Signed with black mark

It has so historically happened that the representatives of the American nation proudly walk ahead the whole planet in sphere of technological development of civilizations. Everything began in far 1946 when John Biggins, the specialist on consumer credit from Flatbush national bank, has offered “Charge it” payment system according to which the shops accepted the buyers’ receipts which then handed to bank for funds draw down from the clients’ accounts. Having fabulous flair for the demands of economically active population Biggins has jauntily opened a massive door to the big epoch of cashless settlement in B2C sphere, and later, in a new century as well in P2P. Such format of payment development has set a pace for the next half century and during it only improved the execution of the worked algorithm. Later only types of cards, protection systems, principles of data coding changed, and the most important, the sphere of plastic cards application has been extended. It so happened that the small footpath laid only to the selected shops on which in 50s of passed century the plastic card has walked, in 90s years has turned into multi-line highway on which the millions of financial streams working on a platform of plastic have rushed with a big traffic in different directions. Internet became the apotheosis of development of the plastic card industry, having created a good drainage for packing of payment services with use of cards. It is interesting to notice, that if today in the USA only the newborns have no cards in many countries of the world the network of world leaders Visa and MasterCard only extends. And in Russia one can still hear the assurances of some officers that system of plastic card use, which actually become ancient, appeared to be “tomorrow’s technology”.

And probably, the world community would still wait when everyone gets the notorious plastic but suddenly in 2007 there was an event that was the first alarm bell for the industry of cards. The thing that a number of analysts predicted to occur in far future has taken place. However, in April, 2007 according to on data of US FRS, they noticed the reduction of plastic cards use. So April turnovers on credit cards have fallen up to $2,4 billion, or up to 15 % relatively to the last month parameters. Certainly, one of the reasons is the increase of US FRS refinancing rate, however there is an opinion, that the more fundamental factors can also be the reasons. In fact electronic money are close on the heels of plastic cards for already 10 years, trying to replace in market any financial means for realization of payments.

It is interesting, that the reduction of plastic card turnover has suddenly taken place exactly in the USA. Card founders appeared to be the hostages of this system and now actively establish their financial locomotive to e-gold and pay pal rail, one wheel for each system rail. Having a personal EPS account, today almost every American man at realization of financial operation begins to think about the question that has already become the standard one “plastic or electronic money?”. To answer this question, we’ll try to analyze the whole industry to understand the priorities handled by the user. So, why does the scale regress in the "plastic" industry is planned? …

First of all let’s have a look at the tasks that the person, possessing this or that means of payment, puts forward. Mainly the user needs the following:
Minimum expenses and time necessary for payment realization
Safety, reliability and confidentiality
Convenience of use
Maximum wide field of payment use
Possibility of payment means application to P2P to sphere

Now let’s see how do the electronic currency and cards meet the listed criteria.
Taking into account that fact, that one can use plastic card to pay in cash dispensers and in Internet, it appears that plastic cards begin to lose their position on the start because of time consumption. If to take into account the time you need to reach the nearest cash dispenser and the number of minutes we spend while wandering in imperfect ATM menu it turns out that even during those 30 seconds that cash dispenser requires for card intake and output we can pay for everything without removing of palm from the mouse. If you take a plastic card for realization of operations in Internet you need to be patient while dialing of card number, CVV2, your full name and sometimes other information. Probably this method suits somebody but very often time is too valuable to waste it for useless data dialing.

We should agree beforehand that at for time saving in financial operations we need to choose Internet platform for their realization. And though the technology of card payment aspires to the maximum reduction of the data amount to be entered into system, but anyway the input of the information, less in content than data on your full name, CVV2, number of a card and its validity is out of practice because of abrupt decrease safety level. But in general even such format is absolutely imperfect. In fact for realization of some roguish plan any person whether he is bank worker or simply the malefactor, who is in contact with card needs simply take a card into his hands for some seconds and remember its data, let alone the thing that one can set on a computer some espionage program that records everything that is entered from the keyboard. Besides in safety issues plastic initially is not capable to be better than electronic money as it has a natural material. And the maximum that the card owner can do is to work only with the reliable partners and to remember PIN codes. And the owners of several cards should remember many of them.

In comparison with the plastic the users of electronic money can provide themselves with a higher indicator of safety and reliability. So if at today's opportunities one requires one week for decoding of the stolen and unblocked card without smart chip, the cryptography in EPS developed to the level at which it is actually impossible to find a key to the accounts and purses. Besides, every person can adjust the level of safety himself. The developers of any EPS will tell to you that if the data for account entering is kept on memory stick, and the password is changed weekly, and also after each serious transaction, risk to lose you own money doesn’t exist. However, it is necessary to say that safety, first of all, it is provided for whose who thinks precisely all the operations over, who works with reliable partners, who controls the spam coming to his letter box and who have heard anything even in general about fishing. In fact very often the user due to his carelessness himself gives the malefactors a ladder by means of which those can easily overcome the safety wall that was so thoroughly constructed by the affected person. And it worth notice that the segment of users who strictly limits itself by the payments with the help of plastic through the Internet gets on a fishing tackle of swindlers with the greater probability, rather than the owners of EPS account. There is an opinion, that here works the factor according to which the people using and understanding technologies of electronic money heighten their level of competence in calculations via Internet, in comparison to the card holders who just realized that the cartridge for their favourite printer or the TV can be bought without leaving their houses. And exactly these persons are the targets of fishing attacks during which very often the card owner due to his ignorance provides the swindlers with the logins and passwords himself. And the owners of electronic purses, as a rule, "grasp the idea" as soon as start to operate in virtual economy.

But when the issue concerns the confidentiality, as a matter of fact, electronic money acts as the executioner of technology of plastic card use. In fact the commotion with account opening, passport presenting, the currency control and with the well-known 115th federal law “On counteraction to legalization (washing up) of the incomes received in the criminal way, and financing of terrorism”, causing a sharp chronic spasm in all parts of the bankers’ bodies and the clients putting into bank the large sums, opposes a simple and convenient way to fill up an electronic purse by tens different methods, beginning from entering funds into account at any automatic device nearest to your house and finishing stopping by the special input offices. It is possible also, that very soon one can fill up his purse in any street exchange office. However the most important, that the operations on transfer of funds from you account into account of your partner will take just a couple of minutes and doesn’t require documents presenting because for both of you it is only the operation on money transfer from one purse into another, even if its volume is valued by the hundred thousand dollars.. The same operation on funds transfer from plastic to plastic will result you directly to 115th federal law according to which in Russia all operations present the sum which “equal or more than 600000 roubles, or is equal to the sum a foreign currency equal to 600000 roubles, or more” is subject to the control by the state bodies. It is necessary to notice also, that the law has undergone some changes in November, having replenished with new rigid amendments in relation to the structures, carrying out the contract of financing under a concession of the monetary requirement, that in practice means toughening of measures for the financial agents who realize the funds transfer from one person to another, for the goods or services rendered to the buyer.

The similar situation is now observed and in other countries of the world. And, new instructions sometimes have some paranoid shades which are reflected in every possible ways on various restrictions and limits in relation to plastic cards. Russia that till October, 12, 2002 was in “the black list” of FATF where present the countries which don’t cooperate in struggle against washing up of capitals, has felt influence of the international organizations more than anyone else. All this basically is reflected in bank sphere, giving odds to the development to electronic money.
The big trace on the big bank surface covered by plastic cards, also was left by the Patriotic Act, entered in the USA in 2001, and directed against the terrorist activity. In reality the given document in its basis should completely put under the control the USA all operations which can in some indirect way concern the incomes washing up. In practice it was resulted in the thing that “non-residents of United States” as it is told in the law, will be exposed to all checks. And such measures have found the status of antinational, as according to the Patriotic Act the persons including the citizens of the USA that raise some suspicions can be exposed to a search without any warning that contradicts the Constitution the USA.

Arguing on scale of application of plastic cards and electronic money, at the given stage, it is possible to agree, that the first one are surely go ahead. However, this phenomenon can be explained by very little age of a electronic finance epoch in the Internet and by the mentality of the population, which naturally needs some time to realize the possibilities of electronic commerce and payment systems. But dynamics of replacing the volume of plastic calculations for the benefit of electronic money will surely take place as the only trump in a pack of plastic cards is the technology of contactless payment such as PayPass, which will present the nearest 5-10 years. According to the statements of the developers, now it will be possible to pay in shops, only leaning your card to the special device without spending time for reception of change. But the founders of this technology have forgotten that if electronic commerce develops as it happens today, the significant segment of people will not stand in shops at all, and will prefer to make purchases in the Internet as shopping takes a plenty of time the value of which grows every year.
Probably one will object that the technology of contactless payment will find the appendix in instant calculations in transport and similar terminals of payment, but, there is an opinion that it will be easier to create system where which similar transaction will take place by means of phone that is connected to the Internet - purse of the owner and which writing off the funds means from the account via wifi or 3G, that can work in the underground.
Owing to the aforesaid it is too early to speak about last chord of plastic cards. The payment systems that operate on the basis of plastic cards use function very organized and coordinated the constructed, solving the tasks that the mankind required for a long time by means of the existing tools. But it is necessary to recognize, that we live when the cleverest people of a planet and the whole teams of programmers, using all achievements of a modern science and technologies, write for world business and for from us our tomorrow's day. Due to their diligence electronic money for 10 years of their existence have passed a way and have won the popularity which the plastic had earned for tens years. And if such dynamics of development will be kept, the electronic finance will enter our life, having left the plastic cards only a small segment of the world market.

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