The first day of the e-commerce international conference eCom21, which is arranged under the patronage of Rietumu Bank, has been completed.
Plenary meetings of four sections took place, where the forum participants discussed issues of development, licensing and regulation of the electronic payment market, organisation of the structure and business management in the field of e-commerce based on the European trade accounts, the specifics of using electronic money, as well as made the comparative analysis of the legislative basis of e-commerce in the EU and Russia.
First Vice-President of Rietumu Bank Ruslan Stecyuk The conference started with presentations of speakers from two international payment systems – Visa Europe and MasterCard.
Spokesperson from Visa Europe, Linus Olofsson, in his report devoted to e-commerce perspectives, noted that, at present, online commerce develops more dynamically than the traditional offline. The growth of electronic sales is contributed to both by the growing number of online stores and by the increasing popularity of social networks, which allow exchanging information between sellers and buyers, as well as spreading electronic money and various gadgets. Mr. Olofsson presented data that, at present, the internet is used by 84% of adult Europeans. The speaker also emphasised that serious and persistent work is continuing to prevent fraud during online transactions, even in spite of the fact that the number of such attempts is negligible.
Replying to questions of the conference participants, Linus Olofsson emphasised that he sees a big potential for e-commerce development in the Baltics, where paper money is still widely used for payments. As an example of an ‘online-country’, he mentioned Norway, where about 80% of payments are cashless.
Spokesperson from MasterCard, Mats Taraldsson, noted the increasing role of smartphones for the development of online sales. According to the speaker, nowadays many Europeans prefer shopping with the help of mobile devices, which make shopping comfortable, safe and fashionable. He drew attention to the importance of simplifying the process of online sales, as such ‘obstacles’, for instance, like the necessity of first registering on the site, do not contribute to the success of the business. According to the MasterCard data, more than 20% of the potential buyers in such cases take a decision to refrain from purchasing.
Then, the First Vice-President of Rietumu Bank, Ruslan Stecyuk, took the floor, providing comprehensive information on the place and role of a modern bank in organising and supporting an online business. He told the conference participants about the bank’s experience, its principles and approaches to servicing online merchants, as well as highlighted a number of perspective issues regarding the organisation of efficient structures for conducting and securing an online business. Speaking about the specifics of an online business, Mr. Stecyuk noted: “Safety, quickness, stability, profit, taxes – all these were of interest even for a medieval merchant. Whereas, today, when the internet has entered our life and has become not only a communication channel, but a foundation for a successful and efficient business model, these concepts acquire new shades of meaning.”
The Head of the Legal Department of Rietumu Bank, Yaroslav Zamullo, presented a report on the subject of regulating and licensing payment services. He spoke about the advantages of European and, specifically, Latvian licences for performing e-commerce operations. According to the speaker, Latvia can become a convenient platform for entering the European market. “Such factors as the clear procedure of obtaining the licence, fast execution of the documentation, a low level of bureaucracy, the favourable tax regime and the wide usage of Russian and English languages make Latvia very competitive on the European market.”
During the first day of the conference, reports have been provided also by spokespersons from Russian companies PayFair (Pavel Gubin) and PayOnline (Marat Abasaliev), the Swiss DukasCopy (Alexis Gulbis); they all were devoted to the practical aspects of servicing online payments and the efficient interaction with financial institutes.
Andrey Popkov (QIWI Wallet) and Victor Dostov (Electronic Money Association) in their speeches focused on issues of the functioning and tendencies of development of e-money systems. Gennady Ginter (Hermes Financial Services) told the conference participants about the role of professional intermediaries in servicing e-commerce, and Valentin Fedotov (Sysnet Global Solutions) presented a comprehensive survey of technical standards PCI DSS and requirements to their introduction.
The first working day of the conference will end with a reception on behalf of the forum organisers at Rietumu Capital Centre – the headquarters of Rietumu Bank and attending a hockey match between Dinamo Riga and Ak Bars at the sports complex Arena Riga.
eCom21 is the first international business forum on e-commerce issues in the Baltic region on such a level and scale. It is attended by 250 delegates from 20 countries. Among them, there are company owners and CEOs from Russia and other CIS countries, Europe, the US, Israel, Canada, Australia, New Zeeland and other regions. Partners of eCom21 are the world leaders of the instant payment market QIWI and the Russian processing company PayOnline. Among the forum delegates, there are professional participants of the e-commerce market, lawyers and experts in tax legislation, representatives of European and Russian banks, investment, audit and service companies, hotel and transport businesses, financial advisors and journalists. The conference will be continued tomorrow. The forum is held in the Radisson Blu Latvija Hotel, in the heart of the capital city of Latvia. More information is available on the website
ecom21.com.
Eleonora Gailisha Mass Media and Public Relations
Phone: +371-67020506
Fax: +371-67020563
E-mail:
egailisha@rietumu.lv
