A CDE Definition

(Qpass Inc., Seattle, WA) A software provider that specialized in managing the full cycle of activities for business systems and value-added data services for wireless carriers and network operators. Its offering included content partner relationships, authentication, transaction management, access control, billing, settlement and customer care.

Founded in 1997, Qpass started out as a Web payments service in which the Qpass servers contained the digital wallet information necessary to complete purchases. It was the first company to host a full e-commerce system shared by participating merchants that appeared to be part of the merchant's own site. In 2004, the company acquired Dublin-based Altamedius, a well known European payment provider, in order to be able to offer this service to its mobile commerce clientele. In 2006, Qpass was acquired by Amdocs Ltd. See Web payments service.

An online service that manages the transfer of funds from a customer to the merchant of an e-commerce website. The money may come from a prepaid account or credit card stored in a digital wallet in the user's device or stored in the service's datacenter.

Credit Cards and PayPal
In the late 1990s, many people were reluctant to pay for merchandise online via their credit cards. In addition, it was believed that information would be widely sold for a few cents (micropayments) per article. As a result, several payment systems emerged to make online payments more reassuring than credit cards. Most of them have faded or evolved into parts of other financial systems. Today, credit cards are widely used online, and PayPal has also endured with its various money transfer methods. See mobile payments service, PayPal, Bitcoin, Brodia, CyberCash, e-cash, eCharge, InternetCash, iPIN, Qpass, Windows Live ID and 1ClickCharge.