Things to take note to prevent e-auction fraud when a consumer participating in an e-auction

E-Auction is market mechanism by which buyers make bids and sellers place offers through internet. It is characterized by the competitive and dynamic nature by which the final price is reached. E-Auctions can rapidly disposal of items that needs liquidation or a quick sale, they offer trading opportunities for both buyers and sellers that are not available in conventional channels and they ensure cautious execution of contracts. Another advantage is, it is fast and convenience. However, there are also drawback.

Below are some tips on keeping your risk at a minimum or to prevent when purchasing items from an online auction website.

1. Become familiar with the auction website. Look into the websites protection policies. Never assume you are protected from auction fraud.

2. Before placing a bid, learn as much as you can about the seller. If you can’t find anything out about the seller, than avoid doing business with them. Never fall for promises of better deals by moving away from the original auction website.

3. If the seller wants you to use an escrow service you’ve never heard of, look into it. Check out the website. Call up customer support. If you can’t confirm the legitimacy, don’t use it.

4. Never ever give out your social security number, drivers license number, credit card number, or bank account information until you have thoroughly checked out the seller and the escrow service.

5. Always save 100% of the transaction information. You’ll be glad you did in the event your case makes it to court.

6. If after the sale you feel the item/payment should have been delivered already, try to work it out with the seller/buyer. If at that point you feel that fraud is involved, immediately contact your state attorney general’s office.

7. Physical inspection. It can eliminate many problems especially for collectors’ item.

The application of pre-paid cash card for consumers

Nowadays, people can limit their spending with their prepaid cash card that load funds onto the card and use the money. A prepaid cash card allows consumers to purchase something even when they don’t have the cash to pay for it. It benefits consumers in their everyday life.

Though it works almost the same like a credit card, a prepaid cash card is different because it allows consumers to have a better control over their finance.

How does it work ??

First thing first, load the amount of money you want onto the prepaid cash card. That will be your spending limit.

For any purchases transaction, the sum will be subtracted from the card balance. You can always pump in more money when the balance runs low by transferring money from your regular checking or savings account.

The following is a list of benefits you can get being a consumer, for having a prepaid cash card.

Having a prepaid cash card is certainly quick and easy. Transaction can be made just within a minute. All you have to do is hand swap your card on the counter, sign on the receipt and collect your card and a copy of the receipt. Done.

Consumers can plan how much they want to spend in advance. Thus, spending is controlled by how much one has in the account. In a way, prepaid cash cards give consumers a better alternative in keeping record of your spending.

Having a prepaid cash card is surely safer than carrying cash. Prepaid cash card protect consumers from unauthorized transactions even when the card is stolen or lost. Plus, these cards can also be replaced once it is stolen or lost. Unlike cash, once it’s lost, it’s gone. Forever.

Besides, prepaid cash cards are always convenient all the time. It can be used at just anywhere anytime. Consumers can use it at their groceries shopping, petrol filling, utilities payment, movie tickets, airline tickets, download songs online, mobile phone bill, fast food or restaurant and even online shopping or any online payment! Or, they can even use it to withdraw cash from the ATM.

Here is a advertisement that can show you how useful for debit / credit card in our dairly life.

The best thing is, consumers don’t have to worry about extra charges over their card without their knowing. Because the pre-loaded sum of money is the maximum amount that can be charged to the card.

Competition is very high nowadays and banks today are offering all sorts of attractive prizes and rewards to win over consumers’ hearts. For example, the launch of point-collection system as consumers spends using the card. So the more they spend, the more points they collect and the better chance they stand on winning prizes!

Below are some examples for debit card :

Touch'n Go

Touch'n Go smart card is used by Malaysian for electronic payment system to toll expressway and highway. It is expanding its business to retail purchase by starting with fast food industry that enables consumers to buy dough nut, burger or fast-food from 21 outlets such as Burger King, 7-Eleven, Dunkin’ Donut. It is limitating the success of Hong Kong’s Octopus Card by setting 5 to 10% of the card holders for retail purchase as current target of the company.

Octopus card

Octopus Card was launched in Hong Kong on year 1997, September. It is a rechargeable contactless stored value smart card to transfer electronic payments in online in offline system. It is widely used in payment system for transportation, supermarkets, fast food restaurant, car parks and other pint of sale application such as service station s and vending machines that have achieved good outcomes.

Pre-paid Visa Cash Card

Pre-paid Visa Cash Card is issued by Four Oaks Bank & Trust Company that given the opportunity for consumers with poor credit record and young children by not spending more than the balance on the card. Visa permits travelers access to money at automated teller machines in 65 countries and book the train tickets by offering prepaid cash card such as Metro Card in New York City.

Credit card debts: Causes and prevention

Nowadays, it seems that credit cards are almost a necessity, rather than a luxury, 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. 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 exactly what the name implies. It 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.

The total credit card debt is the full amount you have borrowed from the creditor. Each month you receive a statement showing the total credit card debt with which you are given the option of paying the balance in full or making a partial or minimum payment. When making only the minimum payment due, you will then be charged interest on the balance owed.

This will also increase your credit card debt balance. If you are only making the minimum payment due each month, the new monthly interest charges are calculated on the prior months balance. This causes you to end up paying interest on the previous month's balance as well.

The credit card debt cycle just continues to increase, especially 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. The key to solving the credit card debt problem is to stop the cycle! As hard as this idea may seem and as impossible as it might appear to be, it can be accomplished. Once you are able to stop the cycle, you will be able to stop your credit card debt problem and begin on your journey to financial freedom.

So basically…well, we’re stupid about money. If it’s not actual cash in our hands, our brains have to be reminded pieces of plastic are still costing us money. It’s just a step removed. If you don’t remind yourself of that simple fact, your brain will be perfectly happy to do stupid things with credit, quickly and easily.

In that sense, the banks cutting back on credit card lending could be the right medicine for consumers. At least if they aren’t too far gone already.

Electronic currency

what is electronic currency is all about?
"The money screamed across the wires, its provenance fading in a maze of electronic transfers, which shifted it, hid it, broke it up into manageable wads which would be withdrawn and redeposited elsewhere, obliterating the trail."

Nest of Vipers, a banking thriller
by Linda Davies.

Electronic Currency is the new way of using money to exchange for a goods that consumer like.The different of it is the consumer did not using cash to purchase the product.They took the cash and change it to an digital format to stored in an account to enable them to shopping using cashless way.The Electronic Currency can be found in many form such as credit cards,debit card,cash card and ATM bank card as long it can stored it in digital way.The usage of electronic currency not just to only to make payment but it can be use as a Trading tool for an businessman. This electronic currency is better in usage in term of making transaction with other person from different part of the world.The Digital format open source micropayment system can be based on Java, JXTA, XML, OpenPGP and SSL.

The main focuses of digital cash development are:
1) being able to use it through a wider range of hardware such as secured credit cards; and
2) linked bank accounts that would generally be used over an internet means, for exchange with a secure micropayment system such as in large corporations (PayPal).

One such Electronic currency corporation is E-Gold

e-gold is an electronic currency, issued by e-gold Ltd., a Nevis corporation, 100% backed at all times by gold bullion in allocated storage.

Other e-metals are also issued: e-silver is 100% backed by silver, e-platinum is 100% backed by platinum, and e-palladium is 100% backed by palladium. However, the most popular e-metal (by an overwhelming margin) is e-gold.

e-gold is integrated into an account based payment system that empowers people to use gold as money. Specifically, the e-gold payment system enables people to Spend specified weights of gold to other e-gold accounts. Only the ownership changes - the gold in the treasury grade vault stays put.

Mobile Payment System in Malaysia: Its potentials and customer's adoption strategies

Mobile payment, also referred to as mobile web payment or WAP billing, is the collection of money from a consumer via a mobile device such as mobile phones, Smart phones or other such device. These years, the introduction of mobile payment systems has gained a lot of attention from telecommunication and financial firms in Malaysia such as MayBank and Maxis.

Cell phones are the most suitable medium to develop this system because it can be done at anywhere and anytime. The examples of payments through mobile are ring tones purchasing, airlines ticket purchasing and so on. Other common applications will include payment for transportation, parking, restaurants, convenience stores, retail outlets, e-tickets to name a few - typically for low-value items. This helps especially when consumers are in need of cash but not for those who doesn’t have any in hand. These systems had developed very fast in Malaysia because it is convenience and lower the risk of consumer being rob.

As the adoption strategies for consumers, those firms which use this system will reward their customers with free gifts and discounts.

Payment systems' security is one of the main barriers to electronic and mobile commerce transactions. The key requirements for secure financial transactions in electronic environment include confidentiality, data integrity. Other security factors which important for consumer adoption are anonymity and privacy, which relate to use policies of customers’ personal information and purchase records.