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Internet
shops, banks and software companies are trying to find more ways
to make you buy when you
log on.
Now they are offering electronic cash, and e-cash. What are they?
Credit
cards and cheques, when used for Internet transactions, are
sometimes called electronic cash. But real electronic cash –
currency that has no representation in the real world – is a new
development and is not yet
widespread. How does it work?
You
set up an account with a bank and then, when you buy something
online, you authorise the transfer of your money from the account
to the store. With this method, you don’t have to use a credit
card.
Pure e-cash is different to ‘electronic cash’ because you use
it just like cash in the real world. You
withdraw
e-cash from a bank account to your computer, and it is then yours
to spend when and how you want. When you use it,
the vendor
does not need your credit card or bank details. When the vendor
receives your e-cash, they can put it in their own bank account,
or spend it themselves.
Security is a
growing worry for those buying over the internet.
Will your personal details be safe? Or will dishonest hackers
steal your electronic information, and use it to spend thousands
of pounds, dollars or yen at your expense?
It isn’t just the buyers who need to be
cautious.
An online music shop in London, UK, sent a rare and very expensive
electric guitar to a Japanese buyer, only to realise too late that
the buyer's credit card was stolen.
Many companies are working on ways to make internet transactions
safer, and now Microsoft and IBM have announced with Visa and
Mastercard a standard they call ‘Secure Electronic
Transaction’.
SET is meant to guarantee secure credit card
transactions over the internet.
Some
people wonder whether the same attention should be given to real
world transactions. ‘You happily
hand over your credit card to a
shopkeeper for him to take an imprint of it,’ says Trevor
Parker, a security analyst, ‘which seems very
risky. And giving
credit card details over the internet is probably safer than
reading them out over the phone.’
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log on: start a computer
(entras en sesión, ingresas a una computadora)
widespread: widely accepted (extendido, popular)
set up: open up, establish (abres, estableces)
withdraw: remove funds from a bank account (retiras)
the vendor: someone who exchanges goods or services for money (el vendedor,
la vendedora) |
growing worry: increasing concern (preocupación en
aumento)
cautious: showing precaution (cuidadosos, precavidos)
safer: free from danger (más seguras)
SET: Secure Electronic Transaction (Transacción
Electrónica Segura)
hand over: give (le entregas, le das)
risky: insecure (arriesgado, inseguro) |
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