Big data, the future of commerce and better regulating the payments sector was the topic of discussion at a presentation delivered by Associate General Counsel for eBay Inc, Steven Liew, at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore titled Digital Asia: Technology, Commerce and Payments Policy. The audience included more than 70 representatives from the diplomatic corps, academics, and government policy makers.

Mr Liew outlined how Asia is at the forefront of growth in the eCommerce space and is poised to overtake North America as the region with the highest business-to-consumer e-commerce sales in 2013. Mr Liew also spoke on how digital commerce and payments should be regulated in this new era of big data, and elaborated how this technology can be leveraged to increase productivity, drive competition and protect consumers.

“We need to take a risk based approach to issues like Know Your Customer (KYC), and put in place a holistic view that uses multiple data points,” Mr Liew said.

“These data points could include your IP address, your smart device’s unique identification code, your geo-location based on the nearest WiFi’s IP address and GPS. We can also look at your social graph based on the social network you are on and the connections you have online. 

“With front-facing cameras on your smartphones, we don’t need face-to-face interaction to see if you are really who you claim you are.

“Regulations surrounding the payments sector needs to change,” concluded Mr Liew.