As it stood, my previous electronic cheque proposal required widespread changes to online businesses, presumably at great cost. Those changes that catch on most quickly require change only from one end and are backwards-compatible. Therefore, I'd propose that the banks issuing electronic cheques verify those charges through the same external interface by which they perform ordinary credit card transactions. That is, an electronic cheque for use online becomes a one-use, quick-expiry very-low-limit credit card, with its own valid number, but linked to its parent account.
Here's an example: I want to buy something from SlightlyDodgy.com, an online store that is not particularly reputable, but is the only place I can find the goods I want. I go to my bank website and log in to get access to my credit card account. Let's say, for argument's sake that it has a limit of $4000.00 - clearly more than I want to risk in dealing with SlightlyDodgy.com. I instruct the bank to fill out an electronic cheque for $50, the amount of my purchase, and it issues me with a temporary card number in my name and with an expiry date 2 months from now (since card expiry dates are by month and it might be right near the end of a month). I can now go to SlightlyDodgy.com and enter the temporary card details, knowing full well that they cannot take more than the purchase price and cannot hold my card details for later fraudulent use.
The disadvantage of this system is still the same as before - it's very slightly harder to use than just giving out full access to my $4000.00 credit card. It also means that banks will issue lots more credit card numbers than they currently do, but since they expire so quickly, they can be re-used now and then.
Mokalus of Borg
PS - It turns out that my original idea is not too original.
PPS - I think this is a resonable compromise.
2 comments:
Wouldn't Paypal fulfill most of the requirements of your arguement?
Offering a secure method to transfer amounts of real currency into online currency giving you fairly good control of the amount required.
True enough, I suppose. Although not all sites support PayPal, it is rather widespread. The problem, in essence, is one of opening up your accounts to strangers - they are on their honour not to steal from you. PayPal handles the problem by allowing you to send funds in a specified amount, rather than allowing a second party to just take what they need.
Mokalus of Borg
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