According to this, online banking and mobile operating systems have been the fields most affected by malware in 2013.

"Online banking malware directly targeting victims’ finances has intensified globally in 2013, while prolific ransomware has increased and evolved throughout the year. (...) online banking malware was detected in countries that had not been previously targeted, increasing not only in number, but spread across the globe."

"Japan and the US have remained most affected by online banking malware throughout the year, with Brazil and Taiwan following. A spike in increased online banking activity in Brazil and Japan were cited as a possible explanation for the rise in malicious activity."

"There was a sizable increase in both volume and sophistication of mobile threats in 2013. As the most dominant operating system in the market, Android also holds the top spot for drawing the most malicious applications. Almost 1.4 million Android apps were found to be malicious by the end of 2013 – 1 million found in 2013 alone. Furthermore, while 90% of malicious and high-risk apps were hosted on dodgy domains, about 27% of the total was also found on legitimate app stores."

"2013 has registered an increase in phishing attacks specifically targeting Apple users as criminals recognise the potential revenue from its install base."

"Through social networking and “personal cloud” accounts, personal privacy became a recurring issue. Aggressive phishing attacks riding on the release of popular products such as PS4 and Xbox One emerged to compromise personal information. High-profile incidents of infrastructure being targeted by cyber-attacks became a reality in South Korea, demonstrating how critical operations can be impacted on a broad scale."

According to this, European consumers are concerned that the EU legislation draft currently under discussion would make paying with cards more expensive and more complicated.

"A recent poll in 13 European countries indicates that 2 in 3 consumers believe that proposals to cap interchange fees would make it worse for them to use their bank cards and 8 in 10 people do not expect retailers to pass on any cost savings through lower prices."

"Results also point out that 65% of consumers fear that inflexible caps on interchange fees would leave them worse off in terms of using cards. An even higher number (82%) believe that retailers would not pass on any cost savings from a reduction in their contribution to the costs of the electronic payments system."

"The survey also reveals that consumers are especially critical of a proposed rule that would give retailers the right to decide which specific cards they will or will not accept. Breaking up the so-called “Honour All Cards Rule” would deprive consumers of the number one quality they look for in payment cards – the certainty they can use it wherever they go around the world. Research shows that 8 in 10 consumers (77%) across Europe felt this measure would make using bank cards worse for them. Similarly, 60% are concerned that proposals to allow for multiple logos on the same card would have negative impact on consumers".

"MasterCard has consistently expressed its concern that the proposed caps would drive the cost of cards up for consumers. This concern is based on recent practical experience from countries like Spain, where legislation to cap interchange fees resulted in cardholder fees increasing by over 50% and no evidence of retailers passing on savings through lower prices. It also stems from the absence of any justification for fixing the same fees across over 30 countries where market conditions vary considerably."

According to this, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK could be missing out on GBP 77 billion in annual revenue by not having mobile-optimised websites.

"45% of UK SMEs do not have a website, yet believe their annual revenue could rise by 5.4% if they had a website that was optimised for mobile transactions, equating to an average of GBP 11,155 extra turnover annually. A further 45% of UK SMEs have a website that is not optimised for mobile. These businesses believe their annual revenues could rise by 3.5% if their website was optimised for mobile transactions, equating to an average of GBP 23,793 extra turnover annually."

"SMEs recognise the importance of mobile optimisation, and know its value is growing. Respondents predicted that mobile online transactions will have the greatest percentage annual growth across all sales channels in 2014, exceeding GBP 29 billion - a 1050% increase over 2013. In the UK, access to the Internet using a mobile phone more than doubled between 2010 and 2013, from 24% to 53%."

"Whilst SME decision-makers recognise that mobile is growing, few are taking immediate action. Only 10% of those surveyed currently have mobile-optimised websites, and of those that do not, only 13% plan to get one in the next 12-18 months."

• 1981 Thomson Holidays submits the first ever B2B electronic transaction using online technology
• 1987 Swreg creates the first merchant account to allow software developers to sell online
• 1991 The National Science Foundation lifts restrictions off the commercial use of the NET, clearing the way for ecommerce
• 1994 Pizza Hut has the first recorded internet sale
• 1995 The Dot-Com bubble serges with companies such as e-bay, Google, Craigslist, Amazon and Netscape
• 2000 The Dot-Com bust
• 2003 Social networks surface and Amazon has its first profitable year
• 2010 Ecommerce continues to evolve with mobile commerce, social commerce and group buying

[Via: Shopping Cart Reviews]

Payvision has published a report titled “Cross-Border eCommerce in Asian Markets: Singapore and Malaysia“.

"More than 40% of the global internet audience is from the Asia Pacific region. This boils down to over 600 million people, 10% of whom live in Southeast Asia. With 60 million people browsing the web, this is a significant market for e-commerce businesses. Singapore and Malaysia are the two countries in the region with the highest internet penetration. Singapore and Malaysia represent the largest e-commerce industries of Southeast Asia. According to Euromonitor, these two countries generate almost half of total online retail sales in this region, even though Malaysia and Singapore only account for 8% of the Southeast Asian population. Both countries are expected to show double digit growth over the next years."

USA is the top overseas online shopping destination for both Singaporeans and Malaysians

USA is also the top online selling destination for merchants in both Singapore and Malaysia

"The e-commerce markets in Singapore and Malaysia are relatively small compared to other Asian markets such as China (US$190 Bn) and Japan (US$64 Bn). However both Singapore and Malaysia stand out with respect to the relative size of the cross-border share of the e-commerce market. An estimated 55% of all e-commerce transactions in Singapore are cross-border. This percentage is much higher than in Japan, South Korea and even China doesn’t score that high. In Malaysia roughly 40% of all e-commerce transactions are cross-border; American and Chinese web shops are very popular amongst Malaysian consumers." "Although the e-commerce market enjoys tremendous growth in both Singapore and Malaysia, cross-border e-commerce still faces some barriers. The most important barrier for cross-border e-commerce is logistics, more specifically shipping cross-border, because it involves compliance with a set of (complex) rules and regulations. Another hurdle that consumers face when shopping cross-border is the security of payments. Moreover, the cultural differences of consumers across the Southeast Asian countries require a differentiated marketing approach and the availability of websites in local language and local payment methods. Shipping is very expensive in Southeast Asia. The prices are high, because the market for shipping is still relatively small. On average, Singaporeans receive two parcels per year whereas German e-shoppers receive an average of 30 parcels per year."

"The Travel industry is the largest e-commerce sector in both Singapore and Malaysia.More than half of all online transactions consist of travel related products and services. The online travel market is booming throughout Southeast Asia and global travel market research company PhoCusWright estimates it to be US$ 90.8 billion in 2013. This equals 25% of the total travel market in Southeast Asia. Furthermore, around 93% of the tickets of AirAsia are sold through their online channel. As a consequence, a large share of the online travel market consists of cross-border e-commerce."

   

"In both countries, most cross-border transactions are paid by Credit Card. 65% of the combined transaction value of all personal credit cards in Singapore are operated by Visa, while in Malaysia, Master Card is the major operator with a market share of 55%."

"Singapore has favorable rules and regulations, which stimulate profitable cross-border trade. Customs and tax procedures are straightforward and corruption is at a global record low. Items valued below US$ 320 are shipped duty-free. This stimulates cross-border e-retail shopping. The duty-free limit in Malaysia is half of the limit imposed in Singapore (US$ 160). In Malaysia, tax regulations imposed on importing goods are more stringent and rules and regulations are rather complex. Malaysia applies different procedures and tax, depending on the various product categories."

"The launch of an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is planned for 2015. It is an initiative to facilitate a coherent duty and import tax system throughout Southeast Asia and to enhance cross-border trade."

Source of graphics: e27.co