E-comm facility showcased to UK education sector

Friday 28 March 2003

A pioneering e-commerce facility allowing students and other customers of the University of St Andrews to pay for goods or services on-line is being showcased to educational institutions from throughout the UK today (Friday 28 March 2003).

The workshop, attended by around 80 representatives from 40 colleges and universities throughout the country, is demonstrating St Andrews E- Commerce Facility (SAEF) which is thought to be unique in the UK higher and further education sector.

SAEF is a 24 hour, web-based facility which eliminates manual credit/debit card processing by integrating with existing finance systems. Since its launch, there have been more than 5000 transactions with over £3.6 million collected on-line.

SAEF was recently highly commended in the Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association (UCISA) “Award for Excellence¿. This accolade recognises and highlights levels of excellence in the area of systems integration and administration. UCISA represents the whole of UK higher education in the provision and development of academic, management and administrative information systems, providing a network of contacts and a powerful lobbying voice.

The event, opened by University of St Andrews Principal and Vice- Chancellor Dr Brian Lang, will highlight the benefits and raise awareness of the potential of e- commerce to other institutions.

Dr Lang said, “The University is pleased to be at the leading edge of promotion of e-commerce options. Using new technology in this way creates value for money, convenience and a mutually beneficial and healthy customer- led approach. The University is always determined to be among the leaders in high-quality service and this is one further way in which the high quality of our teaching and research is reflected in the other services we offer.”

SAEF has two key components – an “electronic shop” provided by a piece of shopping basket software called Intershop and a Payment Service Provider (PSP) provided by the company WorldPay, who are sponsoring the workshop to the tune of £500 and will be giving a demonstration of their electronic direct debits system. The shop displays over 300 “products”, together with their price, stock level and a brief description. Products include everything from accommodation fees to chocolate cake! Many of the products, including accommodation and tuition fees, can be bought “self- service” – ie. via the web from anywhere in the world.

WorldPay deals with the secure on- line processing of credit/debit cards. Their system acts as an interface between the “shop” and the Bank of Scotland, providing a quick and seamless way of authorising card payments on-line. WorldPay has almost 10 years experience in Internet payments and is an expert in securely processing multi-currency payments. Their solutions provide on-line retailers with a quick and seamless way of accepting card payments from all over the world.

Phil Battison, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Managing Director at WorldPay said, “Purchasing via the Internet is convenient and, when companies such as WorldPay are processing the payments, provides additional security for the shopper’s personal details. We commend St Andrews on their efforts to raise awareness of the benefits that e- commerce can deliver, and expect other higher education facilities to follow their innovative lead”.

The system can be viewed at: http://www.st- andrews.ac.uk/services/finance/Tuit ionAndResidenceFeePages/StudyinginS tAndrews.htm.

More details on the workshop can be viewed at: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~e- pay/workshopnew.shtml.

ENDS

NOTE TO EDITORS

You are invited to send a reporter/photographer to the workshop at Lower College Hall, St Salvator’s Quad, North Street, St Andrews on Friday 28 March 2003. PLEASE INFORM CLAIRE GRAINGER – 01334 462529 – OF ANY SECTION OF THE EVENT WHICH REPORTERS/PHOTOGRAPHERS WISH TO ATTEND.

PROGRAMME:

10.00am – Arrival and Coffee

10.30am – Welcome and introduction by Dr Brian Lang, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, University of St Andrews

11.00 am – Brief description of the card payment process before e- commerce and outline of the University’s finance systems

11.30 am – Description and demonstration of St Andrews E- commerce Facility (SAEF)

12.30pm – Buffet lunch in Lower College Hall

1.30pm – Problems and issues related to the introduction of e- commerce

2.30pm – Demonstration of IPDD (Electronic Direct Debits) by WorldPay

3.00pm – Questions and discussion

3.30pm – Coffee and departure

Issued by Beattie Media on behalf of the University of St Andrews For more information please contact: Claire Grainger on 01334 462530, 07730 415 015 or email cg24@st- andrews.ac.uk View University press releases on- line at http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk Ref: e- commerce/standrews/chg/27march2003

ABOUT WORLDPAY

WorldPay (www.worldpay.com) was founded in 1993 and, throughout its history, has consistently developed innovative and secure Internet-based products and services. Today, as the globally acknowledged and trusted leader in secure, multilingual and multi- currency Internet payment solutions, WorldPay enables over 21,000 global customers to sell to shoppers around the globe – in the language and currency of their choice.

WorldDirect, WorldPay’s multi- currency payment system is integrated to all the leading e- commerce storebuilding applications, including its own Click and Build. Other WorldPay services include repeat billing solution FuturePay.

Through its unique Guarantee, WorldPay makes international online transactions easy, safe and reliable by offering online businesses protection against card fraud, and shoppers’ peace of mind that they are buying with confidence from WorldPay Guaranteed online stores. Based in Cambridge, UK, WorldPay’s Asia Pacific regional centre is in Singapore and its Americas centre is Sterling, Virginia, USA. It also has operations in Germany and South Africa.

WorldPay is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc.


Category Business

Related topics

Share this story