E-money myths: the strangest misconceptions

2016-07-10 00:00:00:

Despite the rapid development of payment systems, the myths about electronic money continue to keep a small but very significant part of the population at bay. 5-7 years ago it was difficult to imagine that a program would be installed on a home computer that would allow you to store real money in electronic currency.

Today, most people who had to pay for purchases on the Internet or order goods have electronic wallets in WebMoney, Yandex.Money, Qiwi and other payment systems. Currencies are easily converted into real money and have become something of everyday life. Now more questions are raised by cryptocurrency - a new type of money that has not yet been fully explored by users. Its time to dispel all myths about money, namely about all types of electronic money.

Myth No. 1: the bank is safer or your savings will definitely be stolen!

In the realities of the modern economy, money is backed by the countrys gold reserves. This principle has been understood by everyone for a long time, so we easily buy dollars and keep our savings in bank accounts or at home, knowing that they are unlikely to depreciate.

There is a myth that electronic money is not backed by anything. This is partly true, especially when it comes to cryptocurrency. Bitcoins do not belong to any state and are mined from the power of computing equipment. Computers solve problems - money is generated. They seem to come out of thin air. In fact, this is not the case.

Miners (cryptocurrency miners) have to use the most modern equipment to solve complex problems, that is, Bitcoins are extremely difficult to mine. The myth about electronic money is based only on the fact that people do not understand the specifics of their mining. Bitcoin as a type of currency will only end when the total volume reaches 21 million.

This will not happen soon. And given that the "approaching" of the final can be predicted due to open access to information - the owners of Bitcoins will never find themselves in the situation in which people were in the early 90s (when all savings turned into paper overnight).

With electronic money, for example, in the payment systems WebMoney, Yandex.Money, PayPal, Visa QIWI Wallet and others, it is still much easier. Replenishment of wallets is made with real money, and electronic currency from wallets is easily and quickly converted back into real money (using the systems themselves or exchange offices).

Money myths are pushing users to keep their money in financial institutions, but how fair is this? For example, Bitcoins are not subject to inflation, and the ruble exchange rate has fallen by 2 times over the past 2 years. The owners of Bitcoins increased their savings, the owners of ruble deposits only lost money.

Myth number 2: there are no reliable payment systems in the CIS countries

Many people believe that payment systems in America and other Western countries work much better and are much more reliable. This is a common misconception.

First, residents of the CIS countries have the opportunity to work with all payment systems in the world.

Secondly, WebMoney, Qiwi and Yandex.Money, being the most popular services in Russia, offer multi-level protection for user wallets. The system is tougher than that of many financial institutions with similar security systems (breaking the code of a bank and stealing a few dollars from your account is not as difficult as it seems in reality). Payment systems offer IP verification, account identification, SMS verification, and many other security measures.

Thirdly, if payment systems were so vulnerable, they would not be used by millions of people around the world, including residents of the CIS countries.

You can and should use payment systems. On wallets, you can store savings in any currency - dollars, rubles, yen, euros, and so on. You no longer have to fear the moment when the bank goes bankrupt and the money will forever remain in its accounts. The unreliability of payment systems is another stupid myth about electronic money. 

Myth # 3: Web-only

Until now, many believe that electronic money can only be paid on the Internet. In principle, this rule is still valid only for Bitcoins (owners of Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies just need to exchange them for other electronic or real money, and then pay for goods). And thats not always the case. Since virtual coins are confidently coming into use every day and are already accepted by many trading facilities and service sellers.

Most payment systems, including Qiwi and Yandex.Money, offer their customers to issue a payment card. This is a classic plastic card with which you can withdraw money at any ATM and which you can pay for purchases anywhere in the world. The only difference from a similar banking product is the absence of service fees.

It can take a long time to dispel myths about money, but it is better to try to use at least one payment system once. Today they are a stronghold not only for those who work on the Internet, but also for people who want to help their loved ones who are in another country with money.