E-cash is short for electronic cash and is a vital part of the electronic commerce evolution. Actually, most of the major monetary transactions which take place in this country are done electronically and have been done that way for many years. Transfers of funds between banks are done electronically. More and more consumer transactions are done via credit card charges, which are electronic transactions accompanied by a paper receipt. In a few years electronic funds transfers will be the default way the federal government will deal with its supply chain, and this will also be the wave of the future for commercial companies as well.
Companies doing retail business on the Internet usually facilitate a number of paying options, with electronic payments the desired medium for both speed and convenience. Although encryption schemes are making credit card and debit card transactions much more popular, there is a desire to come up with a cash equivalent which facilitates small transactions below $10, and does not require that the flow of funds be identified. To accomplish this many e-cash schemes have been devised. Most require that the electronic cash be paid for in advance, and then loaded digitally into a computer, an electronic device such as Bill Gates'"electronic wallet" or even encoded into a magnetic strip on a credit card type tally device. The idea is that the mechanism receives a front loaded authorization like a postage meter, and then the balance is reduced with every transaction. E-cash schemes can enable restrictions on the expenditure so, for example, cards issued to school children could only be used to purchase lunches.
The future may yield a number of ways to replace paper money and coins with e-cash. The present thrust of electronic commerce has already brought e-cash players to the forefront. Under these schemes, the concept is to download digital cash from a bank to your computer where you can make purchases on-line, and either pay directly or have the vendor submit the digital voucher to your bank for verification and payment. Regardless of the mode or modes chosen, the primary caution will be to insure that e-cash cannot be stolen or counterfeited. Digital cash is also encrypted and identified so that it cannot be copied and spent many times or destroyed if you have a hard disk crash or mistakenly delete your e-cash file. Web Info: www.bell-labs.com/www-buyinfo/