The credit card giant recently announced the beginning of a massive database for mapping available applications.
MasterCard unveiled its intentions at the World Retail Congress to begin a Europe-wide mobile app index that will map all of the shopping applications that are publicly available in Europe.
The name of this effort will be the Mobile Top App Index by MasterCard.
The purpose of this mobile app index will be to help to identify some of the best shopping applications that are available throughout the diverse European marketplaces. It is also meant to help to pinpoint some of the ways in which consumers in that part of the world are adopting and using their smartphone and tablet technologies as the shop while they are on the go. The top mobile commerce apps in Europe will be broken down into twenty different categories and are going to be announced next March at the Mobile World Congress.
The company hopes that its mobile app index will help to highlight some of the winning solutions out there.
According to the MasterCard Europe president, Javier Perez, it has never been easier to purchase products and services through the use of mobile devices, “as innovation goes hand in hand with growing consumer demand.” He went on to explain that “MasterCard is a technology company connecting banks, retailers and consumers. Our Mobile Top App Index will highlight the most outstanding solutions in the mobile shopping app arena for the benefit of European consumers and retailers.”
The ratings in the index will be applied to mobile commerce apps across thirty six different countries in Europe. This will be the result of the efforts of a dedicated team of experts from the company, in conjunction with Associate Professor (Reader) in Digital Innovation, Dr. Carsten Sørensen, from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Dr. Sørensen stated that the great diversity in m-commerce applications “fundamentally changes the way people think about their tasks.”
Dr. Sørensen also added that since shopping is among the activities that device users do quite regularly, this new index could potentially assist consumers in being able to find exactly the mobile app they require and it will become a driver for the industry as a whole.
Digital commerce is here to stay and as more people get their hands on mobile devices, the issue of security is becoming more important. Most people have no problem buying things online, so they don’t take time to worry about security. It only takes one misstep to fall prey to exploitation, however, and that could have serious financial consequences. There are some ways you can protect yourself, of course, and it might be worth your time to make sure you’re safe online.
- Be Careful About What You Share
Sharing anything online should be done with caution. Information isn’t always safe, and there are malicious groups out there that would use any information you provide for personal gain. Be careful about sharing personal info with third party groups that claim to represent retailers and be especially cautious about who you share your mobile device with. When you hand over your mobile device, the person using it could easily access any financial information you have stored on it.
- Watch Out For Suspicious Sites
Not all websites are safe. Some exist for the sole purpose of stealing your information by disguising themselves as reputable e-commerce portals. One way to ensure the legitimacy of a website is to look at its URL. If you’re going to make a transaction online, look for the “https” at the beginning of a URL. This means that the site is encrypted, meaning that it has some degree of legitimacy. Even sites with an “https” can be fraudulent, however, either because they’ve been compromised by a malicious group, or for a wide range of other reasons. When in doubt, you can always search a company’s reputation on the Internet.
There are many dangers that lurk in the digital world, and not all of them are readily apparent. Being suspicious of something doesn’t mean you’re being overly paranoid, it just means that you’re being safe. You can find out a lot about a company by looking them up online. If there’s a lack of information online, that may be a sign of trouble. If you’re dealing with an organization you don’t trust, make sure you record all purchase information. This could come in handy if you have to combat a fraudulent charge in the future.
Being safe online can be a time consuming process, but the consequences for not protecting yourself could be much worse than you imagine. For the most part, buying things online is simple and not dangerous in any way, but taking the time to protect yourself could help you avoid problems in the future, especially if you ever attempt to purchase from a company you’re not familiar with.
