Electronic Currency

If this is true that money makes the world go around, does the world spin faster when money can circle the globe in a fraction of a second? “Money” itself a combination of factors, such as coins or paper, negotiable bonds, and now bits of data residing on computer servers or pulses of light pulses through fiber-optic network. Electronic currency (also known as e-money, electronic cash, electronic currency, digital money, digital cash or digital currency) is a script or money which only exchange electronically.

Most money in today’s world is electronic, and tangible cash is becoming less frequent. As a result of the use of internet / online banking, debit cards, online bill payment and internet business, paper money has become a thing of the past. Banks now offer many services to enable customers to transfer funds, contribute to their retirement plans (such as the Canadian Registered Retirement Savings Plan), purchase shares and provide various other services without having to handle physical cash or checks. Customers do not have to wait; this provides a lower-hassle environment. Furthermore, debit cards and online bill payment can immediately transfer funds from the personal account to a business’s account without any actual paper transfer of money. This provides a great convenience to consumers and businesses alike.

Although there are benefits points to digital cash, there are also significant weaknesses. These embrace fraud, failure of technology, as far as possible to track the loss of personal and interpersonal. Indeed, fraud over digital cash has become a pressing issue in recent years. Intrusion to bank accounts and bank records has led to a broad invasion of privacy and has promoted the identity theft. Moreover, there is also an imperative issue regarding the technology involved in digital cash. Power failures, loss of records and undependable software often cause a major setback in promoting the technology. Privacy issues have also been raised; there is a fear that the use of debit cards and the others electronic currency will lead to the creation by the banking industry of a global tracking system. IT researchers are working on anonymous electronic currency to try to address this privacy question.
Whilst there are continued resistances, many consumers enjoy the benefits of electronic currency. Yet, fraud, hacker, privacy and the like problem need to be resolved and provided the additional safety precautions.

http://www.kentlaw.edu/honorsscholars/2002students/jhsp.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_currency
http://www.solarnavigator.net/venture_capital/electronic_money_transfers.htm
http://www.chicagofed.org/publications/electronicmoney/electronicmoney.pdf