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

------- Forwarded message -------
From: "Coralie Mercier" <coralie@w3.org>
To: w3c-ac-members@w3.org
Cc: public-webpayments-ig@w3.org
Subject: W3C Starts Web Payments Standards Work to Streamline the Online  
"Check-out" Process [Press release]
Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2015 08:08:48 +0200


Dear Advisory Committee Representative,
Web Payments Interest Group and Working Group participants,


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/

Received on Wednesday, 21 October 2015 06:15:08 UTC