W3C Starts Web Payments Standards Work to Streamline the Online "Check-out" Process [Press release]

Dear W3C-News Subscriber,

Today W3C has issued a press release [0] announcing the launch of the Web  
Payments Working Group to make payments easier and more secure on the Web.  
Read the text version of the press release below as well as the  
Backgrounder on Web Payments [2].

The goal of the Web Payments Working Group is to standardize programming  
interfaces in the online payments workflow. When completed, the standard  
will enable Web users to choose a preferred payment instrument for a  
particular transaction, and the messages between the Web application and  
payment service providers will be mediated by the browser on the user’s  
behalf. This in turn will simplify the check-out and payment experience,  
provide greater transaction security, automate secure payments and provide  
more payment options.

For press inquiries, please contact Karen Myers <w3t-pr@w3.org>, for  
questions about the new working group, please contact Ian Jacobs  
<ij@w3.org>.

Best regards,
Coralie Mercier, Head of W3C Marketing & Communications


[0] http://www.w3.org/2015/09/webpaymentswg.html.en


======

For immediate release

#  W3C Starts Web Payments Standards Work to Streamline the Online  
"Check-out" Process
##  Consumers and merchants to enjoy greater choice, security and  
simplicity in Web payments

       __________________________________________________________

Read below [what W3C Members have to say about Web Payments][1]

  [Backgrounder][2] | [Translations][3] | [W3C Press Release Archive][4]

       __________________________________________________________

21 October 2015 — The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) launched today the  
[Web Payments Working Group][5] to help streamline the online "check-out"  
process and make payments easier and more secure on the Web.

The proposed standards will support a wide array of existing and future  
payment methods, including debit, credit, mobile payment systems, escrow,  
and bitcoin and other distributed ledger technologies. Standardized APIs  
(Application Programming Interfaces) will establish a foundation for  
simplified checkout and payment experience, greater transaction security,  
automated secure payments, and more payment options for merchants and  
users alike. These APIs will allow users to register payment instruments  
(such as credit cards or payment services) and select the right payment  
type through the browser, making payments faster, more secure, and easier,  
particularly on mobile devices. The standards should also make it easier  
for Web developers to integrate existing and new payment flows into their  
applications.


"The industry has looked to digital wallets as a way to improve security  
and usability, as well as to support marketing initiatives. And yet, users  
have not yet wholeheartedly embraced them," said W3C CEO Dr. Jeff Jaffe.  
"We believe that one reason for this is that the digital wallet market is  
fragmented and providers use incompatible programming interfaces. The  
proposed standards from W3C will help ensure interoperability of different  
solutions by standardizing the programming interfaces. So when you buy  
something, you should have a standard way to match the payment instruments  
you have with the ones accepted by the merchant, in a way that integrates  
smoothly with the merchant's checkout flow."

Research from companies such as [Business Insider][6] confirms the diverse  
reasons why, [on average][7], people do not complete online purchases 68%  
of the time. W3C Web Payments standards can help some of the issues  
related to shopping cart abandonment regarding usability and security,  
through standard messages and message flow for the initiation,  
confirmation, and completion of payments. With support from these APIs,  
users will choose a preferred payment instrument for a particular  
transaction, and the messages between Web application and payment service  
providers will be mediated by the browser on the user's behalf.

“It is challenging today for merchants to offer new payment options to  
consumers because of the many proprietary solutions and number of  
different APIs that they have to deal with," commented Mark Horwedel, CEO,  
Merchant Advisory Group (MAG). "Open standards from W3C will help payment  
providers and merchants lower costs of payment management, improve  
consumer choice and transparency, and create new opportunities to  
introduce value-added services. These standard APIs will also give us a  
foundation for future Web payments capabilities.”

The [charter][8] (and [supporting FAQ][9]) for this new Web Payments  
Working Group were drafted by the [W3C Web Payments Interest Group][10],  
whose participants include technical representatives from banks, payment  
service providers, merchants, browser makers, hardware providers, and  
other industry stakeholders. The new Web Payments Working Group will meet  
face-to-face for the first time during W3C's Technical Plenary week under  
the leadership of co-chairs Adrian Hope-Bailie (Ripple) and Nick  
Telford-Reed (Worldpay). W3C technical staff contacts for the Web Payments  
Working Group are Ian Jacobs and Doug Schepers.


The Web Payments Interest Group, under the leadership of co-chairs Erik  
Anderson (Bloomberg) and David Ezell (NACS), will continue to identify  
additional areas for future standardization.

Work on payments at W3C was supported in part by the European Union  
through the [HTML5Apps project][11].

##  About the World Wide Web Consortium

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium where  
Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to  
develop Web standards. W3C primarily pursues its mission through the  
creation of Web standards and guidelines designed to ensure long-term  
growth and stewardship for the Web. Over 400 organizations are  
[Members][12] of the Consortium.

W3C is jointly run by the [MIT Computer Science and Artificial  
Intelligence Laboratory][13] (MIT CSAIL) in the United States, the  
[European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics][14] (ERCIM)  
headquartered in France, [Keio University][15] in Japan and [Beihang  
University][16] in China. W3C has Offices in Australia; the Benelux  
countries; Brazil; Finland; France; Germany and Austria; Greece; Hungary;  
India; Italy; Korea; Morocco; Russia; Southern Africa; Spain; Sweden; and  
the United Kingdom and Ireland. For more information see  
[http://www.w3.org/][17]

##  Media Contact

Karen Myers, W3C [w3t-pr@w3.org][18]

  Mobile: 1.978.502.6218


[1]: #testimonials
[2]: webpaymentsbackgrounder.html
[3]: http://www.w3.org/Press/Releases-2015#webpaymentswg
[4]: http://www.w3.org/Press/
[5]: http://www.w3.org/Payments/WG/
[6]:  
http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-shipping-costs-are-a-top-reason-people-abandon-their-shopping-cart-2014-7
[7]: http://baymard.com/lists/cart-abandonment-rate
[8]: http://www.w3.org/Payments/WG/charter-201510.html
[9]: https://www.w3.org/Payments/IG/wiki/Web_Payments_WG_Charter_FAQ
[10]: http://www.w3.org/Payments/IG/
[11]: http://html5apps-project.eu/
[12]: http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Member/List
[13]: http://www.csail.mit.edu/
[14]: http://www.ercim.eu/
[15]: http://www.keio.ac.jp/
[16]: http://ev.buaa.edu.cn/
[17]: http://www.w3.org/
[18]: mailto:w3t-pr@w3.org


-- 
Coralie Mercier  -  W3C Marketing & Communications -  http://www.w3.org
mailto:coralie@w3.org +336 4322 0001 http://www.w3.org/People/CMercier/
-- 
Coralie Mercier  -  W3C Marketing & Communications -  http://www.w3.org
mailto:coralie@w3.org +336 4322 0001 http://www.w3.org/People/CMercier/

Received on Wednesday, 21 October 2015 06:09:46 UTC