According to this, we should pay more attention to digital currencies.

"Yves Mersch, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), has reported that digital currencies should not be ignored despite their relatively small impact on the economy."

"Yves Mersch admits that although virtual currencies do not have an impact on the general economy, they have the potential to do so in the future. He concludes that crypto-currencies cannot affect price stability or financial stability in Europe, but they may pose risks for users. User risk, he highlights, is more related to speculative investments and consumer protection, and not necessarily to payments."

According to this alternative payments methods are becoming more popular in online travel payments.

"When dealing with online payment for travel and lodging, credit and debit cards are the dominant payment methods, but the use of alternative payment methods such as e-wallets, online banking, mobile payments and Bitcoin-based crypto-currencies is expanding, according to the “Global Online Travel Payment Snapshot 2014” report."

"In terms of current trends in the online travel industry, prepayment or immediate payment takes place at the same time with the hotel booking, and this is being adopted by various industry-based merchants such as Hotels.com. Still, prepayment and reservation done with card for later payment at desk are used by merchants like Booking.com and Express.com."

"Speaking of airline companies, alternative payment methods have been adopted rapidly. For example, budget airline firm Ryanair accepts direct debits on its Germany-based online platform. Brazil-based online travel booking firm Hotelurbano accepts Boleto Bancario, the local banking payment method. Japanese air company All Nippon Airways accepts cash payment at convenience stores. United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, US-based air companies, accept the delayed payment method Bill Me Later which is brand of PayPal designed for US citizens."

"Moreover, one third of the airlines already plan to enable the use of mobile payments for booking purposes in the next two years and PayPal is already accepted by an increasing number of travel booking websites."

"Online payment fraud is among the top concerns of online travel agencies and booking websites, although only nearly 1% of online travel payments is fraudulent (quite a significant percentage, given the size of the market)."

Crossborder-ecommerce.com published an article about fighting cross-border fraud.

"Several factors make fraud prevention more difficult for cross-border merchants. To keep fraudsters at bay and maximise sales opportunities, it is important to understand these challenges and take the necessary steps to protect your business."

 _{Source http://www.crossborder-ecommerce.com/fighting-cross-border-fraud-differences-difficulties-and-defence/}

"Fraud patterns and behaviour can vary significantly across geographies, creating added risk for cross-border merchants who don’t always have an up-to-date view of customer behaviour profiles and fraud trends. At home, you are aware of the fraudulent delivery hotspots, the latest scams and how fraud gangs are operating – elsewhere, this information can be hard to obtain. Within your domestic market, you have colleagues, business associates and partners who are willing to share fraud intelligence with you. These networks can be more difficult to build in other countries, limiting the information available to develop and support effective fraud prevention strategies."

"The professional expertise available to you in other countries may also be very different from that which you can access domestically. Safeguards are reduced in countries where security protocols such as CV2 and 3D Secure are not fully or even partially implemented. Third party verification services on which you rely for your domestic market may be weak or non-existent elsewhere, making it much harder to identify genuine customers and exclude fraudsters. Inevitably, it is in countries where these checks are weakest that the fraudster will focus his efforts."

"It is also important to note that countries’ fraud profiles change over time. While some countries remain consistently at the top of the list for payment fraud, others may come and go. In the last couple of years, analysts at ReD have seen an increase in fraud in some Western European countries that have suffered particularly badly from the economic downturn and a rise in unemployment levels. You can’t simply assume that a country with low levels of payment fraud will remain in that state forever."

"Merchants expanding internationally can take steps to mitigate the risks, not least by adopting a careful, step-by-step approach to expansion. You can take advantage of the fact that delivery times are extended to carry out additional fraud prevention checks, and perhaps limit the range of goods initially offered, to exclude high risk items. You can tailor fraud rules for each country, to ensure that your business is protected against the most prevalent types of fraud."

"It also makes sense to access global fraud intelligence, to benefit from the experiences of others and from up-to-the-minute insight into developing fraud attacks around the world. This intelligence can be a very powerful ally in the fight against fraud."

According to this, the German e-tail association BVH and the China Express Association (CEA) have started to cooperate in order to enable their members overcome cultural barriers and get business relationships sturdy enough.

"BVH and CEA join hands in order to achieve an exchange of experiences and knowledge of the market situation, including studies of the ecommerce market and mutual visits."

"The cooperation will generate a network of contacts in each country. They want to get involved as middlemen between their members and decision makers in politics and economics."

"Ingmar Böckmann, E-Commerce and IT expert for China, cited by e-commercefacts.com, claims that in an ecommerce context, cross-border business is becoming more and more salient for merchants. The access of German companies to the Chinese market and vice versa is gradually accelerating. The cultural barrier must be superseded by the two markets through mutual support, which represents the interest of interactive traders."

According to this, non-mail revenues surpass mail revenue for postal organizations around the globe, according to a new study commissioned by Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company.

"Mail volume keeps on a decreasing trend, falling from 78.5 billion pieces, or 21% since 2007, the study in question points out. As a result of this trend, mail companies should embrace ecommerce opportunities and diversify their products and services to increase business. The need for digital and mobile channels, the diversification of services and parcel growth are the three dominant trends in the industry."

"The research indicates that non-mail revenue, including parcels, which accounts for 52% of postal organizations' total revenues, brings more revenues than mail. Mail is still a salient part of the business, but most postal organizations are turning their businesses into hybrid organizations with a diversified portfolio of products and services -- parcels, logistics, banking, insurance, ecommerce and digital activities."

"The top five postal organizations, Singapore Post, Australia Post, Poste Italiane, bpost (Belgium) and Austrian Post Group, summed up more than 3% revenue growth over the past 5 years by diversifying products and services, according to the same research findings."

"Parcel revenues jumped by 4.8% between 2011 and 2012, slightly faster than volume growth and continue to benefit from the growth in ecommerce, typically growing in double digits in most countries. India Post realized a 42% parcel volume growth and Singapore Post has become an active player in the region through recent acquisitions of Quantium Solutions, Famous Holdings and Indo Trans Logistics Corp."

"Digital channels are salient for ecommerce business and postal agencies are developing digital solutions that enable payment, provide access to small business and give consumers control over the delivery of their online purchases."