to determine if it was signed by the certification authority.


For a digital certificate to be useful, it has to be structured in an understandable and reliable way so that the information within the certificate can be easily retrieved and understood. The S/MIME standard specifies that digital certificates used for S/MIME conform to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) X.509 standard. S/MIME version 3 specifically requires that digital certificates conform to version 3 of X.509. Because S/MIME relies on an established, recognized standard for the structure of digital certificates, the S/MIME standard builds on that standard’s growth and thus increases its acceptance. The X.509 standard specifies that digital certificates contain standardized information. Specifically, X.509 version 3 certificates contain version number, serial number, certificate algorithm identifier, issuer name, validity period, subject name, subject public key information, issuer unique identifier, subject unique identifier, extension and certification authority’s digital signature.


MSC Trustgate




The most popular 3rd party certification programme in Malaysia, MSC Trustgate.com Sdn Bhd, is corporate in 1999. It is licensed under the Digital Signature Act 1997 (DSA), a Malaysia law that sets a global precedent for the mandate of a Certificate Authority. The vision of the corporate is “To enable organization to conduct their business securely over the Internet, as much as what they have been enjoying in the physical world.” Followings are some of the products and services in MSC Trustgate:




As a conclusion, a secure infrastructure is essential on the E-commerce in order to protect the publishers and users. The establishment of Certificate Authority plays a vital role not only to issue digital certificate but also have to ensure the security of E-commerce website. We, as an Internet users, must be aware with the security trademark to prevent from become a victim of security issues.

How to safeguard our personal and financial data?

We live in an increasingly online world. Many transactions can be done through internet, such as online banking, booking, buying, auction and etc. However, it raise the issues that hacker who to hack into computer in order to theft those confidential data. So, keeping our personal and financial data as secure as possible. In the following, some guidelines learn to keep our private personal and financial data safe online.






1. Choose your PIN wisely. While we want to choose something we’ll remember, we don’t want it to be something that a clever thief could figure out just by learning our birth date or your child’s name. A combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols will offer us more security.


2. Secure network. If we have a wireless network at home or workplace, make sure that it is secure. A hacker can gain access to anything you do over an unsecured network in a matter of seconds. If we look at the documentation for wireless router, we’ll be able to find out how to lock router and encrypt our information. It won’t affect the way we use wireless network, but it will keep intruders from getting a hold of info.


3. Don’t reuse passwords. As tempting as it may be to reuse passwords, it’s a really good practice to use a different password for every account we access online. This way, if someone does find out what our password is for one credit card, they won’t also be able to access our checking, brokerage and email accounts. It may take a little more organization to use different passwords for each site, but it can help marginalize the effects of unauthorized access to your accounts.


4. Don’t put private information on public computers. If we’re away from home, make sure not to save private information onto a computer used by the public. If we’re accessing a private account at the library or cyber café, make sure to log out completely from our accounts, and never choose to save login information (like username or password) on these computer.



5. Protect computer’s security. Use as many tools as you can to guard our computer information from the nefarious. Failing to protect our computer is just as bad as leaving your door unlocked, your windows wide open, and a sign on the mat, saying, “Burglars, come on in.”

Phishing: Examples and its prevention methods

Phishing is the process of attempting information illegally and fraudulently through the internet such as the usernames, passwords and credit card details by creating a fake websites which mislead the real company’s customers to enter their details at the website. Examples like the PayPal, eBay, and online banks. These are many examples of phishing e-mail such as showing below.

For more examples, visit the link below.

http://www.chase.com/ccp/index.jsp?pg_name=ccpmapp/privacy_security/fraud/page/fraud_examples

Below are the methods that can prevent phishing:

Eliminating phishing mail

Specialized spam filters can reduce the number of phishing e-mails that reach their addressees inboxes. These approaches rely on machine learning and natural language processing approaches to classify phishing e-mails.

Monitoring and takedown

Several companies offer banks and other organizations likely to suffer from phishing scams round-the-clock services to monitor, analyze and assist in shutting down phishing websites. Individuals can contribute by reporting phishing to both volunteer and industry groups, such as Phistank.

Helping to identify legitimate sites

Since phishing is based on impersonation, preventing it depends on some reliable way to determine a website's real identity. For example, some anti-phishing toolbars display the domain name for the visited website. The pet name extension for Firefox lets users type in their own labels for websites, so they can later recognize when they have returned to the site. If the site is suspect, then the software may either warn the user or block the site outright.Browsers alerting users to fraudulent websites

Another popular approach to fighting phishing is to maintain a list of known phishing sites and to check websites against the list. Microsoft's IE7 browser, Mozilla Firefox 2.0, and Opera all contain this type of anti-phishing measure. Firefox 2 uses Google anti-phishing software. Opera 9.1 uses live blacklists from PhishTank and GeoTrust, as well as live whitelists from GeoTrust. Some implementations of this approach send the visited URLs to a central service to be checked, which has raised concerns about privacy. According to a report by Mozilla in late 2006, Firefox 2 was found to be more effective than Internet Explorer 7 at detecting fraudulent sites in a study by an independent software testing company.

An approach introduced in mid-2006 involves switching to a special DNS service that filters out known phishing domains: this will work with any browser, and is similar in principle to using a hosts file to block web adverts.

To mitigate the problem of phishing sites impersonating a victim site by embedding its images (such as logos), several site owners have altered the images to send a message to the visitor that a site may be fraudulent. The image may be moved to a new filename and the original permanently replaced, or a server can detect that the image was not requested as part of normal browsing, and instead send a warning image.

Augmenting password logins

A method to prevent simple phishing of transaction numbers (TANs) is to associate each TAN with a "lock number". The bank's server sends the lock number as a challenge, and the user provides the corresponding TAN as the response. The server selects the key-lock pair randomly from the list to prevent acquiring two consecutive TANs. Lock numbers are not sequential, so that phishers can only guess correct lock numbers.