- From: Coralie Mercier <coralie@w3.org>
- Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2015 08:08:48 +0200
- To: w3c-ac-members@w3.org
- Cc: public-webpayments-ig@w3.org, public-webpayments-wg@w3.org
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 06:08:54 UTC