The application of pre-paid cash card for consumers

In the recent years, the “Prepaid Debit Cards” came into existence and popularity. The biggest distinction with “Prepaid Debit Cards” is that no checks are associated with Prepaid Debit Card accounts. Prepaid Debit Cards are much safer for the banks to issue because:
· All transactions for these new debit cards are authorized online against account balances
· There are no “Floats” from written checks that can cause overdrafts

These new debit cards are applicable to just about anybody with a valid government issued ID and verifiable address.

Besides, prepaid Debit Cards can be issued to “Bankable People” and “Un-Banked People” with:
· No bank account needed
· No banking history needed
· No credit check
· Just about everyone is approved - no declines
· No employment verification needed

The advantages of holding a Debit Card for a consumer are as follow:
1. Easy Payment
Debit Card is the simplest and most convenient way of making payment of goods and/or services purchased.

2. Convenience
The major advantage is that you need not require carrying bulky cash, as the small plastic is convenient to place in your wallet.

3. Replacement
In case your card is lost/stolen, you can immediately block the usage by informing the bank and get a replacement one.


4. Emergency Use
It is useful during emergency situations like shortage of cash, late night etc

5. Easy For Travelers
You can benefit from our International card if you are frequent traveler as it prevents hassles of foreign exchange.

Review on a post on e-tailing from my E-commerce blog

I feel that, Touch n Go(T'n'G) is a great invention, help to reduce many problems: long queue for purchasing ticket for KTM, LRT and Monorail, queue up for Toll, theme park and a few of name. It helps those users by saving lots of time for queuing up.

Now, with a new implemented by Touch n Go Company which is using Touch n Go card to buy fast food in Malaysia. It can reduce the cycle time which that make the purchase transaction faster and no need to carry a big lump sum of cash when going out.

As compare to past time, T'n'G card is expensive and only a certain location do sell it, but nowadays, you can get it from any mobile phone shop beside of its kiosk. Therefore, even for a kids or teenagers also able to afford for this card.

Anyway, nothing is perfect, although it provides lots of the benefits to the user but we still can see a “long long……” queue when we pass by the Toll. Why this will happen? It's due to an inconvenience for top up for Touch n Go card.

Not every Toll provides this service to the user. In addition that, Malaysian attitude is most likely based on last minute job, they seldom bother about their balances in the card, therefore it always happen of those embracing situation like reverse their car from the Touch n Go lane. So, if the T'n'G want to expand their service to buy fast food in Malaysia, it need to consider of the issue as I mentioned as above.
Beside that, the function of the T'n'G as same as a wallet and even can keep more moneys than wallet, so it is more attractive to be stolen by the thief , as it does not need any signature or verification, compare to credit card. So, the company could implement a signature or verification of the card in order to prevent any imitation or fraud happened.

Other incident happened like system error such as made an extra charge to the card user, a sudden breakdown of the machine, intend of the staff to defalcate and others. Thus, the T'n'G company should consistently upgrade, supervise and maintain their services.

According to the report, consist of 50% of user which is actively using the T’n’G card for retail usage as compare with the Octopus card , the transit electronic purse in Hong Kong that is one of the most successful in the world, that only 20% of the holders use it for retail purchase.
So Malaysia should provide more reload center for the users and also keep on upgrading their services.





Related to article:
Using Touch n Go card to buy fast food in Malaysia will be a reality

Credit Card Debts: Causes and Preventions

Nowadays it seems that credit cards are almost a necessity, which has caused many people to have a huge problem with credit card debt. Many people now have more than one credit card with a balance and you may even be one of those people. If you are one of the millions of people wanting to get out of credit card debt, then you first need to understand what caused the credit card debt problem to begin with.

A credit card is a card with which you are able to use by borrowing on credit. Every time you use a credit card, you are borrowing money from the credit card issuer. Also, each time you use your credit card, you are increasing your credit card debt. And excessive credit card debt can cause a poor credit rating, bankruptcy and subjection to high annual interest rates.

However, if spending habits are not controlled, which causes credit card debt to increase even faster. What started off as a small credit card debt rapidly becomes a large amount that can seem impossible to pay off.

Now that the credit card debt problem has been explained in a very basic manner, we need the solution to get the problem under control.

1. Limit the number of cards that you have. If your cards offer low interest balance transfers, transfer the balances from your other cards onto the card with the lowest rate.

2. Pay off the entire outstanding balance each month. If you must carry a balance from time to time, pay off most of the balance each month. Stop using the credit card until you pay the entire balance off. Pay on Time, otherwise, you will get charged extra fees.

3. Try to pay off the balance during the interest free period. If your credit card offers an interest free promotional period, make the most out of it by paying off any debt that you have accumulated by the end of the period.

4. Never use a credit card for cash advances. Cash advances are subject to high fees and interest rates.

5. Create a budget by make each credit card purchase only within the framework of your budget. If you can't stick to your budget, then don't carry your credit card with you.

6. Keep all credit card receipts, and reconcile them with your statement each month. Review the statement as soon as you get it. Make sure your monthly purchases fit within your budget.

Last of all, one simple phrase can sum up the solution to your credit card debt problems is If you don't have the money to spend, then don't spend it!!

Electronic currency

Electronic currency is also known as electronic cash, e-money, electronic money, digital money, digital cash or digital currency. It refers to a system that allows an individual to pay for goods or services by transmitting a number from one computer to another. So an electronic currency is simply a unit of exchange by using the Internet.

As almost every individual knows of E-commerce, and, there is a consumer to spend money online therefore electronic payment systems are construed. Up to now, there are many countries offering the ways of transferring money by using Internet. One of the successful cases is occurred in Singapore. It had implemented the electronic money for its public transportation system such as commuter, buses, etc.

E-money requires no complicated software and it allows the transfer of electronic cash to anyone through an e-mail address. Some of the banking business industries which are in biggest names are involved in using e-money. These include Bank One and Well Fargo. Of course there are also some of the small companies using e-money system. E-money is actually designed for the exchange of funds between the individuals. Moreover, some of the e-money providers allow commercial activities for a small fee towards college students, children or making small monetary gifts. The e-money technology can also be used to pay someone, or collect funds from someone who needs to pay you. The payments you made are using your credit card or with your offline bank account.

The electronic currency system will lead to some limitations as well. A major disadvantage to electronic currency is fraud. If a customer has lost or misplaced his private key, a perpetrator would use it to withdraw funds. As a result, that customer would have to bear the payments because the bank did not know about the case. Besides, the hacker will know about the recipient of the message of the owner if the security code is broken and the message is intercepted, the hacker will have intention on stealing away the recipient of the message.

Besides, another major concern is that counterfeiters could create their own personal coins of e-cash as it is just a piece of money that is very easy to duplicate. Therefore, it is difficult to distinguish from real money and impossible to detect. Additionally, only the consumers with PCs are able to use it, while those without would not use it. E-cash may be less secure than bank money. The money which stored on a PC will be lost if the system crashes. For instance, money stored on an electronic wallet could be lost forever should the card is damaged.

Mobile Payment systems in Malaysia: Its potentials and consumers’ adoption strategies.

There is a tremendous potential for mobile telecommunication networks to become an important electronic payment channel in our country considering that 88 percent of the Malaysian population are subscribing to mobile phone services.

According to Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the high penetration rate affirmed mobile phone networks as an increasingly popular channel for Malaysians to perform a plethora of activities beyond voice communication, encompassing all forms of digital communication, commerce, banking and payments.

With 25 million mobile phone subscribers in Malaysia, Zeti said there were immense opportunities to leverage on mobile phones to accelerate the migration to electronic payments, to widen the reach and appeal of electronic payment services, and to deliver innovative mobile payment products that offer speed and convenience at minimal cost for the public.There are also opportunities to enable the provision of efficient and cost-effective method of delivering financial services even in the remote areas, she said.
Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz pointed out that industry has to respond rapidly to address the need for interoperability and collaborate in areas such as developing a common infrastructure, common payment messaging format as well as common security and authentication standards, to promote the significant use of the mobile phone for financial services.A shared integrated network with common security standard and common messaging standards would make it easier, more cost-effective and more convenient for consumers, merchants and service providers to execute and receive payments, thereby increasing the attractiveness of the mobile network as a payment channel, she added.

Furthermore, mobile payment is safe, secure and convenient. It allows everyone to pay to anyone, at anytime from anywhere with just one SMS. It also allows one to receive money from anyone, from anywhere, at anytime. Mobile payments are including credit card bills, and your loan repayments from home.

And for merchants, business can be done anywhere such as conduct billing. There will be increased business opportunities for merchants as remote mobile payment can be done easily with the lower transaction and maintenance cost.

In Malaysia there are several companies that already launched mobile payment systems such as Redtone, Maxis, Digi, Maybank, Hong Leong Bank, Mobile Money International Sdn Bhd, and mobileExec Sdn Bhd.