Electronic+Cash

__Electronic Cash__

The twenty-first century way to pay is by electronic or digital cash (also known as E-cash), Electronic cash as the name suggests is a term used to refer to virtual money which can be exchanged for real money at any time it was introduced as a safer means for keeping large sums of money with you instead of carrying hundreds of notes with you you simply carry a card or on your mobile phone.  Rather than send a check, a buyer can send electronic cash over the Internet in encoded email. This convenience has made electronic pay systems like [|Pay Pal] extremely popular with online auction sites where individuals are buying from one another. A person can even send e-cash to a child at college or to a family member or friend who lives across town or on the other side of the world.  Electronic cash is not always protected in the case of theft or fraud like credit cards are. In a recent case, a dealer who knew how to get around the system scammed several Yahoo! auction participants who used Pay Pal. They were originally told there was no way to recover their funds, but after much publicity, the money was refunded.
 * __How does it work:__**

Electronic cash is basically a code or a number which represents a certain amount of money, from a certain location in the digital world. these numbers are transmitted from one computer to another. They function much like the serial numbers on "real money." They are unique, and represent a specific amount of actual cash.

The numbers are encrypted and then sent to the destination where the decryption key is, when it arrives it will be decrypted into actual cash which can be placed into another account, it is a crucial part of Electronic Funds Transfer or (EFT).


 * __Pros of Electronic Cash:__**


 * As long as you have access to the Internet, you can access your electronic cash and perform transfers, and in some cases deposit money.
 * The speed of transactions also increases as there are less humans involved and more machines, so it is faster for both the bank and the customers.
 * Transactions are all recorded in a database, so a person does not have to keep wondering when and for what purpose one has spent money.


 * __Cons of Electronic Cash:__**
 * E-cash suffers from the same faults as emails, personal computers, which is to say that viruses can infect the encrypted numbers as they are being sent to the reciever, and if the recieving end does not have proper Anti-Virus software it can lead to more infections.
 * Hackers can also break into user's account if they are skilled enough and transact cash or personal information if they are skilled enough and/or the person doesn't have proper Anti-virus software.