Until recently, a gigabyte of electronic cash commanded about as much real-world clout as a fistful of Monopoly money. To solve that problem, DigiCash has formed a partnership with Mark Twain Bank of St. Louis that gives e-cash the purchasing power of legal tender.
To use the new system, you first deposit money by wire or check into special Mark Twain accounts, then download Ecash software from DigiCash. Now you can withdraw and transfer money to your hard drive in US dollar denominations. To make a purchase, you specify the payment amount and the payee - Ecash uses an encryption program to subtract the dough from your disk drive and hand it over to your friendly neighborhood cybermerchant.
Will all this give online commerce the kick start pundits have been waiting for? Perhaps, but only if consumers are willing to put up with the morass of setup costs, monthly charges, and percent-of-purchase transaction fees that such point-and-click convenience entails. On the Web at www.marktwain.com. -
Todd Lappin
ELECTRIC WORD
Representative Barr Thwarts Louis the Lurker
A Fish, a Barrel, and a Smoking Gun
A Diskful of Dollars
