A payment for buying a good or a service can be made using cash or any other payment settlement method. Until recent times, the businessmen often used coins, notes and cheques for settling the payments. At present, banks have introduced different services to the customers using electronic communication technology. These services are known as services related to electronic cash. Electronic cash (e-cash) is an electronic payment settlement method which can be substituted for cash and cheques.
Let us discuss the commonly used electronic cards given below.
# Credit cards
# Debit cards
# Automated Teller Machine cards (ATM)
Credit cards
These are a type of card issued by commercial banks on credit basis. It is not
essential for a customer to have a bank account in order to obtain such a card. A
credit card can be submitted for a recommended trade organization to buy goods
and services on credit basis up to a certain amount. In addition, the credit card can
also be used to withdraw cash up to a certain limit from automated teller machines.
The bank will later inform the credit card holder the credit balance obtained using
the credit card. The credit card holder is liable to pay that credit balance to the bank.
The transactions related to credit cards occur via automatic electronic networks.
The international credit card networks are Visa, Master, American Express and
Discover. The commercial banks issue credit cards with the support of these credit
card networks.
Debit cards
Debit cards are the cards issued by the commercial banks to their customers
facilitating them to make payments directly using the cash available in the bank
account. It is required to have a bank account to obtain a debit card. Goods and
services can be purchased using these cards up to the cash balance available in
the bank account. When goods and services are purchased using these cards, the
relevant amounts will be directly debited to the bank account of the customer.
The special fact about the debit cards is that it transfers the relevant value of a
transaction by reducing it from the customers’ account and by transferring that to
the seller’s account via the bank. In addition, it is possible to withdraw cash in the
account from the automated teller machines by using these debit cards.
Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Cards
These cards are issued to customers by a commercial bank in order to provide
services similar to that of normal savings account. Money can be withdrawn from a
savings account using automated teller machines that are operated via a computer.
These cards can be used to transfer cash from one account to another account as
well.
