E-commerce deals to increase massively by 2020. According to a recent study by the Boston Consulting Group, the global growth in e-commerce will increase by more than 15% a year by 2022. It is expected to reach a figure of $1.1 trillion this year, leading to an annual rise of almost 8% in the volume of dematerialised payments. By 2020, the study is anticipating the number of business transactions in the different regions as follows: 253.5 billion in the US (compared to 133.9 billion in 2012); 78.8 billion in South America (35.1 billion in 2012); 103.6 billion in West Europe (77.7 billion in 2012); 54.7 billion in Eastern Europe (24.9 billion in 2012); 40.8 billion and North Africa (4.7 billion in 2012); 64.7 billion in Asia-Pacific (46.9 billion in 2012); 108.6 billion in developing Asian Pacific countries (as opposed to 34.7 billion in 2012). For the rest of the world, Boston Consulting Group is anticipating the number of e-commerce transactions increasing from the current 6.4 billion to 17.8 billion over the same period. (IL/transl.fl)