A brief excursion into the history of the issue
Many people often confuse electronic money with payment cards. The principle of dividing various types of money in the minds of citizens is simple: if bills are not involved in the settlement process, then the money is electronic. But this is wrong – after all, then a simple non-cash transfer falls into this “electronic” philistine category.

But what makes electronic money stand out from a number of various other payment formats? Mainly by the fact that electronic money does not require any material carriers: bank cards, banknotes. Transactions with such money began to be made via the Internet, which ensured their wide distribution.

However, the start of the spread of electronic calculation methods is usually dated back to the beginning of the 90s. Then the technology of compact recording of account data on a small chip appeared, which perfectly fit into the dimensions of the payment cards we are used to. Naturally, the money on the card cannot be called full-fledged electronic money, but it was then that the technological foundation for their distribution was laid (algorithms and protocols were developed).

1993 – the emergence of completely digital money (that is, without reference to the carrier) – Digi-Cash. To pay, the user only needed to know the account number of the counterparty (well, and access to his account, of course).
1998 – the birth of PayPal, an American electronic payment system that uses e-mail channels to transfer funds from users. This is a very popular service these days, as it serves electronic trading platforms (such as Alibaba).
PhonePaid is the first European e-money service. To send data about transactions, he already used cellular communication channels (that is, the account was tied to a mobile phone number).
And it began! Systems that were deprived of any binding to the material incarnations of carriers (like payment cards) were actually cheaper:

they didn’t have to bother with the same card programs;
formally, these were not banks, which means that they did not have the level of costs to which the regulatory activity of this sector on the part of the state leads;
in fact, the only objects of attention of the business of such payment systems were their own Internet resource and the promotion process (advertising).
In a rather short period of time, there appeared: E-gold, NetCheque, MoneyBookers, Clickshare, Internet Cash. The ascent of the term E-money has begun! True, very modest, small steps …

Reasons for lack of demand

Electronic money in the 90s, with all its charm, did not have decisive advantages over the payment methods that existed at that time (the same VISA or MasterCard). Judge for yourself:

A potential advantage of E-money is the lack of a carrier. And how can I now pay with my electronic finances in a restaurant. Should I write a check? Well, we’ve arrived! Where is the electronics here?
Another potential plus is that E-money cannot be lost and the volume of transfers can be any. But, firstly, it is also easy to restore a payment card without losing money on the account, and unlimited transactions are for the time being.
A serious plus is the less regulation of payment platforms of electronic financial turnover compared to the traditional banking system. But this advantage is compensated by the insufficient number of their users on the planet.
In other words, what is the use of all the advantages of an electronic payment platform if it is only me and a few other people using it?

However, you should not indiscriminately hang labels of lack of demand on all systems. PayPal (in the common people referred to as “stick”) exists and feels good, increasing its client base. But according to its evolution, one can trace which features and functional features of electronic money systems were forced to abandon:

forced to carry out full verification of the client for any “convenient” reason (otherwise they will simply disconnect the same “stick” from access to traditional banking institutions – you will be stewing with your clients in your own juice);
forced to demand confirmation of the legality and validity of receipts to client accounts or on dubious transactions (from the same clients, otherwise the client will quickly cease to be a client);
payment clearing was introduced, which is no different from banking (however, due to the global nature of payment platforms, transactions need to be verified fewer times).
But overall, a payment made through an electronic payment platform was very little different from a traditional bank transfer.

Previous Article

Why Regulate Cryptocurrencies

Next Article

Best Cryptocurrencies for Gambling 2021