Electronic Currency
Electronic currency or cashless transactions are transactions done or made electronically without the use of cash. Usually, users of electronic currency are provided with a plastic card with an electronic chip embedded on top of it to keep track the amount of cash stored in the card. These cards are the various forms of electronic currency can be used for purchasing items from a local shop, retailer, bookstore, petrol station and airport around the world that supports electronic currency technology in lieu of cash. In addition, consumers are able to use electronic currency to purchase items through the Internet.
There are several types of electronic currency cards, such as Debit Card, Credit Card and Touch n’ Go Card.
A Debit Card has a certain amount of money stored in the card by the user. When a user made a transaction, the amount of expenses made is usually deducted from the money stored in the card. Some debit card act as an ATM card where the amount of purchase is directly deducted in the user’s bank account. This allows the user to use the Debit Card to withdraw money from any ATM machines.
A Credit Card allows a user to purchase items in credit and made the payment to the bank after a period of time (usually a month). The disadvantage of Credit Card is high interest will be charged upon late payments.
A Touch n' Go usually acts as a prepaid card and the value of the card is depending how much a user wanted to top up with the minimum amount of RM10. Touch n' Go card are usually limited to pay transportation fees such as RapidKL, KTM, Kelana Jaya Rail Line, Ampang Rail Line and selected car parks like One Utama and Jaya One that supports the Touch n' Go payment.
A Credit Card allows a user to purchase items in credit and made the payment to the bank after a period of time (usually a month). The disadvantage of Credit Card is high interest will be charged upon late payments.
A Touch n' Go usually acts as a prepaid card and the value of the card is depending how much a user wanted to top up with the minimum amount of RM10. Touch n' Go card are usually limited to pay transportation fees such as RapidKL, KTM, Kelana Jaya Rail Line, Ampang Rail Line and selected car parks like One Utama and Jaya One that supports the Touch n' Go payment.
AirCash, M-Money and DiGiREMIT
In Malaysia, the three major mobile phone service providers, Celcom, Maxis and DiGi unveiled a mobile service that allows the user to deposit cash into a virtual account and transfer money locally and internationally. This service is also known as AirCash (Celcom), M-Money (Maxis) or DiGiREMIT (DiGi). This service is recently launched by Celcom but both Maxis and DiGi has this similar service 2 years back. The user is only required to possess a mobile phone device and register the service to the respective mobile service provider. Once the user is registered, the user is able to transfer the money from the bank account to the virtual account. In addition, the user could use the money in the virtual account to transfer money and purchase item such as grocery, petrol, books and others with the maximum limit of RM1,500. The entire process of transferring money and purchasing items are done digitally without the use of physical cash. Parents who have children studying abroad will be happy to have this service and it save them the trouble of using the bank to transfer money. Foreign workers could take this advantage to send money back to their home.
Thus, as we could see that electronic currency has beginning to play a crucial role in our life as it brought both convenience and security on using money. Instead of risking our safety by stuffing a wallet filled with cash to shop or transfer money, all we need is just a card or a mobile phone to do the job.
Related Links:
- Celcom Expects 500,000 AirCash Subscribers By Year-end
- Maxis Unveils Cell Phone Money Transfer
- DiGiREMIT – Money Transfer by Mobile Phone
