BT rolls out one-stop shop for Web payments

By Matthew Broersma, ZDNet.co.uk, 2 July, 2002 13:28

NEWS

BT Retail is to begin trialling a system for making small payments online that could be attractive to thousands of Web sites, at a time when Internet companies are pinching pennies. The system, which has already proven a success in Germany, could also make it easier for users to make small, one-off purchases, such as archived print articles or other premium content. Many sites, such as The New York Times, charge a fee to access archived articles, but users currently must create an account with their credit card every time they access a new site with paid content. BT's "click & buy" service centralises the process, letting users sign up once, and then use their payment information on any site participating int he scheme. BT has signed up about 15 sites for the pilot, beginning this month, including Sportinglife.com and Handbag.com. The software was licensed from Germany's Firstgate Internet, which has already signed up 1,000 content providers and 600,000 end users. "There are some pretty impressive revenues coming in through this method. It's growing very quickly," said Ian Price, chief executive of BT Retail division BT Micropayments. Price said that while "click & buy" doesn't replace conventional e-commerce systems used on sites such as Amazon.co.uk, it fills a niche currently occupied by a number of often inconvenient payments systems. Some sites, for example, require users to sign up for a monthly subscription in order to access a single article, leading users to create a new account and then immediately cancel it. Price said that BT's research showed that in some cases, users were five or six times more willing to make a one-off payment than to buy a subscription. Other payment schemes require users to pay a minimum amount into a virtual "wallet", but this method, too, has its problems, Price argued. "Prepay has its place. With a prepay mobile phone, you're sure that you will use the value you've put into it. But if you prepay for micropayments, you're not convinced you'll use it," he said. BT may have to overcome users' security fears for the scheme to work. While Price argues that BT has a good record on security, holding the bank details of six million customers who are on direct debit plans, Internet users may recall a few disturbing incidents: In 2000, the company accidentally published the names and personal details of several thousand prospective broadband customers. And this spring, BT inadvertently exposed many businesses to possible Internet attacks when it published internal corporate dial-up numbers. "BT has got a very significant security operation, which we have used to ensure that everything is as secure as it can possibly be," Price said. He said that customers would prefer signing up once to getting out their credit cards every time they used a new Web site. Price also noted that, unlike Firstgate, BT's offering will not be open to one of the largest and most lucrative markets for one-off micropayments, namely adult content sites.

E-commerce is transforming business around the globe. Get the latest headlines at ZDNet UK's E-commerce News Section. Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Go to the ZDNet news forum. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

ZDNet UK Live

@Jack, > Works really well for thieves.... Nice attempt to deflect the argument by tossing in a point that's totally irrelevant, even it were...

1 hour ago by BrownieBoy on AMD Ultrathins to challenge Intel Ultrabooks

Make that 13 people now - I got refused today at Manchester airport. I thought I was up to date on this legislation - I knew of the EU ruling from...

4 hours ago by bootlegger on UK airport body scans will not be opt out

Don't forget to check out apps like GoodReader or SlideShark either, they're indispensible for people on the go in presentation situations. Best...

7 hours ago by tinycg on Four top iPad apps for people on the move

Well it seems there is something a number of us agree on. Why is the Ubuntu Unity launcher so ugly? I thought perhaps it was something to do with...

11 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

21 hours ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...

1 day ago by Marg Menzies Harrison via Facebook on 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid

And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick... Kubuntu is late. Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions. cf.:...

1 day ago by zdnetukuser on Linux Minterface

@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...

1 day ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system." Point truly missed. Both use a...

2 days ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article. I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...

2 days ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...

2 days ago by Dennis Nilsson via Facebook on ACTA stumbles in Germany

I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....

2 days ago by GHar123 on ACTA stumbles in Germany

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

2 days ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

2 days ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

2 days ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

2 days ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

BT rolls out one-stop shop for Web payments

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

Banks not cashing in on e-payments

Australian company touts Web payment system

Heart of England NHS begins massive digitisation plan

Hard-drive woes hit PC shipments in fourth quarter

Post your comment

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in IT Strategy

Heart of England NHS begins massive digitisation plan

Hard-drive woes hit PC shipments in fourth quarter

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

PHP Web Developer - html, css, javascript

Java Developer, Online Gaming, London

Quant Dev, Hedge Fund, FX, Excel VBA

Inside ZDNet UK

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

BlackBerry Bold 9790

Make faster, smarter decisions using BI

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault

News & Analysis

Reviews

Blogs

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features

ZDNet UK / News and Analysis / Business of IT / IT Strategy

BT rolls out one-stop shop for Web payments

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

Post your comment

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in IT Strategy

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Inside ZDNet UK

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features