Abstract
Electronic payment methods, or ePayments, are frequently used by the private sector for eCommerce transactions for buying and selling goods or services offered through the Internet. This term describes the process needed to carry out the supply chain without changing media channels. Mobile payment systems and electronic cash have emerged as a quick and safe opportunity, which draws high penetration and use of cell phones for payments in the world. This type of payment method can also be extended and implemented by public administrations. In this paper, a case study on an electronic payment method developed by the Central Bank of Ecuador is presented as an alternative model to the electronic cash system offered with the public sector, seeking to provide the Ecuadorian population with an alternative for economic inclusion and allowing interoperability with different service providers and economic actors. In this work, the design of the system and a comparison with other electronic payment projects is presented. The findings are used to provide recommendations on how to enhance and replicate the development of this type of public projects.
I. INTRODUCTION Electronic payment methods are frequently used for eCommerce to facilitate the acceptance of payment for online transactions. According to Meier [1], electronic payment systems can be classified by different criteria: A first classification could be made by the amount of money to be transferred (e.g., pico payment, micro payment, and macro payment). A second classification criterion could be the status of anonymous and non anonymous users; the latter provides payments for users that do not want to be identified. A third classification of ePayment methods is made by the time of the payment. For that purpose, three categories have been proposed by Meier [1]: prepay (e.g., www.GeldKarte.de and www.paysafecard.com), pay now (e.g., www.paypal.com and www.pago.de), and pay later (e.g., www.clickandbuy.de). Other innovative solutions that were not able to establish themselves in the market have existed.
VII. CONCLUSIONS
Several types of mobile payment systems exist. Most are administered by private actors. The case of Ecuador is the first one involving law enforcement, is inter-operational, and is open to use by all actors of the economy. The electronic cash system is completely open to interoperate across the private or public sectors to improve the efficiency of the current monetary system, with positive effects on financial and economic inclusion. It contributes to the popular and solidarity economy [9] with reduced transaction costs (time, money and security), access to financial services, and information and market transparency. It benefits the business sector and entrepreneurs, reducing operating costs, revenue, cash management, cash flow, and inventory management, among others.
