Online personal payment services may replace credit cards

Online personal payment services may replace credit cards

JAKARTA (JP): The recent arrests of several Internet thieves
in Yogyakarta had at least two effects on us, Indonesians.

The first, which was very saddening, was that they put us in
deeper disgrace. They expanded the already long list of
undesirable attributes that we, Indonesians, have to live with by
adding "cybercriminals".

The second was that it made us more aware that the Internet is
not at all a safe place. Just like your wallet as you walk across
the overhead pedestrian bridge in Dukuh Atas, Central Jakarta,
where pickpockets are rife, data and information can be highly
susceptible to interception and theft.

Indeed, credit card theft is the second largest concern of
Internet users everywhere after child pornography, according to a
recent poll in the U.S.

Another survey by GartnerGroup also revealed that the number
of credit card fraud incidents were 12 times higher on the Web --
where storekeepers do not come face-to-face with the shoppers --
than in the bricks and mortar world.

And the victims of credit card theft are not just ordinary
people like us. In December 1999, ZDNet News reported the
confession by Eric Schimdt, CEO of the network stalwart Novell,
that his credit card number had been stolen.

This showed how everyone is vulnerable on the Internet. Just
because we surf the Internet and make our purchases from the
comfort and relative safety of our home, it does not mean that
the Internet is free from crooks.

Unfortunately, new websites emerge every day that make
shopping on the Internet so easy and so much fun. Auctions,
discounts, direct factory outlets, special offers, all conspire
to make online shopping so irresistible.

The Internet could actually be a safer place for shoppers if
strict standards were applied by all e-commerce businesses. There
are tools and methods available that can help reduce online
frauds.

These include address verification systems, customer follow-
up, real-time authorizations and post-process fraud management.
These are not free, of course, and the thin margins caused by
cutthroat competition on the Web makes the majority of online
stores hesitant to use them.

Some online stores have apparently been too eager to make
sales that they do not pay enough attention to entries in the
"Ship to" or "Deliver to" boxes, which could have raised their
eyebrows.

Does it make sense if some credit card owner in Germany orders
a pair of high-end shock absorbers to be couriered to someone in
a remote town in Central Java, Indonesia?

It might, but at least it should have raised the yellow flag.

What should we do? First of all, common sense will tell us
that we need to be very selective in giving away our credit card
numbers.

However, as we get accustomed to using the plastic money,
caution usually wears down. We simply should not let this happen.

Second, we need to check our credit card bills carefully the
moment we receive them and spot any strange purchases from
unfamiliar stores.

Unfortunately, however, reporting that someone else has abused
our credit cards will also mean time wasted and a lot of
headaches.

One potential solution is to use third party services such as
PayPal from X.com (www.x.com). Services like this are
collectively called personal payment services.

However, an increasing number of e-commerce sites have been
signing on to this service, making online shopping easier and
safer for us.

So far, PayPal's service is still free, and if you are
interested in trying to send cash by e-mail, you can open your
account and try it out.

PayPal even allows Palm PDA users to beam cash over the Net.
Some people even enthuse that online payment services like
PayPal, payMe.com, eMoneyMail and Ecount may eventually replace
our credit cards. Let's see.

-- Zatni Arbi