According to this, the Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce, which launched a business network last year to support Latino entrepreneurs, has announced that the Hispanic social business network has grown quite a bit in just a few months.

"Latino entrepreneurs are networking like ever before. According to the Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce's (HISCEC) recent release, its private business network has reached more than 5,000 users in the short time since its autumn launch last year, "making it one of the fastest growing Hispanic private business networks in the country.""

"The Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce is a social enterprise, using the power of business for social good. Our business model allows us to be financially self-sustaining, providing thousands of business owners a free platform to connect, build business relationships and grow their businesses."

"HISCEC launched its network for Latino entrepreneurs knowing that some business owners might be a little intimidated by enterprise requirements of the new digital world: building a webpage, networking, getting exposure, and figuring out other technical details."

"HISCEC's "Get Hispanic Businesses Online" initiative launched with the goal of getting 100,000 Hispanic-owned businesses up and running on the internet, providing web presence-building tools, marketing support, and other internet business tools to help promote e-commerce and foster growth."

"We truly love small business owners and are passionate for the ongoing success of Hispanic-owned companies, in all industries and across the United States. That's why we make membership, including a full range of basic services, available completely for free. We are the only Hispanic business association of our kind to do this, and it is entirely because of our true zeal for seeing Hispanic businesses thrive on the Internet and in the communities that they serve."

According to this, Greece and Austria are the latest members to join Ecommerce Europe, the European ecommerce organization, with GRECA and aCommerce  Team, respectively.

"GRECA is the equivalent for Greek ECommerce Association, a national body that was established in 2012 in Greece by 22 ecommerce companies. By 2014, more than 115 online retailers joined GRECA and its communication channels reach more than 2,000 senior ecommerce decision-makers in Greece. Its main activities include networking, education, lobbying with the state and other national bodies, building trust to the consumers."

"aCommerce Team is the Austrian ecommerce association, representing over 150 e-tailers in Austria. The Austrian ecommerce industry was founded in 2013. Raffael Tannheimer and Stephan Grad initially started aCommerce Team as an event program. As the feedback of the Austrian ecommerce market was positive, they decided to put the foundation for an independent association in February 2014 to provide the public affairs with representation and to support the ecommerce market in Austria with know-how, professional trainings and networking opportunities."

According to this, in Finland, time spent online has increased mostly among people aged over 55.

"Results show that 42% of the respondents said they used the internet more in 2013 as compared to 2012. The use of internet services has increased mostly on a tablet, but the use of internet on smart phones has also continued to upgrade slightly."

"The same study indicates that currently, 33% of the respondents have a tablet, whereas in 2013 the figure was 18%. According to research, tablet devices are still used to browse the internet or watch videos and television programmes. In 2014, 86% of the respondents who use a tablet said that they browse the internet on a tablet (in 2013, the corresponding figure was 90%), 51% said they watch videos (in 2013, the corresponding figure was 44%), and 39% said they watch television programmes on their tablet (in 2013, the corresponding figure was 34%)."

"Findings also unveil that over 80% of Finns who own a smart phone say they also use applications. In 2013, the corresponding figure was 60%. Social media and communication applications are used the most, followed by news applications. The survey reveals that Facebook, Google Maps and YouTube are the most popular applications. Facebook and Google Maps have been downloaded by 65% of users and YouTube by 63%."

Crossborder E-commerce published an article about the value of collaboration in combatting fraud.

"For merchants operating cross-border businesses, or looking to expand into new territories, fraud detection and prevention can be particularly challenging. Local market trends, geographic fraud hot spots and differences in consumer purchasing behaviours all mean that a successful fraud prevention strategy needs to be tailored for each individual sales area, based on a thorough knowledge of that location."

"While a specialist fraud prevention partner with relevant, up-to-the-minute market knowledge can help with this process, there is another high-value collaboration which can deliver real results for merchants in the fight against fraud. This is a collaboration between merchants and between merchants and issuers."

"Every payment transaction has a rich variety of data associated with it. Some elements, such as shipping address and device ID, are held by merchants, while other information, for example customer account information and purchasing history, is held by issuers. By working collaboratively and sharing this information, each interested party can see a more complete picture, both of the individual transaction and the broader customer profile.  This information can support sales, power earlier detection of fraud and help to minimise both risk and chargebacks."

"Simply transmitting the data between parties is not enough. The real value comes from combining the raw data from these parties, analysing it, identifying areas of concern and proactively sharing the resulting fraud intelligence. For efficiency, some level of automation needs to be involved in the analytics process, ensuring that valuable fraud intelligence is shared in an easily accessible and timely way."

"There is clear evidence that sharing intelligence in real-time supports quick and effective action such as blocking compromised cards, cancelling recent orders, halting deliveries and refunding genuine customers before the chargeback process commences. As an example, a merchant user of the ReD Fraud Xchange^TM service was recently able to use the information from shared red-flagged data to trace associated transactions and recover $50,000 of fraudulent spend."

"Sharing transaction information and fraud intelligence across multiple merchants and issuers in different geographies can also support effective cross-border sales, minimising risk for merchants who are looking to accept orders from overseas by helping to proactively inform their fraud strategies."

According to this, The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has recently made public a survey which signals that governments and policymakers worldwide should pay attention to some existing hurdles in current cross-border trade which should be surpassed to facilitate the flow of goods across borders.

"The survey stresses a number of factors which cross-border transaction merchants look at, namely predictability, reliability and consistency. Based on the common opinion of 88% of the ones questioned, who are active in import and export or trade in services along with freight forwarding, transportation and third party logistics, the survey surfaces the fact that there is a need for greater capacity building, in particular through education and making information available, to ensure that both traders and border control officials follow proper international trading procedures."

"Additionally, it reveals that there is also a need for an effective customs-business dialogue at national level to find ways to lessen delays in trade processes and shorten release times. The mastermind behind the current survey is Anthony Barone, Head of ICC Commission, who wants to transform cross-border commerce into a day-to-day, free of impediments business."

"The survey is on the same footing with current international developments seeking to facilitate trade and border procedures. Some of the procedures conclude on multilateral agreement on trade facilitation at the 9th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in December 2013, and the ongoing negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Partnership Negotiations."