eCom21 - the forum regarding on-line business matters, the biggest forum in the Eastern Europe on ecommerce issues – is held in Riga on 13 and 14 November. The organiser is Rietumu Bank.
E-money – one of the most perspective and quickly developing trends of e-commerce – is the central subject of the current eCom21.
In the course of the first day of the conference the participants discussed basic conceptual aspects of the introduction and use of this essentially new type of currency, including issues of the interaction of e-money with other payment instruments, the use of e-wallets, the evolution of payments by virtual money, the use of plastic cards as of e-money carriers, prospects of payment by means of smartphones, etc.
The speeches were given by spokespersons from MasterCard, Visa, ECommPay, UnionPayInternational, QIWI, Payonline, Yandex.Money, Money Mail.Ru, AlliedWallet, CEX.IO, WireCapital, Payture, Alpari Group, Credit Pilot and other big players on the global and regional markets.
As Irina Gerasimova, a spokesperson of MasterCard Europe, noted, the growth rates of online purchasing have already surpassed those of traditional offline sales. In her opinion, a turning-point in the development of online-shopping has already been passed, and it has entered the category of habitual and routine things.
“The Internet today can be accessed from almost anywhere; it is available in one’s phone, washing machine and fridge. This tendency is getting global. As soon as new technical opportunity appear, people start using them because they are simple and handy. And, as the technological level is growing steadily, it will inevitably lead to the development of e-commerce, which will become a standard phenomenon.”
The MasterCard spokesperson also indicated to the growing popularity of payments with the help of gadgets without the use of payment cards. In particular, there are quite a lot of places in Russia where mobile payments are accepted – these are cafes, restaurants and taxi. Specialists forecast that in the future the volume of such payments will grow considerably. The usage of e-payment is also largely contributed by the upgraded gadgets. Thus, iPhone 6 already has an embedded system of mobile payments ApplePay.
In his turn, Michael C. G. Charalambides, the EcommPay Director, which is the general partner of the conference, emphasised the convenience brought to the user by e-money, “Will people need paper money? They already spend too much time searching for ATMs; banknotes and coins need to be kept somewhere and counted over. Whereas, e-money, which does not cause such inconveniences, can be already used for payment practically everywhere. This means easy access to one’s wallet any time and any place.”
Mr Charalambides also provided counter arguments to the critics who pointed out that the e-money could be used for non sufficiently transparent transactions, “Cash allows avoiding taxes, keeping two sets of accounting books, and is used for frauds. In this sense e-money can be better controlled. Its usage will only contribute to the economy development. Take online banking as an example: no credit institution can operate without it now.”
The conference will be continued tomorrow. The plenary session will be started with a speech from the Executive Director and Board Member of Bitcoin Foundation Jon Matonis.
About 450 guests from 30 countries take part in the eCom21 conference. The General Partner of the conference is the international provider of payment solutions ECommPay. The strategic partner is Transact Pro -, the first officially recognised e-money issuer in Latvia.
The eCom21conference is held at RadissonBlu Latvija Hotel in the centre of the Latvian capital city. Eleonora Gailisha Mass Media and Public Relations
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