E-Money: Affecting Canadian Commerce Essay -- Economics Economy Essays

E-Money Affecting Canadian Commerce The text Out of Control, by Kevin Kelly, is an exciting description of the future as seen by the author, a journalist and optimistic technologist. The predictions presented must certainly be taken as entertaining reading that are intended to inspire visions of the future. The predictions of Kelly have already proven to be inaccurate in the quartet years since publication. The most glaring example of this is electronic commerce. Canada is quickly becoming a leader in electronic commerce, through with(predicate) online banking and groom payment purchases. The coming cashless society presents several opportunities and problems that were not previously available in the paper money creative activity. Canada is now foremost in the world of electronic commerce. The Interac Network is the busiest per capita on Earth. Interac, backed by the Inter-Members Association, is a conglomerate of financial companies who, 14 years ago, agreed to share technology and a national computer network in order to facilitate the introduction of ATM machines. The astounding success of automated banking and shared cash distribution inspired direct payment. According to Interacs web site, in 1998 over 1 billion direct payment purchases were made in Canada. Thats 32 purchases a second, 24 hours a day, for the absolute year In Kevin Kellys Out Of Control, Kellys flair for dramatic exaggeration is accompanied by unrealistic predictions that I find amazing when considering they were made only four years ago. Kelly predicts that the use of bank issued debit cards will die on the drawing board because of lack of privacy, cost of cards, and fees for use. The Interac network, caught in what Kelly refers to as the facsimile machine mach... ...e resulting answers will change how our society operates on its most basic economic level. As we approach a Canada ruled by e-money, it will become progressively interesting to study the changing iss ues in privacy, encryption technology, banking ethics, and government control. Works CitedElectronic Frontier Canada http//insight.mcmaster.ca/org/efc/efc.html Kelly, Kevin. Out of Control The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems, and the economic World. Don Mills Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1994. The Mondex Scenario Transcript. Toronto CBC Television, March 27, 1997. Rowan, Geoffery. Encryption issue hoists Ottawa onto a tightrope. Toronto The Globe & Mail, April 22, 1998. RSA Data Security, Inc. Web Page http//www.rsa.com Tanaka, Tatuso. Possible frugal Consequences of Digital Cash. First Monday, 1996 (2).