MANILA, Philippines - MasterCard Worldwide announced that the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA) region has seen a 38 percent year-on-year increase in the number of transactions processed through its e-commerce platform the MasterCard Gateway Service (MiGS).
In terms of gross dollar volume (in US dollars), these transactions represented a corresponding 66 percent increase for the first half of the year.
With 764 million Internet users in the Asia-Pacific region and 1.8 billion Internet users worldwide, e-commerce has become one of the world’s most significant trading channels. MasterCard has tapped into the e-commerce opportunity by providing the MiGS, a secure, robust Internet payment solution.
The APMEA region is the most vibrant for MasterCard in terms of the usage of MiGS, which processes what are commonly referred to as Card-Not-Present (CNP) transactions, including e-commerce, m-commerce, telephone and mail order transactions as well as electronic bill payments.
“The Internet has reshaped the way businesses are run and changed how consumers like to pay for their purchases. MasterCard’s latest survey on online shopping demonstrates that secure payment facilities and convenient payment methods are the top most important factors influencing respondents’ online shopping experience,” said Tim Fletcher, vice president for hosted services, product management for APMEA of MasterCard Worldwide.
“Besides fulfilling the needs of consumers, MiGS also provides merchants with valuable tools for day-to-day management of their e-commerce transactions and reduces operating costs. The growth is a testimony that the innovative solution resonated with the demands of the market in the region,” added Fletcher.
As part of its broader processing strategy, MasterCard remains committed to raising the bar on innovation and providing solutions for the deployment of turnkey payment platforms.
The company’s fully integrated global payment platform enables its customer financial institutions to offer new, differentiated products to their cardholders; build new relationships; enhance customer loyalty; reach new segments; secure first-mover advantage; and drive greater efficiencies.
MasterCard recently entered into an agreement to purchase DataCash, a European payment service provider, with the intention to expand and enhance its successful MiGS gateway business, enabling merchants to gain new market reach and access to value-added services.
DataCash offers a single interface that provides European e-commerce merchants with the ability to process secure payments across the world.