Translated material
Electronic cache
Firstly, the layer of the virtual population that has plastic cards, and bank accounts in general, is too thin. Secondly, even a buyer with “plastic”, taught by bitter experience and high-profile scandals associated with fraud on the Internet, is careful not to expose to the entire Internet the most cherished thing - card information that gives access to his account. Thirdly, there is still no legal basis for the use of the so-called electronic signature, which makes the transfer of money from account to account somewhat safer.
However, there are already several payment systems on the RuNet that provide workarounds around all these obstacles. The research company Laminfo names among them CyberPlat (based on the ASSIST system), PayCash, Webmoney Transfer, ElIT, to which it is also worth adding the recently emerged e-port system, which joined CyberPlat.
CyberPlat is the brainchild of Platina Bank, which was recently spun off into a separate company. The system operates on the basis of the ASSIST program from the St. Petersburg company Reksoft.
Payment for purchases using plastic from the world's leading systems and the Russian Union Card requires registration of the buyer with the bank. However, information about it is not transmitted to the store. In the store, the buyer fills a virtual basket, after which his solvency is checked by the bank, which gives permission to make the payment and transfers the money.
Created by IT for Avtobank, the ElIT system is also focused on “plastic” payments, regardless of the banks that issued the cards. Having received a unique name and password, the buyer can go shopping from any computer connected to the Internet, and not just from his home “personal computer”.
Among the advantages of ElIT, Laminfo cites its openness for use with any accounting and warehouse programs that the virtual store is equipped with, and the possibility of statistical analysis of information.
The PayCash system, developed at the St. Petersburg Tavrichesky bank, is fundamentally different from the previous ones in that all payments are carried out using a special “Wallet” program. With its help, the future buyer opens a bank account from his home computer and transfers money to it in any available way. To pay through PayCash, the buyer creates one or more payment “books” on his computer using the “Wallet”, to which he transfers the required amounts from his account as needed. Thus, payment is made anonymously and directly from the computer.
Laminfo researchers warn that PayCash uses “electronic cash”, which, like regular paper money, can be lost if the buyer’s computer “crashes” or is stolen. In this case, he will lose the amount that he has already transferred to the computer and did not have time to spend.
The Webmoney Transfer system was conceived for Internet users who do not have the opportunity or desire to use credit cards. Here, as in PayCash, payments are made using a special program, WebMoney Keeper. Here, too, funds are stored in “wallets”, which, however, are located in special accounts at the bank. You can pay with them only in stores that accept Webmoney as payment. Recently, with the help of special scratch cards sold in Moscow and St. Petersburg, it has become possible to launch the system and top up “wallets.” The guarantor for ruble payments is the non-profit organization "VM-Center"I, which has accounts in the Moscow Grado Bank, and for dollar payments - the American IMTB Inc., which is serviced by the Bank of Cyprus.
“Wallets” can be created for one-time use and destroyed immediately after the transaction is completed. The system allows the buyer to give the store permission to transfer money only after the product has been delivered and the customer is satisfied with its quality.
Standing completely apart in this series are the e-port scratch cards issued by the Avtocard Holding company, which began its card business by creating a system of non-cash card payments at Moscow gas stations.
The advantages of scratch cards over credit cards are their anonymity during payments, the inaccessibility of personal information about the owners and, therefore, a low risk of fraud. Having erased the protective layer, the user gains access to the card number and PIN code, with which he can top up his account on the e-port “home page” via the Internet. Preparations are now underway for the inclusion of e-port cards in the CyberPlat system. There is information that the creators of PayCash are also interested in them.