Ah Bee: What is E-money?
Answers and Views:
Answer by Kaska
A wild guess?
Money generated on-line that can be used for purchases on-line.
I got curious. Here it is.
E-Money
03.20.01
By Susan Holly
We’ve all heard the futuristic scenarios: You’re driving along, and there’s a McDonald’s on the next block. Your cell phone beeps, sending you a message about a special on Big Macs. You push a button on the phone to place your order and buzz past the drive-through; an electronic transponder on your windshield records the sale. You grab your burger at the window and leave—and you didn’t even have to dig around in your seat cushions for loose change. Later, you receive a monthly statement that shows all your burger (and other) e-transactions.
This scenario is not so far-fetched. In fact, McDonald’s is testing a system in southern California where customers can use the same transponders that pay highway tolls to pay for burgers and fries. In parts of Europe, people use their cell phones to buy sodas from vending machines. In Hong Kong, commuters swipe cards in front of electronic readers to pay for train fares or their morning newspapers.
All of these examples of mobile e-commerce hint at the potential of electronic money, or e-money—digital cash that moves outside the traditional network of banks, checks, and paper currency. E-money lets online and wireless shoppers pay for merchandise by directly debiting their bank accounts through electronic payment systems that include person-to-person transactions, digital wallets, smart cards, and Internet currency.
People like the convenience of these systems, and they’re starting to trust the new methods. Although mobile e-commerce is a perfect application for cashless cash, the Internet is where e-money now stands to make its biggest inroads yet. With more ways to pay for items electronically, e-commerce transactions are drawing more consumers because of its flexibility. That is in turn driving smart Internet businesses to take notice of this new e-money trend.
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