ECML

Electronic commerce frequently requires a substantial exchange of information in order to complete a purchase or other transaction, especially the first time the parties communicate. A standard set of hierarchically-organized payment-related information field names in an XML syntax is defined so that this task can be more easily automated. This is the second version of an Electronic Commerce Modeling Language (ECML) and is intended to meet the requirements of RFC 3505. [STANDARDS-TRACK]

This document lists the design principles, scope, and requirements for the Electronic Commerce Modeling Language (ECML) version 2 specification. It includes requirements as they relate to Extensible Markup Language (XML) syntax, data model, format, and payment processing. This memo provides information for the Internet community.

Customers are frequently required to enter substantial amounts of information at an Internet merchant site in order to complete a purchase or other transaction, especially the first time they go there. A standard set of information fields is defined as the first version of an Electronic Commerce Modeling Language (ECML) so that this task can be more easily automated, for example by wallet software that could fill in fields. Even for the manual data entry case, customers will be less confused by varying merchant sites if a substantial number adopt these standard fields. In addition, some fields are defined for merchant to consumer communication. This memo provides information for the Internet community.