NEW YORK-Trivnet, an Israeli software provider, has developed a system designed to answer questions and eliminate concerns that have slowed adoption of the wireless phone as a sales transaction device.
Consumers are concerned about inadequate security and its potential to permit fraudulent use of their accounts. Execution of transactions using Wireless Application Protocol and Short Message Service can be cumbersome. There also is the potential for “sticker shock” if the monthly phone bill arrives loaded up with amounts payable for non-telecommunications purchases.
Trivnet has devised software and a system to eliminate the downside potential of mobile commerce, leaving only convenience for consumers and commissions for carriers, said Yoav Ecker, vice president of marketing.
“We see mobile commerce as a chain that will break unless it’s a win:win:win situation for merchants, operators and consumers,” he said.
The software, which runs on its own server, resides inside a cquot;Not with an Amazon.com, but with a significant number of other companies, the merchant side is the weak spot, which hackers attack, and it’s a major source of credit-card fraud,” Ecker said.
To bolster the defense against hackers, Trivnet uses its own secure link to obtain the merchant identification number and clear the transaction on the merchant’s behalf.
Because Trivnet’s system ties into wireless carrier billing systems, it does not require end users to take any special action to sign up for the mobile-commerce option. That facility eliminates the poor response rate, in the range of 2 percent to 3 percent, typically associated with direct-mail promotions, Ecker said.
However, wireless service providers also want to fend off the sticker-shock phenomenon associated with bundled billing. Consequently, in commercial trials under way, carriers have placed monthly limits of $50-$100 on the dollar amount of goods and services unrelated to their own calling plans that users can have added to th York.
“For digital content and other intangible goods, carriers can get commissions in the tens of percent. Commissions are less with tangible goods because delivery is more complicated and expensive,” Ecker said.
