At 05:40 PM 2/13/2001 +1100, Michael Moore wrote:
> > > The way CCs are going at the moment I believe there is a wide open niche
> > > just begging to be filled. CC fraud may only be 3% world wide but 90%
>of
> > > that 3% is internet fraud
>
>The 3% figure came from a report from a credit card company. American
>Express from their report of 2000 into Credit Cards. Irregardless of that
>I think that most MMs will agree that cc fraud is or was highly prevalent in
>our gold economy. This was the prime cause for very few MMs now accepting
>CCs any more.
The issue of cc fraud in total is immaterial to the gold
economy. The reported cc fraud is an average, and not addressing
specific industries or merchants, i.e., porn, gold, etc. (not
Freudian slip linking those two together ;-). Averages are OK
for some purposes, but you need to watch the extremes. For
example, if you had you head in a freezer and your butt in an
oven, on average you would be comfortable.
>Yes Credit cards CAN be beefed up to be smart cards, even to the point of
>fingerprints and Iris Prints.But this is a question of economics, How much
>are the banks prepared to spend at at what point will they spend it to
>upgrade the security of CCs.
And how do we get the iris or fingerprints verified online? IMO,
and the opinion of many others, CCs have outlived their
usefulness online and another method is sorely needed. Which is
why the gold economy needs to be expanded to the uneducated.
>Banks will not offer a no chargeback service until they can be assured
>that there can never be a chargeback. They will only offer a system
>guaranteed to benifit them
Sounds reasonable. Why would any company offer a service that
wouldn't benefit them? If they did, wouldn't agents accept
credit cards? or PayPal?
>As such I still believe David, that the cost of doing business with credit
>cards, from a merchant point of view, is increasing and an alternative such
>as the gold economy offers a more secure transactional medium with less
>possibility of fraud and a more economical cost basis.. the costs will not
>reduce for the benefit of the merchant. The merchant HAS to have a
>transactional medium. The costs will be reduce when it is in the interest
>of the bank.
Obviously I'm a believer. However, we all have an uphill battle
here. There are maybe 200,000 people who know about the gold
economy, but there are hundreds of millions who
don't. Education is very expensive. There has to be a benefit
to everybody - the merchant and the consumer. And I still contend
that the education issue is not the problem. Rather it is an
easier way to fund accounts. Bring merchants millions of users,
and they will accept gold. Then again, give consumers more
merchants to spend gold and they will become believers.
The gold economy cannot be a group of radicals trying to
overthrow the monetary system, or the tax structures in one's
country. Rather it has to become mainstream to succeed. And
there has to be benefits for all. Why has Linux become a major
operating system? It's free, open source code, easier to use
than Unix (and more powerful than Unix and Windows) and many
people using it really hate Microsoft.
>The merchant, using the gold economy however, is not dependent on bank
>issued technology or bank facilities to the same degree. The idea of using
>the gold economy is to move away from the paper currency and back to the
>gold backed economy.
Not necessarily true, unless you are touting a radical view. If
you do a focus group (we will be doing four in March and April)
or poll merchants, I'm certain that gold-backed funds will not be
at the top of their list. Rather it would be secure
transactions, speed of payment, less chargebacks, lower fees, easy to use, etc.
However, on the consumer side, at least here in the US, there are
laws protecting the consumers. So, we have another issue to overcome.
>Merchants are not interested in globalisation, or how much better for the
>banks this or that system it. Merchants are only interested in an
>economical system that is secure and has no or little chargebacks and which
>is speedy enough to service their customers.
Yep. And, as we are all learning, many countries are hindering
merchant growth outside one's country. Interesting to note how
we don't have agents or MMs in China, India, Germany and Italy.
>Arguing in favour of the banks will not encourage merchants to use the gold
>economy as a transactional medium.
>
>Arguing in favour of the the gold economy may do
But, we have to put a positive spin on it. Ask somebody the
question "What comes to mind when I ask you about the gold
economy? (or gold)" You will be surprised at the answers. Since
I am trying to get SR into the mainstream, whenever I meet with
merchants I ask that question.
We have a lot of work ahead of us, and, if we do it in a logical,
positive, and systematic manner, we will succeed. Each of us
should ask ourselves what we want to accomplish in five years,
three and this year.
FWIW
George
______________________________________
George Matyjewicz, President
Standard Reserve Corp. -- Atlanta, GA
World Wide Currency for the World Wide Web
http://www.standardreserve.com
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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