Financial Service Kiosks, Electronic Payment Networks and Person to Person Payments
Financial Service Kiosks
While the term “financial services kiosk” may sound like some specialty, business type of machine, it’s actually something very common. One example, something I would say everyone has used, is an ATM (automatic teller machine). This is one of the first, and more basic, forms of these kiosks, which have now blossomed into a new way for businesses to reach customers in a new, and more convenient way. There are so many brands and varieties that it would be virtually impossible to name them all, and they have changed the way we, as consumers, take care of our daily transactions.Think about this, you are planning to see a movie at the mall cinema but the traffic was much worse than you had planned. You are now running about 15 minutes behind and when you get to the theater there is a huge line. At this rate, you’ll never get in and seated before the lights dim. But alas, all is not lost. In many of the larger theater complexes now, they have kiosks set up where you can purchase your tickets with your credit card, without having to stand in line at the box office. Another example is the self service checkout stations at many chain establishments, and even some smaller, local stores. You can scan your own items, bag them and pay for them all without needing a personal cashier. And at most of these kiosks, you can pay with cash or various card types. There are kiosks for turning coins into bills or gift cards, paying bills, and renting DVD’s, just to name a few more.
Electronic Payment Networks
Another type of digital payment that a lot of people utilize, but may not
know it, is the Electronic Payment Network.
The business dictionary lists the definition of Electronic Payment
Network as “A type of financial
clearing
house
that operates
electronically and is used by private
sector individuals
in handling
various types
of electronic
transfers of funds
such as dividends
or wage
payments
to a company's
employees.”
(1) The Electronic Payment Network handles numerous types of credit and debit transfers,
such as payroll payments, dividends, loan payments and insurance premiums.
The Automated Clearing House (ACH)
system is the only one to serve the private sector in the U.S. (2) It
is self described as “a low-cost, flexible and highly reliable payment network
that uses national standards and is the only payment system that handles a wide
variety of credit transfers, like payroll, dividends and more. ACH also handles
debit transfers like loan and bill payments and insurance premiums.” (3) Many of the everyday electronic transactions
we do each day are handled through the ACH system. These include having your paycheck deposited directly
from your employer into your bank account, using the "bill pay” feature whereby
your bank pays your bills directly instead of you writing a check, and when you
use your checking account information to pay other bills electronically. (4)
Person-to-Person (P2P) Payments
Person-to-Person (P2P) Payments allow an
individual person to pay another person, using an account, a prepaid card or
another source of funds. These are online services that you send or receive
money, from virtually anyone with an e-mail address, who's enrolled in the
service. The most common in the U.S. is PayPal, which actually started as a way
for individuals to transfer money to one another through Palm Pilots and other
PDA devices. EBay users started asking
each other to open PayPal accounts as a secure way for money to be transferred between
buyer and seller. As PayPal saw this
happening, they quickly made changes to enable these payments through eBay, as
a way to process even more transactions.
(5) As with most technology, this
type of payment has continued to evolve and many other businesses have followed
suit. There is now a vast array of
electronic ways for people to transfer money between each other.
(1) Luthra, Vijay.
"Electronic Payments Network (EPN)." BusinessDictionary.com.
WebFinance Inc., 2013. Web. 28 Sept. 2013. <http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/Electronic-Payments-Network-EPN.html#ixzz2gDx0z6Nr>
(2) "Electronic
Payments Network Announces Industry’s First Centralized OFAC Screening Service
for Cross-Border ACH." Http://www.accuitysolutions.com. Accuity
Solutions, 17 Oct. 2005. Web. 28 Sept. 2013. <http://www.accuitysolutions.com/en/Media1/Electronic-Payments-Network-Announces-Industrys-First-Centralized-OFAC-Screening-Service-for-Cross-Border-ACH/>
(3) "Overview/ What Is ACH?" Http://www.epaynetwork.com.
The Clearing House Payments Company L.L.C., 2013. Web. 28 Sept. 2013. <http://www.epaynetwork.com/cms/about/001453.php>
(4) Http://www.electronicpayments.org. NACHA — The
Electronic Payments Association, 2013. Web. 28 Sept. 2013. <http://www.electronicpayments.org/individual>
(5) "PayPal History." Https://www.paypal-media.com/.
PayPal, 2013. Web. 28 Sept. 2013. <https://www.paypal-media.com/history>
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