Person-To-Person Payments Over the Internet

Another innovation from Europe is the development of a procedure for sending money over the Internet, usually from one individual to another. The system is especially efficient and cost-effective when shipping money from one country to another. Among the service providers are eBay, Paypal and Worldlink. Beginning in April, banks issuing the eBay cards were required to allow their cardholders to receive or send money on their cards. The system is timelier than mailing checks and less costly than arranging wire transfers. A person wishing to transfer money to somebody in the U.S., for example, using his Eurocard-MasterCard would contact the bank issuing his card and give it the necessary details about his account and the e-mail address of the person to receive the cash payment. The recipient can pick up the funds from the bank's web site, have it credited to his credit card account or receive payment by check or bank draft.