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 four years since publication. The most glaring example of this is electronic commerce. Canada is quickly becoming a leader in electronic commerce, through online banking and direct payment purchases. The coming cashless society presents several opportunities and problems that were not previously available in the paper money world. 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 Interac's web site, in 1998 over 1 billion direct payment purchases were made in Canada. That's 32 purchases a second, 24 hours a day, for the entire year! In Kevin Kelly's Out Of Control, Kelly's 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 "fax 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 increasingly interesting to study the changing issues in privacy, encryption technology, banking ethics, and government control. Works Cited Electronic 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 Economic Consequences of Digital Cash. First Monday, 1996 (2).