Internet merchant accounts could be losing millions of pounds every week from online billing solution users, due to poor spelling.

Online entrepreneur Charles Duncombe has told the BBC that website spelling mistakes made by staff, not technology, are the biggest barrier to internet sales.

After conducting an experiment, the owner of clothing, travel and mobile phone websites claimed that revenue was calculated to be twice as high once a grammatical error was corrected.

Mr Duncombe told the news site: "Millions of pounds worth of business is probably being lost each week due to simple spelling mistakes."

Employee skills such as reading and writing could cause a loss of payment processing users for direct merchant accounts, which could cause many businesses to think carefully about hiring.

A serious skills shortage and lack of basic qualifications in some UK regions were found to be driving huge labour market divisions, according to a report from the Confederation of British Industry.
 

Moneybookers has been chosen by Retail Decisions (ReD), as one of its new payment processing options.

The world leader in payment fraud prevention and payment processing has added six new payment methods to its service, after consumer feedback found there was a demand for multiple online billing solutions.

Carl Clump, chief executive officer of ReD, claimed that the organisation had to take into consideration the changing preferences of internet merchant account holders and online retailers as well as consumer needs.

"Payment preferences vary dramatically across cultures. For example, in the US and UK the trend is the growing use of debit cards, rather than credit cards, but in the Far East many people use eWallets to pay for items ordered online," Mr Clump added.

US software company IP Commerce recently entered into a partnership with ReD to provide smaller direct merchants and developers with ReD Shield, which delivers payment fraud protection.
 

Debit card payment processing is the UK's favourite form of money transfer, according to new data released by the Payments Council.

The research showed that debit card spending has increased by 10.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2011, compared to 2010.

Credit card payments grew by 1.5 per cent, while more traditional payment methods such as cheques showed a 30 per cent decrease in consumer usage in the past three years.

Sandra Quinn, director of communications for the Payments Council, explained that retail categories such as petrol, food and clothing were the most popular consumer purchases made in the first three months of 2011.

Ms Quinn added: "The first quarter was slightly stronger than the end of 2010, but, in line with falling GDP forecasts for 2011, is weaker than many hoped. While the switch in spending to debit cards continues, overall growth looks good."

Figures released by the British Retail Consortium this week showed that debit card payments may be experiencing an increase in popularity, due to hidden surcharges for the online payment processing of credit cards.
 

Online payments have been returned to consumers who failed to receive their purchased goods from an online shopping provider.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) took court action against rogue site Arora Tech Limited, as well as subsidiary companies ESave2Day, Shop4Tek.com and PricebustersUK, after public complaints were made.

Computer software and hardware products were either not dispatched or supplied several months late.

Refunds were frequently not given when cancellations were made, which is against consumer rights laws requiring internet merchant account holders to provide advertised goods within 30 days or return online payments.

Jason Freeman, director of the OFT's Goods and Consumer Group, claimed: "This court order should send a clear message to traders that they must comply with their obligations under consumer law or risk court proceedings."

Today the European Parliament will be voting on whether to implement new consumer protection rules to all purchases made online and in store.
 

Sony's digital rights management policies could have increased its chances of receiving an online attack, according to MWR Info Security.

Video games are increasingly being targeting by hackers, leading to fears over the reliability of secure online payments made through the sites.

Ian Shaw, managing director of MWR InforSecurity, claimed: "The original focus on Sony as a target was probably down to their rather aggressive stance on people who were cracking the [PS3] console's other sorts of security controls they have in place."

Mr Shaw described how digital rights management policies that are deemed too strict by gamers can encourage hackers to try and prove their talent, gaining international press coverage.

A recent spate of online gaming attacks has taken place this month, by hacking collective LulzSec.

The group has so far successfully attacked games websites such as Minecraft and League of Legends, as well as leading US sites for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and parts of the US Senate network.
 

Social network users are becoming increasingly confused as to how to prevent unwanted money transfers made through hidden payment gateways.

Con Mallon, director of regional product marketing at Norton, claimed that cyber attacks are becoming more sophisticated despite consumers being better educated of the risks.

Mr Mallon said: "I think when they've been reading emails they're kind of aware of looking out for dodgy looking attachments or spelling or grammar mistakes."

However he added that when viewing links on social networking sites "it's very, very difficult to determine if that really is [an attack]".

Symantec announced in April that social networking sites are becoming an increasingly problematic attack distribution platform for security providers and users.

The security study highlighted a 93 per cent increase in web-based attacks, with social networking hackers posting millions of links on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, to attempt to trick consumers into spreading phishing and malware infections.
 

Smaller companies have the opportunity to receive more business through online payments if they expand their IT understanding, according to knowthenet.org.uk.

According to the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG), the value of the UK internet retail market has grown dramatically from £0.8 billion in 2000 to £5.8 billion in 2010, representing the shift from high street to ecommerce.

A recent poll conducted by knowthenet.org.uk showed that over half of small businesses revealed that they were making money online, however its site director Phil Kingsland believes this percentage should be higher.

Mr Kingsland claimed: "For many small businesses, taking the time to read around developments in web technology and growing their understanding of how they can tie this into their business could make a huge difference."

He added that large online businesses are receiving a significant proportion of their turnover through secure online shopping, a development smaller businesses should seek to take imitate.
 

Millions of people in Britain could stand to benefit from international money transfer platforms, newly-compiled statistics suggest.

According to the latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of people living in the UK who were born overseas has doubled over the past 20 years.

Indeed, it is believed that around one in eight people living in the country was born elsewhere, with many of these likely to have family overseas and thereby be likely to benefit from international money transfers.

Reporting on the figures, the Daily Telegraph has noted that Britain now has a higher-proportion of non-natives than both Italy and France, with David Cameron expected to come under even-greater pressure to address the issue of immigration.

At the same time, however, the deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has argued against the possible introduction of tough new immigration rules, telling the BBC that the issue is not simply a 'numbers game'.
 

Money transfers could be on way of making the start of a new life abroad a little bit easier.

Expatriate advice website Shelter Offshore has suggested that middle-aged people who have become disillusioned with matters could consider a "midlife relaunch" instead of a midlife crisis.

To do this, the site said: "You need to begin by thinking about where you would like to live in order that you can enjoy the quality of life you want.

"Then you need to think about how you will maintain and support yourself and your family when you move to that location."

It added that getting the practical aspects of the relocation right will help "to truly reap the benefits available".

Money transfers may be one way of making these things that bit simpler.

They can be set up on line to transfer funds internationally.

Not only will they avoid the high foreign exchange fees regularly charged by banks, but they are also likely to prove more convenient.