Building the sustainable business of consumer trust

MEF’s fourth Annual Consumer Trust Summit was recently held in in New York, where mobile privacy experts, MEF members and guests met to discuss the business critical issue of consumer trust and privacy. MEF CEO Rimma Perelmuter opened the event, and here offers a call to action for the industry to address the growing need to build trust & empower mobile consumers via the next phase in MEF’s Consumer Trust initiative. Last month I was delighted to open MEF’s Consumer Trust Summit in New York. Our fourth annual event this year was co-located with Momentum’s Business of Privacy Summit and …

Direct Carrier Billing and Boku’s e-money: from digital to physical purchases

Until recently, in Europe, direct carrier billing (AKA direct operator billing) was restricted to the purchase of digital goods and operated under an exemption to the European Union’s Payment Services Directive (PSD). This regulatory framework was largely established to deal with the purchase of ringtones and wallpapers. Now however, it’s possible for carrier billing providers to operate in full compliance with the PSD using an e-money licence, enabling carrier billing to be used for physical purchases, presenting a major new commerce opportunity. MEF member Boku is one such company that …

Enabling the move from cash to mobile money

Its no secret that much of the innovation around mobile money and mobile financial services is coming from growth markets.  Typically large sections of the population in these countries are un-banked and have limited access to any physical banking infrastructure yet feature phone and smartphone penetration is high.  Taken together these circumstances have paved the way for mobile money services which are maturing to become essential banking tools that allow more sophisticated financial services to be brought to market. In this guest blog, Sunil Sachdev, MD of financial technology company …

Exploring the next generation of mobile privacy policy

A lack of trust is the number one reason why consumers aren’t buying more with their mobiles. Last week, in Washington DC, MEF Members, co hosts Dentons and a collection of US and European regulators, app developers and industry experts gathered at the 3rd Annual MEF Consumer Trust Summit to discuss the latest developments in the business critical issue of Consumer Trust, and how the greatest barrier to m-commerce can be responsibly overcome. We'll bring you full coverage of the day next week here on the MEF Minute in the form of a series of podcasts recorded live at the event, so you can …

Lessons need to be learnt from the recent closure of premium SMS in the US

Last month three of the major US carriers - AT&T Mobility, Sprint and T-Mobile entered into an agreement with 45 states to stop billing customers with premium SMS (PSMS).  Verizon Wireless is not part of the settlement but has also confirmed it too will discontinue PSMS.  The initiative, led by the Vermont Attorney General’s office, is intended to put an end to unsolicited third party charges on mobile bills, a practice commonly known as cramming. Here MEF Global Chair Andrew Bud discusses the implications of this move for the mobile industry and consumers alike. This news marks a …

NTIA Code for mobile app transparency: an analysis

The NTIA is an agency within the US Dept of Commerce responsible for advising the President on telecoms and IT issues. Last month, it published a Code of Conduct for mobile app developers in an attempt to improve transparency in the collection and use of personal information. MEF’s Senior Adviser for Policy & Initiatives, Simon Bates takes a look at the new Code, and assesses what it will mean for apps and app developers. In June 2012 the NTIA convened a cross section of stakeholders interested in the app economy. This includes privacy, civil liberty and consumer advocates, app developers …

Updated COPPA Rules: 5 Tips to Consider When Assessing Your Compliance

As the FTC's new COPPA rules come into force, the way mobile apps, websites and social networks are able to go about collecting data on their child users has changed dramatically. Privacy experts from MEF members Dentons, Todd Daubert and Andrew Blair provide their top tips to understanding the new regulations and how to ensure your business remains compliant. On July 1, updated rules of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) to implement the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) became effective, making compliance with a heightened set of requirements for online service providers …

MEF Panel – the Internet Show, Jakarta

MEF Asia Chairman Colin Miles recently moderated a thought leadership panel at the Internet Show in Jakarta on the 5th December, “Making mobile-commerce a viable option in Indonesia” The discussion explored various mobile topics including facilitating m-commerce, analysing the current gaps in infrastructure, the Indonesian Perspective shown in the MEF Global Consumer Survey and the latest review on proposed regulatory changes. Colin presented the key findings from the from the Global Consumer Survey on the mobile ecosystem in the region, and the review on the proposed Indonesian VAS …

Global Strategies for Mobile VAS Compliance – MEF in Jakarta

Last month MEF co-hosted a one day programme in Jakarta to address the key issues facing the VAS industry in the region. Co-hosted with Indosat, Global Strategies for Mobile VAS Compliance saw more than 120 people in attendance, including 19 affected MEF members spanning the region, consisting of content providers, record labels, Indonesian industry associations and network operators among others. While it was clear the industry is suffering badly and businesses have been destroyed due to the actions of a few rogue companies, the mood of the one day programme was positive. MEF’s objective is …

Indonesian VAS Update – Join us in Jakarta, February 16th

MEF has announced a special one-day event co-hosted by Indosat on February 16th in Jakarta as a follow-up to on-going regulatory action to discuss the future of the Indonesian VAS market.As you may recall, following concerns of widespread consumer harm in October last year all VAS subscription billing services were shut down on the direction of the Indonesian Ministry of Telecoms. As a global regulatory champion and independent intermediary, MEF has been proactively supporting collaboration between the local regulator BRTI and the industry ever since to actively resolve the situation and …

Indonesian Value Added Services Market in Crisis – MEF takes action

 Colin Miles moderates a panel at Next Billion event in Jakarta MEF is calling for its members affected by the recent regulatory upheaval in Indonesia to get in touch to collaborate on a project to clarify the compliance process for value added services (VAS) following a near complete shutdown of the industry in the region. If your business has been affected,  contact MEF to contribute to crucial activity underway to remedy the situation there, and help shape the future of the VAS market in the region.As of midnight, October 18 2011, all VAS subscription billing services were switched off …