At 9:55 PM 8/27/94 +0100, p.v.mcmahon.rea0803@oasis.icl.co.uk wrote:
There has to be a business reason for change to any existing practice; a general infrastructure for electronic payments is not going to be adopted by banks just because there are available or emerging technologies.
True enough, but if there was a way for a bank to benefit (underwriting referral fees) from an off-line cash settlement mechanism, they might want to jump into that market with both feet. What this means the possibility of "institutional" digital cash. OK. So, you just up the denominations and let corporations settle their cash business on a point to point basis. The banks take a fee at the gate each time a digital cash certificate is issued. In this case, you can really call these "digital banknotes" as Eric preferrs, because such a euphamism will keep the IRS at bay for a few minutes. These won't be done offline, because corporate treasurers will scream for the interest. However, they will be useful for international trade because of their transmission efficiency, and and probably their security. Everyone's happy. Cheers, Bob Hettinga ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah@shipwright.com) "There is no difference between someone Shipwright Development Corporation who eats too little and sees Heaven and 44 Farquhar Street someone who drinks too much and sees Boston, MA 02331 USA snakes." -- Bertrand Russell (617) 323-7923