September 3, 2008, Updated September 13, 2012

Jeremy Kagen of eBiz Mobility: “It’s fewer clicks than a credit card payment.”Every day, internet shoppers take a risk: they give their credit card information online, leaving themselves open to identity theft or unauthorized charges. And by the same token, online merchants who accept credit cards are taking a risk: they have no way to verify that the purchase is being made by the cardholder, as they would if the transaction were taking place face to face.

Jeremy Kagen of eBiz Mobility has come up with an idea that can change the face of internet commerce, via a process called One Touch Purchasing. What if instead of proffering your sensitive credit card information, you were to make the transaction through a company who already has your information? This company could be your bank, your internet, telephone or cellphone provider, or any other company with whom you have an existing account and who is signed up with One Touch Purchasing.

Kagen explains how this arrangement benefits both the consumer and the seller. It benefits the consumer for several reasons, the first of which being security. With One Touch Purchasing it will be possible to make purchases without giving any private information to the seller. The trusted company being used for the purchase confirms that the consumer has authorized the purchase, using their security systems.

The process is also easy, requiring only that the consumer select the One Touch Purchasing option for payment, and then giving authorization for a transaction.

“One Touch Purchasing is a very streamlined process,” explains Kagen. “It’s faster than using credit card because there’s less information to put in. It’s fewer clicks than a credit card payment.”

And sellers have good reason to want purchases to be easier and more convenient: Right now, four out of five customers who have selected a purchase will leave the site when they reach the payment options. This is at least partly because 40% of U.S. internet users do not have credit cards at all, and outside the U.S. the numbers are even greater. But another reason is that with all the scams that abound on the internet, people are hesitant to give their credit card information to a company they don’t fully recognize.

Another benefit of One Touch Purchasing for the merchant is that it cuts down on cost. Other payment options such as those made via telephone companies and reverse SMS take hefty commissions, thereby diminishing the merchant’s profits.

One Touch Purchasing has been in development for the past five years, and is about to become commercialized. Breathe Networks, a UK internet provider with 2 million users, has signed on to One Touch Purchasing, as has Inter Bank in Spain. Kagen reveals that he is in talks with U.S. banks, but cannot yet disclose their names.

Kagen concludes, “Our focus is on a market niche that is under-served, and we hope to become market leaders in it.”

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