Advances in technology and the development of the Internet are
changing the way people transfer money. With all these technological
developments, moving money is simpler than before. Earlier, transferring
money meant a visit to the bank. But that is no longer needed as there
are various technologies in play to make money transfer easy and
convenient.
Alternative Payment Services: Several
websites allow you to transfer money through email, eliminating the
need to reveal your bank account and credit card information online.
Although online transfers have wide online security and fraud-prevention
measures, they are not foolproof. Complaints like phishing scams,
hacked accounts and identity theft are quite common.
Donation Texts: The
use of text messages to transfer money became popular, when the
American Red Cross used this technology to raise over $22 million in
hurricane relief fund for Haiti. On the flip side, this technology is
risky and scammers misuse this tool by asking people to text money to
illegitimate numbers. Always check the organization's website to confirm
that the number you are texting is associated with the cause are
supporting.
Bumping Phones: Mobile phones are
fast replacing the wallet and on-the-go digital money transfers are
becoming commonplace. Now, you can send and receive money by just
bumping Smartphones together. Technologies include Bluetooth and near
field communication (NFC, a set of procedures that allow Smartphones to
establish radio communication with each other by touching them together
or bringing them close to each other at a distance of 10 cm or less).
Though, the risk of unauthorised payments from a stolen phone is yet to
completely be addressed.
Remote Deposit: This
technology allows you to deposit cheques from anywhere. Many Smartphone
applications allow you to take a photo of the front and back of a cheque
and download it into your account. While this process is secure, there
may be concerns about the consequences if the phone is stolen or if
financial information is intercepted. The remote cheques are not stored
on the phone, and the data is encoded as it goes from the mobile phone
to the bank's computer system.
Mobile Magnetic Stripe Readers:
These are small scanners that can be attached to Smartphones. Busy
individuals, can just swipe credit cards on the scanner and the money is
transferred.