The introduction of electronic money is associated with economic and technological uncertainty about its future. It should be noted that the introduction of electronic money is aimed primarily at replacing payments with cash and checks. However, the introduction of e-money may also affect the use of credit and debit cards in retail payments. It is important to determine which factors have the greatest influence on the decisions of business entities to use electronic money.

It is obvious that in the future, in order to work successfully, electronic money should provide additional benefits to the main subjects of economic relations: consumers, retail outlets, banks and electronic money emztengs (money intermediaries). The benefits can be immediate and immediate. For example, e-money will be more convenient or cheaper to use. The benefits can also be long-term and strategic. For example, merchants will use the introduction of e-money as part of an overall marketing strategy to introduce new payment technologies to drive sales, even if their use does not have significant financial implications.

In view of the above, we can distinguish the following factors influencing the decision of consumers: 1) greater usability and lower distribution costs; 2) security and confidentiality of calculations. Consumers expect e-money to not only cut their costs, but also be convenient. However, new means of payment are unlikely to be able to affect the volume of household spending. If more trade is carried out using electronic payments, then the volume of settlements using traditional means of payment, such as cash, checks, credit and debit cards, will decrease. In the case of settlements between businessmen, the situation is somewhat different. If electronic money turns out to be cheaper or easier to use than traditional forms of money, then businessmen will be able to increase their working capital and their total income.

All users of electronic money will face the same problem as users of traditional forms of money - the need to ensure the security and confidentiality of payments. In the case of smart cards, the vast majority financial institutions planning to issue cards are banks. Consequently, the assets of the banks belonging to such an association stand behind the smart cards or electronic account numbers of the customer. But do they have cash behind these cards, protection, adequate protection of insured savings and checking accounts, for example, in the US by the FIA? Apparently not, since compulsory federal insurance does not apply to such accounts in the United States.

Fraud that exists in the traditional payment system is likely to exist in the proposed systems of the future. The issue of ensuring the security and confidentiality of settlements using electronic money can be effectively resolved through the development of special legislation and the development of uniform standards for the implementation of secure settlements.

The following factors influence the decision of a point of sale regarding the use of electronic payment methods: a) an increase in sales; b) cost reduction; v) profitable terms contracts.

Retailers expect that there are a significant number of consumers who cannot make a purchase just because it does not work with a particular payment system. If a large enough number of consumers use a particular payment system, competition may induce the merchant to invest in the necessary hardware to install the payment system. Thus, the threat of the loss of potential consumers who do not use cash in their calculations has led to the fact that many operators of vending machines for small goods began to install special devices that accept plastic cards. A similar situation occurs in the electronic economy, where, along with the use of plastic cards as a means of payment, they are increasingly used different kinds electronic money. The main thing is that the increased profit from additional sales covers the increased costs arising from the introduction of new payment methods.

Additional sales are not the only benefits of e-money, they can also affect cost savings. For example, managing cash is expensive, slow and unsafe. Systems that reduce the use of cash can reduce circulation costs, although they are likely to increase capital costs. The willingness of retail outlets to use them will depend on whether the new forms of payment will reduce the total volume of costs in the short term.

The introduction of electronic money leads to the emergence of additional obligations, risks and costs. For example, sales made using electronic money can be challenged after the transaction has been completed. Therefore, in order to work with electronic money, merchants and issuers will have to conclude new contracts, which will spell out the rights, obligations and risks of merchants and e-money issuers. Adoption point of sale new system calculations will depend on the terms of such contracts (profitability and risks). The specific terms of the contract are important factors in determining the success of new payment methods.

The following factors can be identified that influence the decision of e-money issuers regarding the issue of e-money: 1) e-seigniorage; 2) low transaction costs; 3) gaining a share in the financial market.

Issuers receive share premium as a result of issuing electronic money. The amount of this income is directly related to the volume of emission of electronic money. Therefore, e-money issuers are interested in the growth of emission volumes.

Since the costs of a cash transaction are very low compared to the purchase price, for the mass use of electronic money, e-money issuers will have to significantly reduce the costs of their use. Today, the average cost of an e-money transaction in the United States is about 15 cents, but even this low cost can represent a fairly high percentage, for example, of the cost of an e-service for $ 1.

Electronic money issuers are also striving to capture as large a market share as possible for transactions that are currently carried out in cash or deposit money. Capturing a share in the financial market can enable e-money issuers to provide other financial services, competing for monetary resources with other financial institutions.

The first electronic money systems were largely unclaimed. First of all, they weren't comfortable. Consumers needed special software and complex transaction protocols. In addition, early electronic money systems often did not provide anonymity for transactions. Almost all systems of the first generation operated within the framework of closed circulation, which in advance limited their versatility. Consumers could only spend their e-money at a very limited number of retail and service outlets. Therefore, in contrast to the 1998 forecasts, according to which by 2002 e-money payments should have made up 41% of the total volume of online payments, their real share in developed countries today does not exceed 5% (Fig. 3.3).

At present, second-generation electronic money payment systems are being actively developed. They are based on increased requirements for the convenience of these systems for end users, for their anonymity and versatility. Many companies widely use incentive programs when introducing electronic money. In addition, most modern electronic money systems support micropayments. Some of them have the property of offline compatibility, others - exchangeability and portability. PayPal is the most successful next generation electronic money system in the broadest sense.

In general, electronic money is only at the initial stage of its development. This stage characterized by significant technical complexity and high cost of payment systems based on electronic money, the liberalization of regulation of the activities of credit institutions and the revival of competition in the monetary sphere. The modern development of electronic money affects not only the theoretical problems of money, but also the issues of banking, aspects of monetary policy. For the widespread introduction of electronic money into the money circulation of developed countries, it is necessary to fulfill the following conditions: 1) ensure an extremely low cost of transactions using electronic money; 2) develop a clear legal framework governing the status of electronic issuers
money and the procedure for regulating relations between participants in the circulation of electronic money; 3) create reliable and affordable encryption algorithms that guarantee complete confidentiality and security of electronic payments; 4) develop a wide infrastructure for servicing payers using electronic money. Fulfillment of all the above conditions will allow electronic money to take one of the most important places in the monetary system of the XXI century.

Introduction

In the past three decades, information technology has evolved to the point that it has formed a world of its own. And this world could not do without its own means of calculation - electronic money and an electronic economy appeared. In fact, they are not money, and therefore represent an alternative, a way of exchange without the direct use of credit money. Convenience, low cost and a number of other advantages of their use have firmly established them in the market.

In Russia, the electronic money market appeared by the time it was already sufficiently developed and the demand for it increased. Over the past 20 years, it has developed into a fairly successful and rapidly growing business.

The aim of the course work is to reveal the concept of electronic money, analyze the modern electronic money market in Russia and predict scenarios for its development.

Based on the goal, the tasks are:

- the study theoretical foundations the existence of the phenomenon of electronic money;

- characteristics of its positive and negative sides;

- viewing the history of the development of electronic money;

- assessment of the Russian electronic money system;

- disclosure of market prospects in Russia.

1.1 Concept of electronic money

Electronic money is the issuer's monetary obligations in in electronic format which are at the disposal of the user on an electronic medium.

Signs of electronic money:

- are recorded and stored on an electronic medium;

- are issued by the issuer upon receipt of monetary funds from other persons in an amount not less than the issued monetary value.

- are accepted as a means of payment by other (besides the issuer) organizations.

Electronic money is characterized by an internal contradiction - on the one hand, it is a means of payment, on the other hand, it is an obligation of the issuer, which must be fulfilled in traditional non-electronic money. This paradox can be explained with the help of a historical analogy: at one time, banknotes were also considered as an obligation that was payable in coins or precious metals.

Electronic money, being a non-personalized payment product, can have a separate circulation, different from the banking circulation of money, however, it can also circulate, including in state or bank payment systems.

As a rule, electronic money is circulated using computer networks, the Internet, payment cards, electronic wallets and devices that work with payment cards (ATMs, POS terminals, payment kiosks, etc.). Also, other payment instruments of various forms are used: bracelets, key rings, blocks of mobile phones, etc., which have a special payment chip.

Electronic money is part of electronic economy. Does not apply to electronic money:

- traditional bank payment cards (both microprocessor-based and with a magnetic stripe);

- Internet banking;

- prepaid single-purpose cards (gift card, fuel card, telephone card, etc.)

Electronic money is, depending on the type, an advance payment or a kind (different from others) type of securities. Electronic money is not money in the sense that it is defined by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Calculations using electronic money are not non-cash payments, these legal relationships are not covered by the legislation on non-cash payments and banking in general.

In accordance with European rules, electronic money is a unit of value stored in electronic form on a software and hardware device, accepted as a means of payment when making settlements and expressing the amount of the issuer's obligations to the holder to repay electronic money.

As defined by the European Central Bank, electronic money is the value represented by the obligation of the issuer held in electronic form on some medium and accepted as a means of payment by agents other than the issuer.

1.2 Types of electronic money

Electronic money is usually divided into two types: based on smart cards (eng. Card-based) and based on networks (eng. Network-based). Both the first and the second group are subdivided into anonymous (non-personalized) systems, in which it is allowed to carry out operations without user identification and non-anonymous (personalized) systems that require mandatory user identification.

It is also necessary to distinguish between electronic fiat money and electronic non-fiat money (electronic money surrogates). Electronic fiat money is necessarily expressed in one of the state currencies and is a type of monetary units of the payment system of one of the states. The state by laws obliges all citizens to accept fiat money for payment. Accordingly, the emission, circulation and redemption of electronic fiat money occurs according to the rules of national legislation, central banks or other government regulators. Electronic non-fiat money, or electronic money surrogates, are electronic units of the value of non-government payment systems. Accordingly, the emission, circulation and redemption (exchange for fiat money) of electronic non-fiat money occur according to the rules of non-government payment systems. The degree of government control and regulation of such payment systems varies greatly from country to country. Often, non-government payment systems link their electronic non-fiat money to the exchange rates of world currencies, but governments in no way ensure the reliability and real value of such monetary units. Electronic non-fiat money is a type of credit money.

1.3 Benefits of electronic money

Electronic money is most correct to compare with cash, since the circulation of non-cash money is necessarily personified and the details of both parties are known. In the case of settlements with electronic money, it is enough to know the details of the recipient of the money.

The advantages of using electronic money are as follows:

- availability - calculations can be made from anywhere in the world where there is Internet access, as well as from mobile phone;

- Convenience - the ability to access your wallet around the clock and all year round, carry out operations in two directions simultaneously (both sending electronic money and receiving them);

- mobility - combines the first two advantages, at any time from any location you can perform any operations on your account using the Internet, mobile phone, pocket computer or laptop;

- ease of use - any person, even without special knowledge in the field of computers, can easily and quickly deal with electronic money and get himself an Internet wallet;

- efficiency;

- anonymity;

- easy exchange and interoperability with other payment systems;

- support for micropayments - since here the bank account is not involved in the transaction, that is, the ability to conduct profitable transactions, even if the amount is in the range from 0.001 to 10 dollars.

Electronic money has the following advantages over cash:

- excellent divisibility and combinability - there is no need for change when making a payment;

- high portability - the value of the amount is not related to the overall or weight dimensions of the money, as is the case with cash;

- very low cost of emission of electronic money - no need to mint coins and print banknotes, use metals, paper, paints, etc .;

- there is no need to physically recount money, this function is transferred to a storage instrument or payment instrument;

- it is easier, than in the case of cash, to organize the physical protection of electronic money;

- the moment of payment is fixed electronic systems, the impact of the human factor is reduced;

- when paying through a fiscalized acquiring device, it is impossible for a merchant to hide funds from taxation;

- electronic money does not need to be counted, packaged, transported and organized in special storage facilities;

- ideal preservation - electronic money does not lose its qualities over time;

- perfect quality homogeneity - individual copies of electronic money do not have unique properties (such as scratches on coins);

- security - protection against theft, counterfeiting, change in denomination, etc., is provided by cryptographic and electronic means.

Electronic money is especially useful and convenient for making mass payments of small amounts. For example, when making payments in transport, cinemas, clubs, payment utilities, payment of various fines, payments on the Internet, etc. The process of payment with electronic money is carried out quickly, there are no queues, there is no need to issue change, money passes from the payer to the recipient quickly.

1.4 Disadvantages of electronic money

- lack of well-established legal regulation - many states, including Russia, have not yet decided on their unambiguous attitude to electronic money;

- despite its excellent portability, electronic money needs special storage and handling tools;

- as in the case of cash, with the physical destruction of the electronic money carrier, it is impossible to restore the monetary value to the owner;

- there is no recognizability - without special electronic devices it is impossible to easily and quickly determine what kind of object, amount, etc .;

- means of cryptographic protection, which protect electronic money systems, do not yet have a long history of successful operation;

- theoretically, interested parties may try to track the personal data of payers and the circulation of electronic money outside the banking system (this may be due to the low security of public Internet access points and poor understanding of network threats among the population);

- security (protection from theft, counterfeiting, change in denomination, etc.) - not confirmed by wide circulation and a problem-free history;

- theoretically, theft of electronic money is possible, through innovative methods, using the insufficient maturity of security technologies.

1.5 Cryptographic protection

The use of cryptography in electronic cash was proposed by David Chaum. They are also offered an offline electronic money system. He used a confidential communication algorithm to achieve concealment of links between withdrawal and deposit transactions. The essence of Chom's idea consisted in the so-called system of "blind" digital signature (blind signature), when the signer sees it only in the part he needs, but his digitally signed certifies the authenticity of all information: the issuer sees the denomination of the notes, but does not know their serial numbers, which only their owner knows.

At the same time, it can be strictly proven that such a "blind" signature guarantees the authenticity of the entire contents of the bill with the same reliability as a conventional digital signature, which has become one of the most popular means of authentication in recent years. electronic documents... Like the first online system, it used a blind digital signature on RSA encryption.

1.6 Implementation problems

The central banks of most countries are very wary of the development of electronic money, fearing uncontrolled emission and other possible abuse.

While e-cash can provide a host of benefits such as speed and ease of use, greater security, lower transaction fees, new business opportunities with the transfer of economic activity to the Internet. There are many controversial issues regarding the introduction of electronic money. The introduction of electronic currencies raises a number of issues, such as fundamentally unresolved problems of collecting taxes, ensuring emission, lack of standards for ensuring the emission and circulation of electronic non-fiat money, fears about the use of electronic payment systems for money laundering.

Quite sophisticated technologies are used for the circulation of electronic money, and, commercial banks, on their own, do not always want and are able to develop new products.

The main reasons for the reluctance of banks to develop projects related to electronic money are:

- the need to fund developments, the fruits of which can be enjoyed by competitors;

- difficulties in cooperation with other banks in order to share the costs of innovative developments;

- cannibalization of existing banking products with new ones;

- lack of qualified specialists in their own staff;

- uncertainty about the reliability of outsourcers.

Against the background of problems with the implementation of "electronic money" projects commercial banks, many small projects and startups appear on the market, the main problems of which are:

- the size of the real market for "electronic money" is still very small;

- priority focus of legislation in the field of payment systems on the banking industry;

- unwillingness of regulators to enter the market of payment systems companies - "not banks";

- a large number of competing and poorly consumer-oriented technologies and a lack of standards.

Obviously, the problems of the new “electronic money” market can be solved by a long evolutionary path, or with the help of large infrastructure projects initiated by states (for example, the Russian National Payment Card System or the Ukrainian NSMEP).

1.7 Circulation of Electronic Money. Electronic payment systems

The most common electronic payment systems are Webmoney, RauCash, CyberPlat, E-gold, E-port.

The means of payment in this case are "electronic money", which are in the so-called electronic wallet. It is only necessary to conclude an agreement with a representative of the payment system (or, equivalently, to register with payment system, get a digital "identifier"). By registering in the system, concluding an agreement with the payment system, the user electronically accepts the "Agreement on the transfer of property rights" (and other agreed agreements, for example, in the WebMoney system - in addition to the specified agreement, also the "Agreement on combating illegal trade", "Warning", "Agreements with guarantors", "Agreements on credit transactions".

From the moment the wallet is replenished, its owner (or any other person with access to the wallet) can dispose of electronic money, as well as pay for goods and services, withdraw from the system in cash or non-cash funds, etc.

In most payment systems, you do not have to pay for this "wallet", however, the payment system operator charges a certain percentage for each payment (a fixed percentage, for example, 0.8% from a transfer; with a limitation on the maximum amount of charging for a transfer).

2. Electronic money in the global economy

2.1 History of the development of electronic money

The emergence of the first electronic money is usually associated with the introduction of smart card technology - plastic cards with a computer chip, on which information about the amount of money in the account was recorded. They appeared in the early 90s. XX century.

In 1993, digital money Digi-Cash was introduced into circulation for the first time. But the process did not stand still, and the idea of ​​electronic money received its logical continuation - in 1998, the first electronic system PayPal was created in the United States, which made it possible for computer users to send money to each other by e-mail. Europe, on the other hand, demonstrated the PhonePaid electronic system that allows transactions to be carried out using mobile phones. But these were not yet fully electronic, but so far only hybrid electronic payment systems, for which the numbers and data of real plastic cards were certainly required. And only then a lot of Internet transfer systems were created, which have their own Internet wallets and offer a number of ways to transfer real money to Internet money and vice versa, to withdraw Internet money to real life(Clickshare, E-gold, Internet Cash, NetCheque, MoneyBookers). The term E-commerce (electronic commerce) appears, comes into use and becomes widespread, as a result, the term E-money (electronic money) supplanted all the others.

An increase in the market share of e-commerce, a low cost of transactions carried out using the Internet, a decrease in the costs of making small payments - this is an incomplete list of what made us look for new means of payment. Thus, the emergence of new forms of commerce and new forms of financial services has led to the emergence of a completely new payment instrument - electronic money.

The scope of application of electronic money is constantly expanding, widely advertised mobile commerce and mobile payments are added to electronic payments and e-commerce, that is, making a payment using a mobile phone using the payer's funds deposited with a telecom operator. Mobile payments are available to those subscribers mobile communications who do not have their own bank account or do not want to use it when using mobile commerce services. This type of mobile commerce is used to sell ringtones, pictures, and electronic games. Payments are made for one-time purchases for insignificant amounts (so-called micropayments), as well as for payment of notoriously recurring permanent services, such as TV and the Internet.

The most famous modern systems based on cards: Visa Cash, Proton, Mondex, CLIP. Electronic cash is credited to smart cards by withdrawing funds from real customer accounts and converting them into digital money on a smart card. Electronic money surrogates include non-state payment systems: WebMoney, Yandex. Money, RBK Money, Wallet One, PayPal, EasyPay, e-gold, Rapida, Moneybookers.

Today, the use of digital cash has a relatively low prevalence. The Hong Kong Octopus card system and the FeliCa card system based on the same type of cards have gained rare success. There is also another Chipknip system introduced in the Netherlands.

In Ukraine, there are fiat electronic money based on smart cards, which are issued and circulated within the NSMEP payment system.

In electronic payment systems e-gold, DigiGold and GoldMoney, to guarantee security, virtual money is partially or completely confirmed by precious metals. The e-gold system offers its clients a family of digital money that is 100% backed by precious metals: gold, silver, platinum and palladium.

Many systems (Gogopay, Paypal, WebMoney, Wallet One, Wirex) exchange their non-fiat electronic money for fiat money, but some systems (Liberty Reserve) do this through third electronic money exchange systems.

The term "electronic money" is applicable to a large number of commercial and financial services based on high-tech solutions of the Internet and mobile communications. At the same time, there is still no generally accepted world definition of the term "electronic money", revealing both their economic and legal essence.

Modern electronic money is a monetary surrogate; it acts only as a means of exchange, which provides for subsequent settlement, and not as a new form of credit money. However, this is a temporary phenomenon. Information and financial technologies are constantly being improved, in many countries new or amendments are being made to the old legislation governing the process of issuing, circulation and redemption of electronic money, telecommunications infrastructure is developing, and the volume of e-commerce is growing. All this should contribute to the formation of new electronic money systems that will truly be reliable, efficient and low-risk, and therefore attractive to consumers. In other words, electronic money will function and be used by entities in the future, although not in the form in which it exists today.

2.2 Regulation of the electronic money system

The rapid development of the electronic money industry attracted the attention of regulators in developed countries as early as the mid-1980s. The prospect of partial replacement of traditional means of payment with electronic ones initially raised certain concerns.

First, the widespread use of this instrument, issued by private companies, could significantly reduce the effectiveness of monetary policy and, ultimately, become a factor of additional inflationary pressure. Secondly, the legal insecurity of users of these payment instruments was obvious. Third, electronic payment technologies quickly found their application in money laundering and terrorist financing processes.

As a result, the first regimes for regulating the emission and use of electronic money began to take shape at a time when the role of the respective markets on a scale national economies was minimal.

In 1993, central banks European Union began to study the phenomenon of electronic money, which at that time were considered prepaid cards. The results of this analysis were published in May 1994 and became an official acknowledgment of the existence of electronic money. When analyzing new technological schemes, namely prepaid multipurpose cards, the central banks of the European Union came to a fundamental conclusion: in the case of the proliferation of such products, the central banks need constant monitoring, information exchange and political decision-making in order to preserve the integrity of the payment system.

Since 1993, the development of not only card-based electronic money began, but also network-based electronic money.

In 1996, the heads of the central banks of the G10 countries announced their intention to monitor electronic money in the countries of the world. Since that time, the "Bank for International Settlements" with the support of world central banks regularly analyzes the development of electronic money and related systems. At first, the data was confidential and was available only to central banks, and since May 2000 it has become publicly available.

In 2004, a study was conducted in which the central banks of 95 countries took part and it turned out that electronic money operates in 37 countries of the world.

One of the most important political issues related to electronic money is the issue of the issuer, namely, determining the list of organizations that have the right to issue electronic money in the country. The issue of emission affects both fiat and non-fiat electronic money. There is no unambiguous approach in the legislation of the countries of the world on this problem.

Further work of the EU central banks led to the emergence of Directive 2000/46 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of September 18, 2000 "On activities in the field of electronic money and prudential supervision of institutions engaged in this activity", in the first article of which definitions of "scope" are given , "Institutions in the field of electronic money", "electronic money". According to Directive 2000/46 / EC, electronic money is a monetary value that is a requirement on the issuer, is stored on an electronic device, is issued upon receipt of funds in a value not less than the issued monetary value, is accepted as a means of payment by companies other than the issuer ... Issuers, or, as the Directive calls them, “electronic money institutions”, are defined as an enterprise or other legal entity other than a credit institution that issues means of payment in the form of electronic money. Thus, the issuer of electronic money receives a classification status and, as a result, is obliged in this case to have an initial capital of at least € 1 million. In the future, the issuers' own funds should not be less than the established amount.

Thus, the supporters of the introduction of a direct ban on the emission of electronic money by issuers that do not comply with the provisions of Directive 2000/46 / EC prevailed in the European Union, which indicates the desire of European legislators to introduce rather strict regulation in the field of electronic money, similar to that which is carried out in banking. activities. For nine years since the beginning of the standardization of national legislation of European countries, the regulation of the field of electronic payments has repeatedly become the object of criticism. In particular, it was pointed out that strict restrictive rules do not give a noticeable gain in protecting the interests of European users of electronic payment services. As a rule, the reasoning was supported by references to the experience of the United States, where the electronic money industry is regulated on the basis of general principles applicable to non-banking organizations that provide settlement and payment services and are deprived of the right to attract deposits. The rules for the operation and licensing of institutions classified as moneyservicesbusinesses (MSBs) have historically been established at the state level.

The US Federal Reserve has demonstrated a rather liberal approach to the issue of regulating the electronic money market, which believes that in order to stimulate the technological process of introducing innovative forms of payment and market development, it is worth allowing the issuance of electronic money by banking and non-banking institutions by licensing this type of activity. At the same time, the requirements for the authorized capital of American issuers are significantly lower - from $ 50 thousand. It can be said that the regulation of electronic money by the US Federal Reserve, made on the basis of the US Universal Law on Monetary Regulation, is more advisory than directive in nature, inherent in the regulation of the European Union. The Universal Law on Monetary Services (Uniform Money Services Act), adopted in 2000, defined unified approaches to regulating the activities of payment service providers: money transfers, the sale of prepaid financial instruments (including electronic money), check cashing and currency exchange.

The issue of electronic money from the standpoint of this legislative act falls under the concept of money transfers, while the activity of their redemption is classified as check cashing operations. Until the unification of state legislations, electronic payment systems remained largely out of the field. state regulation... In these conditions, providers of relevant services used a legal structure that allowed them to distance themselves as much as possible from the status of financial institutions. For example, PayPal Inc., one of the largest e-money issuers in the United States. acts in relation to its clients as an agent who accepts funds for storage and undertakes to transfer them on behalf of a third party. In fact, this means that the company cannot dispose of the money received from clients at its own discretion, and in the event of bankruptcy, they will not be included in the bankruptcy estate. In Europe, by contrast, payment instruments issued by a company are treated as its debt.

Another distinctive feature The American approach to electronic money is the rejection of the concept of electronic money as an innovative means of payment, which has nothing to do with traveler's checks and bank transfers.

Mexico, India, Taiwan, Nigeria, Ukraine and Belarus only allow banks to issue emissions, and Singapore has introduced a state monopoly on the emission of electronic money and made it legal tender. In Hong Kong, e-money issuers must obtain a depository company license.

As the researchers emphasize, the West has long understood that it will not be possible to disown electronic money issued by private issuers. Moreover, they saw a real prospect in them, because the EPS is solving a lot of problems. Therefore, the United States, Europe, and many other developed states have taken a course towards their legitimization.

In the neighboring countries, the process of legal regulation of electronic money has also begun. Thus, in the Republic of Belarus, the use of electronic money is regulated by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus on November 26, 2003 No. 201 "On the rules for carrying out transactions with electronic money."

The National Bank of Belarus approved the Rules for the implementation of transactions with electronic money. The adopted document regulates the procedure for the implementation of operations by credit and financial institutions for the emission, distribution, use and redemption of "electronic money". Important feature regulatory framework in the Republic of Belarus - requirements for the circulation of electronic money issued by non-residents. Using them in calculations involves the involvement of Belarusian banks as agents for distribution and redemption.

3. Electronic money system in Russia

3.1 Development of the Russian electronic money market

Russian business entered the electronic payments market at a time when this market was confidently and dynamically developing and being regulated all over the world. By the time of the emergence of Russian players - electronic non-state payment systems , such as WebMoney, Yandex. Money, Wallet One, RBK Money, CreditPilot, Rapida, the Russian consumer already had an idea of ​​electronic money and the need for electronic payments. And the listed Russian non-state payment systems have begun to issue electronic money surrogates, expanding the number of participants accepting these means of payment.

Having entered the market, Russian payment systems have demonstrated sufficient attractiveness for customers and rather aggressive growth: numerous data from payment systems show that at present every 15th resident of Russia pays for purchases with electronic money. And in 2008, a new segment of the electronic payments market appeared - payment for services with money previously entered into the system of instant payments through a "personal account". The volume of mobile payments (using paid SMS) shows a twofold increase per year, and this segment is actively developing cellular operators... For example, VimpelCom allows subscribers to send money from their account to pay for utilities, Internet, TV, etc.

More and more Russian credit institutions are adding Internet transactions to their range of services. The user audience in Russia and the CIS is showing continuous growth, and, accordingly, the demand for such operations is growing.

For Russia, a kind of echo of the problem of differentiating the acceptance of payments, on the one hand, and the issue of payment instruments, on the other, has become a long discussion about the need to classify the operations of payment terminal systems as banking activity. Taking into account that it resulted in the adoption of Federal Law No. 103-FZ "On the activity of accepting payments from individuals carried out by payment agents", it can be assumed that Russian legislation is rather moving in the mainstream of the American experience.

The creation of the Association of Electronic Money Market Participants (AED) in summer 2009 indicates the readiness of the main players in the electronic payments market to unite to solve common problems and testifies to the maturity of the industry.

The electronic money market in Russia in 2009 showed high growth rates. According to the Association "Electronic Money" (AED), the number of Russians who used "electronic wallets" amounted to about 20 million people, and the total turnover of the industry exceeded 40 billion rubles.

Yandex remains the leader of the Russian electronic money market in the Internet payments category. Money and WebMoney, the aggregate share of which is about 90%. In 2009, the turnovers of these companies grew by 40% compared to 2008: Russian users replenished their Internet wallets in these payment systems for more than 17 billion rubles, and the total number of active accounts exceeded 2.3 million. these companies have an approximate parity: WebMoney has a larger average top-up amount, Yandex.Money has more users. According to Yevgeniya Zavalishina, General Director of Yandex.Money, one of the landmark events of this year should be the possibility of direct money transfer between the wallets of Yandex payment systems. Money and WebMoney.

Below are statistics on Russian electronic payments in 2009. In the graph, the letter “I” stands for Internet transactions, “M” for mobile and “T” for payment terminals.

WebMoney Transfer (or simply WebMoney) is the largest EDMS in the Russian-speaking Internet and one of the largest in the world. WebMoney began its history in 1998, when very few people knew about electronic money, and the first users had to be stimulated with generous bonuses. Today the number of WebMoney users has exceeded 7 million and is increasing every day by about 5-10 thousand. The daily turnover in the system is about $ 20-30 million. All indicators increase every year by 2-3 times.

Below are the growth rates of active users and the turnover of various subjects of the electronic money system in Russia - On the graph, the letter "I" denotes Internet transactions, "M" - mobile and "T" - payment terminals.

The number of users of the electronic money market in the category of "mobile payments" (for goods and services not related to mobile content) in 2009 amounted to more than 15 million people, the volume of payments - about 8 billion rubles. The increase in the turnover of companies in this category amounted to about 100%. The largest market players are i-Free, A1, Infon, Inkor-Media.

Another major market participant, the QIWI payment service (QIWI), which combines such categories of the electronic money market as "mobile, terminal and Internet payments", in 2009 the number of users exceeded 6 million, and the turnover amounted to more than 11 billion. rubles, which is 2.5 times more than the indicators of the previous year.

In the past, 2009, there was a significant expansion of the range of goods and services, for which it became possible to pay with electronic money. In particular, interaction with banking products (repayment of loans, issuance of virtual cards, etc.) has become an important engine for the development of the electronic money market; sales increased noticeably e-tickets... These trends allow us to conclude that electronic money is "conquering" the mass user. In confirmation of this, the expansion of such Western payment systems as PayPal, MoneyBookers and UCash can be considered an indirect evidence of the maturity and prospects of the Russian electronic money market.

An important event for the electronic money market was the adoption of Federal Laws No. 103 and No. 120 ("On the activity of accepting payments from individuals carried out by payment agents" and "On amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation in connection with the adoption of the Federal Law" on acceptance of payments from individuals, carried out by payment agents "").

These laws, initially aimed at accepting cash payments through payment agents, nevertheless had a large impact on the market as a whole. First of all, these are the first Russian legislative acts that introduce and specifically regulate the concept of retail payments, including electronic ones. Also, the adopted Laws introduce a number of amendments to other acts, in particular, they greatly simplify making small (up to 15 thousand rubles) payments, which makes it possible to increase the availability of financial services, expand their range and significantly reduce the share of cash turnover in favor of electronic payment instruments. "

Important events in the process of regulating the electronic money industry were the creation of the concept of the law on the National Payment System and the beginning of work on the law on electronic money. According to the AED participants, legislation that takes into account global experience and business practice can become a powerful impetus for the development of high-tech payment instruments. These processes echo the adoption of the European Directive 2009/110, which has become a synthesis of almost ten years of experience in the application of the European Directive 2000/46 on electronic money. Industry participants view the principles of European legislation (equality of banking and non-banking players, simplified regulatory regime for small and specialized systems, simplified identification for small payments) as key and critical for future market regulation in Russia.

Indirect confirmation active development the electronic payments market in Russia is considered the arrival of Western payment systems PayPal, MoneyBookers and Ucash. Western payment systems have a significant advantage in the absence of serious regulatory restrictions, but they are not always ready for Russian realities either. As one of the speakers noted, the president of PayPal said that about a third of fraudulent transactions in this payment system "come from Russia."

It should be noted that electronic money is one of the few industries that retained its innovative potential in 2009. A number of market participants announced and launched new projects related to terminal e-wallets, mobile payments, microcredit and payments in social networks. Undoubtedly, such a powerful innovative impetus will be developed this year as well.

At the moment, there are problems with the use of electronic money. The last ten years in our country everyone expected a boom in Internet commerce, but during this time it never happened. There are no analogues of Amazon.com and eBay in Russia. Online purchases are made mainly by residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg, and they also do not trust online sellers very much. Venture investors, with rare exceptions, are also in no hurry to invest in online stores. Despite the success of Ozone and other online stores popular in Russia, all of them are rather the exception, confirming the rule: Internet commerce is in its infancy in our country and cannot be considered an independent sales channel.

According to the announced results of the study, in 2006 in Russia goods worth 5.3 billion euros were sold via the Internet, and by 2010 the bank's analysts expect an increase in this market by 317%, to 22 billion euros. So far, according to these studies, 70% of all internet sales are made in the UK, Germany, France and Belgium. Most often in Europe, phones, books, as well as airline tickets and leisure goods are bought via the Internet. Analysts predict that by 2009, furniture, repair goods, groceries and cars will also be bought online.

According to the information and analytical company "Oborot.ru", last year (2009) the volume of the Russian Internet trade market amounted to $ 2-4 billion. The main goods that were bought on the Runet last year were household appliances and electronics, books, films ... Music, audiobooks, software and other downloaded electronic goods accounted for an insignificant share. According to Yandex. Market ”, last year (2009) and the first quarter of 2008, computers were most often bought on the Internet - 18%, electronics and photos - 17%, telephones - 16%, household appliances- 12%, books - 5.4%. In addition, last year, due to new legislative restrictions, such a segment as medical products completely disappeared. They also banned the sale of alcoholic goods remotely.

Analysts note that 80 - 90% of all purchases on the Runet were made by Muscovites and residents of St. Petersburg. It is believed that the strongest players on the Internet are online shopping retail chains... For example, last year more than 100,000 purchases were made in the Seventh Continent online store. Online orders accounted for 44% of the total number of orders. And the annual revenue from online sales reached $ 13 million.

Electronic goods are now sold through the Internet significantly less than physical goods. One of the most promising, but at the same time problematic areas here is the sale of software products via the Internet. It would be logical to sell software products electronically, simply by transmitting them over the Web. This is how they usually buy software in the USA and other Western countries. At the same time, sellers would save on material carriers and expensive delivery, and buyers would receive the product at a lower price. But in Russia such a scheme practically does not work at the moment. There are big problems with electronic goods that are distributed over the Internet in the form of files. Because in the context of the Law "On Protection of Consumer Rights", a product is necessarily a kind of material thing. That is, if a program or a music track is recorded on a disc, then such a product falls under legislative regulation. But if the music or program is distributed over the Internet, there is no clear regulation in the law for such cases.

Although several dozen successful online stores thrive on the Runet, in general this sector of the electronic economy is not developing fast enough. There are many reasons for this. The main advantages of online shopping, due to which they have become widespread abroad, are lower prices, fast and convenient delivery of goods and a wide range of products. In Russia, everything is fine only with the third parameter.

In Europe and the United States, consumers are most concerned about the safety of their online purchases. This factor is even more important for buyers than price, convenience, delivery time, etc. In our country, this problem has not yet manifested itself. It mostly concerns electronic payment methods, which are not yet sufficiently developed in our country. Plus safety Russian systems high enough. According to Aleksandr Gostev, a leading virus analyst at Kaspersky Lab, the existing electronic payment systems are quite safe, “only the presence of a Trojan program on your computer poses a threat when using them. If you have a "spy", it makes no difference which system you use - WebMoney, Yandex. Money or, for example, you pay for purchases with your credit card. " The only one hundred percent way that can somehow secure financial transactions on the Web, Gostev considers payment using prepaid cards. “You buy a card in a store, and then when you make a purchase on the Internet, you simply erase the protective strip from the card and enter the code indicated there,” he explains.

3.2 Legal status of electronic money in Russia

In the legislation of the Russian Federation, not only are the norms and rules for regulating the emission and circulation of electronic money in the territory of the Russian Federation not spelled out, but this concept itself is absent.

Despite the fact that the Russian legal literature uses concepts similar to the definition of electronic money given in the EU Directive, there are other points of view on the nature of electronic money.

According to one of the points of view, electronic money is recognized as a non-cash means of payment of a special kind, since it has the property of divisibility, which makes it possible for them to perform the functions of a medium of exchange and a means of payment. However, a number of properties of "electronic money" contradict this point of view. In particular, the fact that they are a prepaid financial product, as well as the fact that the actual receipt of value is possible only after the transfer of "electronic money" in cash or non-cash.

Another point of view is that virtual monetary units represent the right of claim against the issuer, which is fixed with the help of special technical means, information carriers. Accordingly, their appeal constitutes the assignment of the right of claim to the issuer. That is, at the time the money is credited to the electronic account, the e-money issuer and the client enter into a contractual relationship. And in this case, it remains open question on the legal nature of such an agreement.

When determining the legal structure of electronic money, it is necessary to take into account aspects of the current civil legislation.

Thus, when setting the problem of regulation and legal definition of electronic money, a serious comprehensive study is required. this issue to make an unambiguous conclusion in favor of a particular legal structure. The legal definition of electronic money precedes the next stage of regulation - the definition of issuers and a set of requirements for them, designed to ensure their solvency to customers.

V this moment time, ordinary legal entities operate on the territory of the Russian Federation, working through a network of certified partners and a system of bank accounts. Some systems, for example Yandex. Money, they work strictly according to the agency scheme, others attract credit organizations to issue payment instruments that allow settlements between clients. The latter include WebMoney Transfer, which uses electronic bearer checks for payments in rubles.

The lack of legal regulation at the present time also leads to the insecurity of users in terms of the possibility of claiming funds deposited in the payment system, receiving compensation in the event of software failures, as well as in respect of confidentiality of the provided personal data. Socio-economic issues, such as consumer protection, competition, accessibility, breadth of application, are of particular concern to financial government agencies.

Another important aspect of regulation, which must be approached with full responsibility, is the issue of assessing the potential risks inherent in these systems, the consequences of which are insufficiently determined. It can be argued with a high degree of certainty that the risks inherent in electronic money systems fall into the general categories inherent in traditional retail payment mechanisms, settlements in which are carried out by means of checks, payment cards: operational risk, risk of loss of reputation, legal risk and strategic risk.

Violation of the security of electronic money systems is fraught with the likelihood of fraud, which leads to material damage to the consumer of electronic money or its issuer, disclosure of confidential information.

Also, electronic money systems seem to be attractive for the implementation of all kinds of schemes related to the legalization of proceeds from crime (the so-called money laundering). The anonymity of payments can lead to the fact that issuers face increasing difficulties in applying traditional methods of detecting and preventing criminal activity. The problem of customer identification when making payments using electronic money, especially if payments, in accordance with Russian legislation and regulations of the Bank of Russia ( the federal law of 07.08.2001 No. 115-FZ "On Counteracting Legalization (Laundering) of Criminally Obtained Incomes and Financing of Terrorism") are subject to special control, it seems especially relevant.

In Russia, Internet payment providers are regulated on the basis of general principles of civil law, as a result of which a wide range of contractual schemes are used, often with undefined legal consequences for participants. In general, approaches to the legal registration of relations between electronic payment systems and users (both payers and recipients of payments) are usually divided into two main groups. Some systems operate strictly according to the agency scheme (for example, Yandex. Money), within which they take on the function of transferring payment from the buyer of goods and services to the supplier.

Others use credit institutions to issue instruments through which settlements between clients are carried out (for example, WebMoney Transfer uses electronic bearer checks as a settlement tool in rubles). legal basis operations are the provisions of Ch. 52 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (the payment service provider acts on behalf of and at the expense of the principal, in the capacity of which the supplier of goods and services acts), in the second - Ch. 46 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (considering checks as a non-cash form of settlement). Legal risks of a check settlement scheme are associated with the recognition of Russian legislation electronic bearer checks (in accordance with Art. 149 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the non-documentary form can only be used to fix the rights enshrined in a registered or order security) and the possibility of treating them as monetary surrogates, the settlements of which on the territory of the Russian Federation are prohibited by the Law "On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia) ".

In turn, until recently (until Law No. 103-FZ was adopted) there were risks of being recognized as negligible for an agency agreement for accepting payments: it could be considered as a commission agreement, for the conclusion of which the provider had to have the status of a credit institution. The creation of a legal framework for attracting payment agents for settlements of individuals for goods and services, however, does not mean the regulation of issues related to the activities of electronic payment systems. The problem is that the operation of depositing funds to an electronic wallet is not necessarily directly related to the emergence of an individual's monetary obligations to the supplier (that is, a situation to which the provisions of Law No. 103-FZ apply).

A direct consequence of the legal lack of regulation in the sphere of emission of electronic money is the vulnerability of users, both in terms of the possibility of claiming funds placed in the payment system, maintaining the confidentiality of the provided personal data, and receiving compensation in case of software failures. The transactions of electronic payment providers, taking into account the terminology used in the contracts (for example, “electronic invoice”), may even be classified as illegal banking activity. Indeed, opening and maintaining bank accounts, making settlements, making transfers of funds on behalf of individuals without opening a bank account are strictly referred to by Law No. 395-I "On Banks and Banking Activities" to banking operations.

3.3 The need to regulate the Russian electronic money market

The convincing growth in the volume of electronic payments and the increase in the number of participants involved, of course, cannot fail to bring to the fore such issues as: the rules of the game of payment systems, relationships between participants in the electronic payments market, the legal essence of electronic money, legal regime, guarantees and confidentiality. In other words, the development of legal regulation of the electronic money market in Russia is required.

In October 2009, the leading companies on the Russian market of electronic payments within the framework of round table Electronic Money: Seeking Regulation announced the creation of the Electronic Money Association (EMA). The Association was joined by the companies i-Free, WebMoney, Yandex. Money, payment service QIWI (QIWI), national industrial associations NAUMIR and NAUET.

The founders of the association defined the main goal of AED as follows: development of the electronic money market as a publicly available financial service in the interests of the population, state and industry participants. To achieve this goal, you need: serious work on legislative aspects regulation of the electronic money market; expanding the level of interaction of market participants with each other, with other business entities and government bodies; increasing market transparency and developing criteria for best business practices; as well as popularization of services provided on the basis of electronic money and protection of the rights of their consumers.

Among the immediate tasks of the AED is participation in the development of regulatory documents on the regulation of the electronic money market in Russia, including the generalization of Russian and foreign experience, market analysis and development of unified analytical reporting for all its participants.

A growing and rapidly developing market attracts the attention of not only supervisory and regulatory bodies, but also major players in the financial services market.

The legislation on electronic money should allow simultaneously solving the following three tasks:

- creating conditions to meet the needs of the population and enterprises in high-tech payment services;

- protection of users of these services;

- ensuring fair competition with other providers of payment services (primarily banks). A solution that balances the interests of the three main parties in the payment services market - users, non-bank providers and banks - could be an EU-model regulatory regime that would apply to issuers of instruments that are uniquely classified as electronic money. The definition of electronic money, which is proposed to be introduced in a separate legislative act, should indicate the following features:

- prepaid nature (which fixes the occurrence of the issuer's obligation to the user at the time of placing funds on an electronic account),

- redemption at any time at the request of the holder (with a possible limitation on the minimum amount of compensation),

- the possibility of acceptance as a means of payment by third parties.

A critical issue for the legislative definition of electronic money is the deregulation of hybrid payment service providers, which primarily include mobile operators. To a large extent, the differentiation of the two types of activities (the emission of electronic money and the provision of the possibility of paying for mobile content at the expense of previously deposited funds) will be facilitated by the requirement of mandatory redemption of funds on an electronic account. As an important criterion for isolating activities mobile operators, it is possible to establish the application (that is, associated with the operation of the communication device) nature of the services purchased at the expense of the contributed funds by mobile subscribers. Special attention should be paid to the problem of classification of various local electronic payment systems (for example, those involving the issue of cards accepted for payment in a limited area). Their separation from the issuers of electronic money subject to regulation can be carried out according to the indicators of the total turnover of the system, the number of simultaneously operating accounts, the number of points of sale accepting the issued instruments for payment, as well as the maximum balance on the electronic account. The scope of use of electronic money should be strictly limited to the settlements of individuals for goods, works and services, as well as their implementation of other civil transactions in compliance with the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation. In addition, the right to use electronic money can be extended to the order of operations of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, which can also be carried out in cash at the expense of funds at the cash desk. This is the payout wages, payment of travel expenses and expenses for the purchase of goods and services by employees of enterprises, taking into account the maximum amount of calculation in cash (100 thousand rubles). The introduction of electronic money into civil circulation also presupposes the determination of the range of their potential issuers. In this capacity, it is proposed to consider all banks and settlement non-bank credit institutions (NSCO). This means that the authority to regulate the emission of electronic money will belong entirely to the Bank of Russia. Existing prudential requirements (in particular, to the amount of equity capital, capital adequacy and security liquid assets) to credit institutions in the Russian Federation can be considered sufficient to ensure the interests of customers of electronic payment systems. At the same time, they do not create prohibitive barriers for market players that do not have the status of a credit institution. The business volume of most of them will make it possible to form the authorized capital in the amount of 18 million rubles. The right to issue electronic money, therefore, will not be directly related to the bank's participation in the deposit insurance system. In other words, in the banking regulation system, the issue of prepaid financial products (including cards) should not be considered as an indirect form of attracting funds from individuals. In order to prevent the spread of pseudo-deposit products based on electronic money, it is advisable to prohibit the accrual of interest on the balance of an electronic account. The ability to raise funds on a paid basis by providers of electronic payment systems can also be limited by the requirement that it is impossible to issue electronic money in an amount larger than the deposited funds. An important element of the circulation of electronic money is the deposit and reverse exchange of electronic monetary units for cash. This requires a wide network of exchange points. It is possible to attract legislatively payment agents for accepting funds from individuals. However, payment agents cannot carry out electronic money redemption transactions under the current legislation. The solution to the problem can be the conclusion agency agreements with banks (with the involvement of their payment infrastructure) to make payments against the issuer's obligations. The legislative act determining the conditions for the emission and circulation of electronic money should establish a special regime for foreign payment systems. The possibility of issuing electronic money in favor of residents of the Russian Federation, as expected, will be allowed only if an agreement is concluded with a banking credit organization that is ready to act as a guarantor for these instruments, as well as ensuring their acceptance and repayment with the possible involvement of agent organizations.

3.4 Prospects for the development of the electronic money system in Russia

According to the Electronic Money Association, in 2009 there were about 20 million electronic wallets in Russia.

Andrey Morozov, executive director of Rupay, estimates the market of Internet payments in our country at about $ 5 billion. According to him, the growth continues, according to various estimates, by 70-120% annually. Morozov believes that electronic payments, by and large, are just beginning to enter the life of an ordinary citizen of our country. “We foresee explosive market growth, which is unlikely to slow down in the next few years,” says Morozov. Indeed, the plans of RBC, which recently bought Rupay, are grandiose: the company is going to create an analogue of the well-known PayPal system. In addition, e-payment technology providers are evolving to make life easier for online shopping. Previously, for the site to be able to accept payments by cards or through electronic money systems, it took a long and hard work programmers, integration of scripts into the site, special order and payment forms. Now you can use the services of companies that already cooperate with many payment systems, including Visa and PayPal. These include, for example, Chronopay. Now a seed merchant, in order to trade on the Internet, just needs to open an account with a partner bank Chronopay and connect to the system. The technology provider creates a kind of secure "virtual pipe" through which money of any form can pass directly to the merchant's account. For his services, the "owner of the pipe" takes a small percentage. In addition, companies use SMS services as a means of payment for some services. Thus, micropayments are often made on dating sites, on social networks, etc. This scheme avoids taxation if the SMS provider transfers the share to the seller to a virtual account in some electronic payment system, for example, Yandex. Money "or WebMoney. But this money will also have to be spent only on the Internet, since when cashing out, you will have to pay taxes.

Electronic money still raises more questions from most people than answers, and is not yet very common even among active Internet users. Launched by the social network "VKontakte" free system e-money can seriously change the balance of power in the market and increase the popularity of virtual money. Now VKontakte has about 70 million user profiles, which means that the number of e-wallets may increase as early as next year to 100 million. Of course, this will only happen if the social network automatically creates wallets for all its users. Time will tell what the real growth in turnover will be. So far, it is only worth noting that, according to Gallup Media, there are only 17 million active users on the VKontakte social network, and it is still unknown who of them will want to use the new service.

As for the payment system itself, technically it is no different from other electronic money systems, but the ideological differences are significant. The primary task is to spread the payment system while the tasks of making a profit are not worth it, and therefore it is not planned to take interest either from sellers or from users. Now replenishment of the electronic wallet "VKontakte" costs the user about 2-9% of the amount, but this commission in full goes to the company to the owner of the terminal or service through which money is entered into the payment system. But in the near future it is planned to open its own method of depositing funds with a zero commission. Payment confirmation via SMS is used as an additional security measure. SMS confirmation is also used by the electronic money system of the OSMP company (QIWI brand), however, there the phone is also a way of authorizing the user. According to a source close to the project, all financial costs for the creation amounted to only about 10 thousand dollars, which went to pay for the labor of specialists: programmers, interface designers, system architects. Already now, the online electronics store Nevoobrazimo.ru (nevoobrazimo.ru) and the software store “By Subscription. ru "(popodpiske.ru). There is a business logic here, and at least it consists in placing the payment system" side by side "and potential purchases - virtual goods. This should stimulate the sale of the latter, which will bring direct profit to VKontakte.

The appearance of social networks own payment systems is a fairly logical way to monetize. For example, Facebook is actively developing its own electronic payment system Facebook-Credits. Before that, users could pay for services and services of the social network through Paypal. " At the same time, she notes that "you need to understand that in this union - the payment system and the social network - the conditions are dictated by the latter, it was she who owned the main" asset "- a multimillion audience." Thus, for VKontakte, its own payment system is, first of all, a way to monetize users, and not a separate profitable business, as the well-known WebMoney and Yandex. Money ”, which is also confirmed by the free system - the social network is ready to take on the additional costs of servicing electronic payments (and this is at least an administrative burden on the state) only in order to increase sales of virtual goods.

As for the development of external purchases using the VKontakte payment system, there may be some problems. Transactions for the purchase of third-party goods and services require building a complex infrastructure between the payment system and counterparties, and they are not easy to promote in the places where people come to communicate. Payment systems have completely different security standards, on the one hand, and responsibility to users, on the other. On the third hand, social networks have a very important asset, which has already been focused on - this is the current audience. But this is not enough for a full-fledged payment system. A necessary factor is the promotion of your payment system in external environment, that is, online shopping. Here, everything is not so simple - you need to convince the store owners that they should use the Merchant API, in addition, it takes a lot of work to create opportunities: from paying for a huge number of services and utility bills to filling up the mobile phone balance. So far, none of this exists, but let's hope that it will be soon. Now I can only add that I could not find my electronic wallet on VKontakte and the means to create it.

It is known that any innovation can be used both for good and for harm, this also applies to electronic money. We all see how the development of technology leads to the emergence of new types of crime. A prime example is telephone fraud, which was reported before cellular and premium numbers for SMS, no one has ever heard. At the same time, people are losing money and only because they have not yet adapted to the new forms of "divorce". As for the sphere of electronic money, one should be more afraid not even of “virtual pickpockets” who pick passwords, but of fraudsters using more complex schemes. For example, the emergence of "fake" partners carrying out fraud, pretending to be a legal online store. It is also quite possible that malicious programs will appear that will redirect users to such "partner" sites. " Also, its own electronic payment system is a rather complex technological step, in which various vulnerabilities are inevitable. And this applies not only to the technical part, but also to the organizational one. For interaction between elements of the payment system, VKontakte specialists have developed a protocol that can be well protected by its authors. However, it is still unknown to what extent all the security requirements will be met by the partners, to what extent VKontakte will carry out strict control over compliance with these requirements. But any breach of security can lead to loss of money. By the way, if you use access to "VKontakte" from a mobile phone, then if you lose your device, your wallet will not be able to secure even an SMS confirmation of payment. If netizens get a really simple and secure tool, the balance of power in the e-money market could change dramatically.

Long-standing electronic payment systems have also tackled the problem of fraud with electronic money. In the near future, i-Free and other participants in the mobile payments market are planning to announce the creation of their association. The new association is already setting an ambitious goal of clearing the market from fraud.

The long-known problem of converting electronic currencies seems to be close to being resolved by Yandex. Money and WebMoney. True, this will not please the owners of Internet currency “exchangers” - they are absent in the new scheme discussed by Yandex and WebMoney. In the near future, a tool will appear that allows you to convert currencies without the participation of intermediaries. On the one hand, consumers should be happy - after all, exchangers often converted electronic currencies at extortionate rates - up to 4% of the amount per transaction. On the other hand, this is a clear step towards disanonymization, which undermines the foundations of WebMoney, where the bulk of payments are settlements between individuals.

There is also hope that electronic money will soon be legalized and taken under control. The government submitted to the State Duma a draft law “On the National Payment System” (see Appendix 3).

The Ministry of Finance has been working on its development for more than two years. The regulation of the electronic payments market is long overdue, experts say. According to them, the amount of funds transferred over the nine months of this year to e-wallets amounted to almost 39 billion rubles. This is 40 percent more than last year. The number of active e-wallets has already reached 25 million, having increased by 20 percent over the year.

However, the rules of the game in this market have not yet been legally defined, and their activities have not been controlled. The law was revised several times, and the final version of the bill turned out to be much more liberal than the previous ones.

According to the draft law, the Central Bank will supervise the activities of electronic money operators. However, not only banks will be able to engage in this activity. Mandatory licensing will become a gateway to the market and protection against fraud. Net assets must be at least 10 million rubles. Minimum size authorized capital a newly registered non-bank credit institution entitled to transfer funds without opening bank accounts is set at 17 million rubles.

Until recently, the Ministry of Finance insisted on mandatory identification of an individual when opening an "electronic wallet". But in latest version of the bill, the department nevertheless made a concession to the operators of electronic money and crossed out this point: the operators were able to convince the Ministry of Finance that such a measure would kill the market.

The Ministry of Finance allowed to pay with electronic money without opening a bank account. Both citizens and legal entities can be their recipients and payers. If the amount of one payment for a citizen does not exceed 15 thousand rubles, then identification of the recipient is not required to make it. From 15 to 100 thousand rubles a passport must be presented to the operator. And it is simply not allowed to translate more than 100 thousand. There will be no interest on the balance of electronic money. But citizens will be able to receive part of the money in cash. Legal entities and individual entrepreneurs will be able to receive electronic money only with mandatory identification.

Operators are obliged to guarantee bank secrecy and are not entitled to disclose to third parties information about the transactions and accounts of payment system participants and their clients. A requirement is also aimed at protecting consumer rights, which obliges in each place of operations, including through terminals and ATMs, to provide citizens with information about the amount of the commission, the methods of filing claims and the procedure for their consideration. In addition, the contact telephone numbers of the money transfer operator must be indicated. Moreover, the client should be able to familiarize himself with this information even before the operation.

Market participants, tired of struggling with the rigidity of the bill, assess the current version positively. “Finally, in the field of payments, everything is being rebuilt and getting better from the point of view of legislation,” says the president of Kiwi, Andrei Romanenko.

The industry, which previously developed spontaneously, will now be placed under the supervision of state bodies and within the framework that the state considers necessary. But whether consumers will benefit from this is not at all obvious, because the presence of regulation and supervision is not synonymous with reducing the cost of services or improving their quality. Rather, we can assume the opposite - the presence of supervisory authorities and their requirements, inspections, etc. will require additional costs from market participants, which will inevitably affect the cost of services for the end user.

But in the long term, there will still be a win, because the main goal of the bill is to put another channel for financial flows under control in order to prevent it from being used for the purpose of money laundering or other similar operations. Also, legalization of electronic money can make them a full-fledged means of payment, which expands the possibilities of their use - for example, in this case, it is possible to receive wages in electronic money, or to pay taxes and other settlements with the state.

But market participants still have questions about the document. The objective of the bill is to create a national payment system that could successfully compete with Western ones in Russia and in the future international market... And in the end it may turn out the other way around. American, European, Asian payment systems come to Russia and work according to the laws of their countries - more liberal; for example, Paypal came to Russia and plays by softer rules than what is stated in the NPS - accordingly, it has a competitive advantage.

In addition, the negative aspect is that, given the tightening of requirements for financial sufficiency, “small companies” will not be able to enter the market. However, there is no doubt that the current players will cope with the innovations.

It also seems unlawful to limit the maximum transaction amount to 100 thousand rubles, because this is an infringement of electronic money in comparison with other forms of payment recognized by the Civil Code. For comparison, in international practice, restrictions are adopted at the level of 10 thousand euros or $ 10 thousand.

The development of electronic money also requires the development of online stores. According to experts, the e-commerce market in Russia will develop in an evolutionary way, and this process will take 5-10 years. The e-commerce sector is characterized by high turnover, but small profits, so investors are not particularly willing to invest money there. Only a strategic investor can be interested in an online store (for example, as Marta once bought 003.ru). Indeed, this was the first and last serious purchase of an online store in Runet. The deal took place in April 2005, when the Marta holding acquired a controlling stake in the store. The parties did not disclose the amount, but analysts estimated the purchase at $ 2 - 3 million. Investors' attention to this sector may be attracted by projects of the scale of Amazon.com or eBay. It is believed that now their example is "Ozone". In the nearest future Ozone plans to launch new services for private ads and digital content sales. The first is very similar to eBay. True, analysts are not yet predicting great success for him. Now the attention of Russian investors and market participants is captured by the fashionable topic of Web 2.0, where there are still many questions about how to make money. Meanwhile, e-commerce is gradually developing and attracting more and more attention from foreigners.

Currently, there are favorable circumstances for the development of the electronic economy, incl. and electronic money. A growing number of people, who in most cases are active users of the Internet, trust electronic money.

The main prospects for the development of the electronic economy and electronic money systems and their management are mainly associated with mobile commerce, local micropayments, as well as all intensive integration with universal personal financial services.

The e-economy products offered on the market are aimed at being used as a general multipurpose efficient means of payment and are designed to make small retail counter payments. Thus, electronic money offers a replacement for traditional coins and banknotes.

At the same time, electronic means complement the traditional all known retail tools such as checks, credit and payment cards.

Majority information systems works with replenished electronic storage devices (cards), which allow periodically replenishing balances from bank accounts through ATMs, by phone (including in the form of short messages - SMS) or by means of a cash deposit.

In many cases, there are relatively low limits on the maximum value stored on the card.

Also, almost all programs do not have the ability to transfer value from one wallet to another without the participation of the issuer.

At the same time, in some countries there is a tendency when electronic cash is combined with other functionalities: credit or debit card, identification number, identifying the holder's identity. In several countries, bank card programs are fully adapted to payments on the Internet.

Some analysts are of the opinion that in the near future electronic means of payment will almost completely replace traditional cash and bank and other checks from the market, since the nature of electronic cash offers more convenient (including fast, as well as mobile) methods of payment for goods. and services.

According to the calculations of some companies, today every second purchase in retail is done using electronic means of payment.

Traditional cash remains the main means of payment in classic stores for only one third of customers.

Another fact is that while most online purchases are made with bank cards, nearly half use checks and money orders in e-commerce.

Currently, there is a gradual decline in the use of "paper" payments - a fifth of buyers say they intend to refuse to pay their bills by check for the subsequent use of electronic money.

At the same time, some experts warn about certain threats and conflicts that may arise in the banking sector. For example, in terms of electronic money circulation, banks may face direct competition from existing financial service providers, given that a provider that provides users with a convenient and simple interface will be able to retain them for a long time.

However, banks need to enter this market, and the prospects here open up significant both in terms of the potential scale of the number of possible electronic money transactions, and in the quality and convenience of the provided electronic services for an ordinary user of banking services.

Conclusion

Over the past few years, electronic money has successfully taken root in the Russian market. Taking as a basis the Western systems of electronic money that have already been thought out and tested in operation, numerous analogues have been created. The development of the market was helped by the widespread use of Internet access and mobile communications in Russia, as well as the awareness of the advantages of this method of payment.

The main problem of the system in Russia is the lack of regulation and rules for making transactions with electronic money.

The bill has been under development for several years, and there is no confidence that another attempt to pass it will be successful. But even if it is adopted in the near future, it can lead to a slowdown in the development of the market. The draft law envisages rather strict restrictions on the implementation of payments by electronic money and the difficulties of entering the market. As a result, strong companies will only strengthen their positions, while the negative impact will be felt by users who will pay with the convenience and low cost of using electronic money. This, of course, violates the main concept of the system - "quickly, conveniently, cheaply, anonymously."

On the other hand, the market will be legalized, which means it will be able to expand the circle of its users. Already today it is planned to provide users of social networks with electronic wallets, to develop a system of settlements with the state using electronic money.

Also, the control of this market will help prevent money laundering by criminal organizations. Companies representing the modern electronic money market are not standing still either, they are constantly developing to improve their activities and maintain competitiveness. The main idea in recent times was the solution to the problem of currency conversion between various companies... The fight against fraud continues, which still exists, despite the high degree of protection of this money.

The system of online stores and other opportunities for the use of electronic money is being developed.

Electronic money is unlikely to ever become the dominant means of payment. But it is quite possible that over time, electronic money will be one of the varieties of the form of money (coins, banknotes, non-cash money and electronic money). It is also obvious that in the future all central banks will issue electronic money, just as they now mint coins and print banknotes.

Output data of the collection:

ELECTRONIC MONEY SECURITY PROBLEMS

Shkarupelova Anna Sergeevna

student, Volgograd State Technical University,

Trunina Valentina Fedorovna

candidate of sociological sciences, associate professor of Volgograd State Technical University, Volgograd

The Russian law "On the National Payment System" contains the following definition of electronic money - this is money that has been previously provided by one person (the person who provided the money) to another person who takes into account information on the amount of funds provided without opening a bank account (obligated person), to fulfill the monetary obligations of the person who provided the funds to third parties and in respect of which the person who provided the funds has the right to transfer orders exclusively using electronic means of payment. At the same time, funds received by organizations that carry out professional activity on the securities market, clearing activities and (or) management of investment funds, mutual funds and non-state pension funds and accounting for information on the amount of funds provided without opening a bank account in accordance with the legislation governing the activities of these organizations.

The term "electronic money" is relatively new and is often applied to a wide range of payment instruments that are based on innovative technical solutions. The consequence of this is the absence of a single, internationally recognized definition of electronic money, which would unambiguously determine their economic and legal essence.

Electronic money is characterized by an internal contradiction - on the one hand, it is a means of payment, on the other hand, it is an obligation of the issuer, which must be fulfilled in traditional non-electronic money. This paradox can be explained with the help of a historical analogy: at one time, banknotes were also considered as an obligation that was payable in coins or precious metals. Obviously, over time, electronic money will be one of the varieties of the form of money (coins, banknotes, non-cash money and electronic money). It is also obvious that in the future, central banks will issue electronic money, just as they now mint coins and print banknotes.

A common misconception is the identification of electronic money with non-cash money.

More and more often, reports of theft of electronic money began to appear, the security of which, as it turned out, was rather inadequate.

Firstly, we are talking about a system of risks with which each owner of an electronic wallet is associated. It depends on the way of storing electronic currency and information transfer technologies. The owners of electronic wallets are primarily concerned with how operational risks are resolved, that is, the risks associated with a failure in the payment system. Despite the fact that the human factor in the functioning of electronic money is minimized, it is he who causes concerns related to operational risks. Errors at this level lead to financial losses. And violations in the security system in electronic wallets contribute to the emergence of problems at the level of each party - a participant.

The fact of fraud associated with the use of electronic money also occupies a significant place. Changes in information about an electronic wallet are dangerous when paying for services in world wide web, unauthorized refusal to pay for the provided service, performing transactions under a false name.

If we talk about implementation problems, which also exist, then we can report the following.

The central banks of most countries are very wary of the development of electronic money circulation. They see the main threat in uncontrolled emission, as well as in the risk of a large number of possible abuses.

There are many controversial issues regarding the introduction of electronic money. The introduction of electronic currencies raises a number of issues, such as fundamentally unresolved problems of collecting taxes, ensuring emission, lack of standards for ensuring emission and circulation, electronic non-fiat money, and concerns about using electronic payment systems for money laundering.

Rather sophisticated technologies are used for the circulation of electronic money, and commercial banks are not always willing and able to independently develop new products.

The main reasons for the reluctance of banks to develop projects related to electronic money are:

1.the need to fund developments that competitors can benefit from;

2. difficulties in cooperation with other banks in order to share the costs of innovative developments;

3. cannibalization of existing banking products with new ones;

4. lack of qualified specialists in their own staff;

5. uncertainty about the reliability of outsourcers.

Against the background of problems with the implementation of "electronic money" projects by commercial banks, many small projects and startups appear on the market, the main problems of which at the moment are:

1. extremely small size of the real market for "electronic money";

2. priority focus of legislation in the field of payment systems on the banking industry;

3. unwillingness of regulators to enter the market of payment systems companies - "not banks";

4. a large number of competing and poorly consumer-oriented technologies and a lack of standards.

Despite the fact that e-cash potentially provides a lot of positive effects, such as ease of use and confidentiality, lower associated fees, new opportunities for the business community with the transfer of financial and economic activity to the Internet, there are many controversial issues regarding the introduction of e-money.

Also, the creation and operation of electronic currencies raises a number of additional issues related to taxation and money laundering procedures. Also, many states are concerned about the problem of confidentiality and possible leakage of personal data of their citizens.

When using electronic money, negative macroeconomic effects can also appear: such as instability of the exchange rate, lack of real money security. That is, there may be a possibility that the amount of virtual money will at some point exceed the amount real money.

Also, problems with the use of electronic money can arise due to their liquidity, expressed in the value of real money, as well as with the obligations that are imposed on the issuer (similar to the problems that arise when using securities).

The threat is also hidden in the software of the electronic money holder's system. If damaged, it can be susceptible to viruses and other attacks from the outside. The same applies to the use of unpopular and less common electronic systems: deception can overtake during transactions and affect the functioning of the electronic money system, eliminating all available funds. The most dangerous is, however, the risk of intruders entering the E-money system. By applying modern technologies, fraudsters can not only "rob" the owner of an electronic wallet, but also falsify Internet funds.

Disadvantages of electronic money:

1. lack of well-established legal regulation - many states have not yet decided on their unambiguous attitude to electronic money;

2. Despite its excellent portability, electronic money needs special storage and handling tools;

3. as in the case of cash, upon physical destruction of the electronic money carrier, it is impossible to restore the monetary value to the owner;

4. there is no recognition - without special electronic devices it is impossible to easily and quickly determine what kind of object, amount, etc. it is;

5. the means of cryptographic protection that protect electronic money systems do not yet have a long history of successful operation;

6. theoretically, interested parties may try to track the personal data of payers and the circulation of electronic money outside the banking system;

7. security (protection from theft, counterfeiting, change in denomination, etc.) - not confirmed by wide circulation and a problem-free history;

8. Theoretically, theft of electronic money is possible, through innovative methods, using the insufficient maturity of security technologies.

Fraud that exists in the traditional payment system is likely to exist in the proposed systems of the future. The issue of ensuring the security and confidentiality of settlements using electronic money can be effectively resolved through the development of special legislation and the development of uniform standards for the implementation of secure settlements.

Solving these problems takes time and considerable effort. First, you need to use secure devices, information encryption and user identification. Secondly, you should work on the constant updating of the databases used and restrictions on the use of E-money. Thirdly, you need to create a certain legislative basis and monitor the use and processing of user data. One way or another, work in this direction is already underway, and it is possible that after a while, the security of using electronic money will be much higher than now.

Bibliography:

1. Banking: Textbook / Ed. O. I. Lavrushina. - M .: Finance and statistics, 2004.120 p.

2. Plastic cards in Russia. Collection. Compiled by A. A. Andreev, A. G. Morozov, D. A. Ravkin. M .: Bankcenter. 2003, p. 51.

ELECTRONIC MONEY: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS

N.N. Parasotskaya,

candidate economic sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Accounting in commercial organizations M. A. ARKHIPOVA, student of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation

Currently, the achievements of scientific and technological progress allow you to make purchases without leaving your home, which became possible thanks to the invention of the worldwide computer network Internet. Electronic payment systems make it possible to purchase the desired product regardless of where the buyer or seller is. In Russia, this area is at an early stage of development. Many people think that electronic money is plastic cards that can be used to pay in shops, hotels, transport, buy tickets, etc. In reality, such plastic cards as Visa, MasterCard, Maestro do not belong to electronic money , but represent only a means of access to the bank account that issued the card.

The term "electronic money" can be said to be completely new and is used quite often to a wide range of payment instruments based on innovative technical solutions. Because of this, there is no single, internationally recognized definition of electronic money, which would clearly and clearly define their legal essence and economic. Let's consider what electronic money is.

Electronic money is a relatively new form of money, representing the issuer's monetary obligations in electronic form, which are at the disposal of the user on an electronic medium. Their history begins around the 1950s, when bank records

accounts began to be carried out not only on paper media, but also on electronic media.

The next stage in the development of electronic money came at the end of the 1970s. The American expert David Choum proposed the idea of ​​electronic cash, or electronic money. The first digital signature systems were developed, which were based on changes taking into account two passwords:

1) publicly available ("open");

2) individual ("closed"). Despite the fact that electronic money has appeared quite recently, it can be argued with confidence that it has advantages over real money. Such advantages include the simplicity and speed of settlements, etc. However, in Russia, electronic money has not completely replaced cash payments, which is primarily due to legislative problems, namely, the lack of a full-fledged status of electronic money and, as a result, distrust from the side of society.

Electronic money meets three criteria:

Recording and storage on an electronic medium;

Issue by the issuer upon receipt of monetary funds from other persons in an amount not less than the issued monetary value;

Acceptance as a means of payment by other organizations.

As already mentioned, David Choum proposed the theory of "electronic money", the main idea of ​​which was that he introduced a system of "blind" digital signature. This means that the person signing the information sees only the necessary, necessary part of it, but certifies with a digital signature the accuracy of all information. The issuer, in turn, sees only the denomination of the banknotes, the serial number of the banknote is not known to him - only the one who owns the banknotes knows it. It is precisely proven in theory that a "blind" signature ensures the authenticity of all information contained in a bill.

The new kind money at that time was characterized by anonymity, unlike popular credit cards. Electronic money was not recorded on the accounts of the clients of the system in the bank, and when the payment was made, the personal data of the payer was not even registered. But at that time, electronic money could not yet be a full-fledged medium of circulation, that is, the recipient did not have the opportunity to make payments for them, he only had the right to receive the cash equivalent of electronic funds from the bank serving him.

This problem was partially solved in the 1990s. with the advent of another type of electronic money. So, suppliers of goods, consumers have the opportunity to transfer funds to each other without the participation of banks. In the USA, Japan and the European Union countries, during the rapid development of Internet technologies, approximately 25 Internet payment systems were created. Subsequently, most of them ceased to exist or simply went bankrupt, for example, Beenz. com, Flooz. com, Goldmoney. com, etc.

There are two types of electronic money:

Based on smart cards (card-based);

Network-based.

All of them are divided into anonymous (non-personalized) systems, in which operations can be carried out without user identification, and non-anonymous (personalized) systems, which require mandatory user recognition.

You should also highlight electronic fiat and non-fiat money. A prerequisite electronic fiat money is that it must be denominated in one of the government currencies. The state, relying on laws, obliges all citizens to accept fiat money for payment. Thus, the issuance of electronic fiat money, their

circulation and redemption takes place according to the rules of state regulators on the basis of, for example, adopted national legislation, central banks, etc.

Since electronic non-fiat money is an electronic unit of value of non-government payment systems, its issuance, circulation and redemption (when exchanged for fiat money) take place according to the rules of non-government payment systems. In different countries, the level of regulation and control by government bodies over such payment systems is very different. Non-government payment systems often link their electronic non-fiat money to the exchange rates of world currencies, but the government does not in any way provide the real value and reliability of such monetary units. Electronic non-fiat money is a type of credit money.

One of the widespread and frequent mistakes is the attribution of modern means of access to electronic money. bank account, namely plastic bank cards, as well as Internet banking.

In systems carrying out settlements with electronic money, bank accounts are used only when entering / withdrawing money from the system. In this case, not card or current accounts of users are used, but the consolidated bank account of the e-money issuer. Traditional money when issuing electronic money is credited to the consolidated bank account of the issuer. When e-money is presented for redemption, traditional money is debited from the issuer's consolidated bank account.

Another common mistake is to classify advanced single-purpose cards as electronic money, for example, a gift card, fuel, telephone tart, etc. The use of such a payment instrument does not apply to a new payment. Only at the time of replenishing the card or at the time of purchase is a really real payment made. The use of such a card is a simple exchange of information about consumed services or goods and does not generate any new cash flows. Let's consider the most popular electronic money systems currently operating in Russia.

WebMoney system. The system was founded in 1988. When working with it, the user uses the web interface or special applications for

computer, tablet or mobile phone. In addition to payment instruments, the system has the ability to encrypt messages, all transactions are stored in a special database, from which it is possible to receive individual details. Note that the minimum commission applies to deposit / withdrawal of funds.

In addition, e-money is very conveniently distributed to the corresponding currency e-wallets. For example, there is a WMR wallet for rubles, a WMZ wallet is available for dollars, a WME wallet for euros, etc.

Yandex. Money. This system was created in 2002 and is practically similar to the WebMoney system. It is an affordable and secure way to pay for goods or services on the Internet. This system provides the ability to pay fines and loans. Yandex. Money is not a bank. When money is deposited into the system, the user receives the operator's impersonal monetary obligations, which are signed with a digital analogue of his handwritten signature, that is, an electronic analogue of cash - digital money. All funds in the Yandex. The money is secured by real bank accounts placed with the following banks: Alfa-Bank, VTB 24, Otkritie Bank OJSC, Sberbank of Russia. Since April 2012, users of the Yandex. It became possible to receive money and bank cards.

System RBK-Money. Another electronic money system created for making payments over the network. This system is the successor to the RuPay system. It should be noted that the RBK-Money system has limited capabilities. Payments in this system are possible only in the following directions:

■ payment for Internet services;

■ payment for utilities;

■ payment for telephone services;

■ paying for purchases in virtual stores.

The positive point of the RBK system is

Money is that for withdrawing funds to a bank account or card in the amount of up to 10 thousand rubles. there is no commission per month.

E-Gold system. This system is an example of a transnational anonymous system. All funds that make up its turnover are backed by precious metals and, accordingly, are not tied to any currency. Customers residing in Canada or the United States have the option of

the ability to receive part of the amount of your deposit in the form of precious metals. Serious shortcomings of the system should also be noted:

■ the complexity of depositing funds - for this you will have to buy electronic money e-gold at the exchange office for the currency of the host country. But there is also a positive point - it is possible to replenish funds using WebMoney;

■ monthly fee for keeping funds;

■ transfers on accounts within the system are also subject to a commission.

There are, of course, advantages of the system. These include the existing affiliate program, which means that each user of this system attracted by you will bring you a certain percentage from their turnover.

There are both advantages and disadvantages in using electronic money. Consider the problems and prospects for the development of electronic money.

I would like to note that the main problems in the development of electronic money are 1: 1) unpopularity.

The share of users of electronic payment systems remains minimal and does not exceed 10% of Russians. The supporters of these payment instruments are most often young people aged 18 to 24, as well as residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg. A number of factors restrain Russians from more active use of electronic money.

Firstly, if we compare electronic money with bank cards, then electronic wallets are inferior, according to Russians, primarily in terms of the reliability and safety of personal data. For example, 48% of Russians consider plastic to be reliable and only 15% are confident in electronic payment systems. The level of protection of personal data of bank card holders is also assessed by the respondents significantly higher.

Secondly, e-wallets lose to bank cards in terms of commissions. If we compare these two payment services according to this characteristic, then 47% believe that plastic is preferable, and 18% - electronic money. 42% of Russians see no difference in the amount of commissions.

1 Kochergin D.A.Electronic money: textbook. M .: Market DS, 2011.

In terms of convenience, electronic payment systems are also inferior to plastic (40% of votes for bank cards versus 29% for electronic money);

2) unwillingness of banks to develop projects related to electronic money;

3) unpreparedness of regulators to let companies “not banks” into the payment systems market and many other problems.

The Bank of Russia and other banks are extremely wary of the development of electronic money, as they are afraid of uncontrolled emission, although electronic money has many advantages, including speed and ease of use. The main reason for the reluctance of banks to develop such projects is the need to finance developments, the results of which can be used by competitors. In addition, banks are not very confident in the reliability of service providers (outsourcers). Apparently, the problems of the development of "electronic money" can be solved either by a long evolutionary path, or by supporting infrastructure projects initiated by the state.

But do not forget that in addition to problems, there are also such positive points like prospects. Electronic money is currently seen as a valid cash substitute for micropayments. But in terms of its qualities, electronic money can partially replace or completely replace cash in settlements. The amount that can be stored in an electronic wallet is constantly artificially limited. The reason for this is that regulators are uncertain about the reliability and safety of using such a payment instrument. Obviously, in the absence of negative examples, this limit will either increase or be completely canceled.

After the adoption of the Federal Law of 27.06.2011 N ° 161-FZ "On the National Payment System", there is hope that soon electronic money will be fully legalized and taken under control. Experts believe that the need to regulate the electronic payments market is long overdue. According to the "Rossiyskaya Gazeta", the amount of funds that were transferred in 9 months. 2012 for e-wallets amounted to about 39 billion rubles, which exceeds last year's figure by 40%. Active e-wallets, or rather their number, increased by 20% over the year and amounted to 25 million pieces.

Electronic money is very useful and convenient when making mass payments of small amounts, for example, when paying for transport, payments in cinemas, paying for utilities, various fines, when making payments on the Internet, etc. The process of paying with electronic money is really very fast, it does not arise queues, there is no need to give change, the money goes from the payer to the recipient instantly.

Electronic money is most correct to compare with cash, and not with non-cash money, because when handling non-cash money, the details of both parties are known, and when payments are made with electronic money, it is enough to know only the details of the recipient. If we compare electronic money with cash, then we can note a number of advantages of electronic money:

■ no need to pay change when making a payment;

■ high portability - the amount of money is not at all associated with the large size of money;

■ very low cost of issuing electronic money - no need to produce banknotes, minted coins, etc .;

■ no need to physically recount money (this function can be performed by a storage instrument or a payment instrument);

■ simplicity of organizing the physical security of electronic money;

■ fixing the moment of payment by electronic systems;

■ the seller is unable to hide funds from taxation when paying through a fiscalized acquiring device;

■ electronic money does not require counting, packaging, transportation and organization of special storage facilities;

■ perfect preservation - electronic money is ideally preserved over time, that is, it does not lose its qualities;

■ high-quality homogeneity - none of the copies of electronic money has any special unique properties;

■ security - electronic money is more protected from theft, counterfeiting, denomination, etc.

It would seem that with such significant advantages, electronic money could have long been

fully coexist with real money and be equally used by the population, having received their trust.

But electronic money also has disadvantages:

■ there is no well-established legal regulation, many states have not yet defined their unambiguous attitude to electronic money;

■ the need for electronic money in special storage and circulation tools;

■ in case of physical destruction of the electronic money carrier, the owner will not be able to restore their monetary value;

■ lack of recognition;

■ it is impossible to directly transfer part of the money from one payer to another;

■ it is theoretically possible to steal electronic money using any of the latest methods, using the insufficient maturity of security technologies.

When solving the problem of transition to the use of electronic money, unfortunately, there are more questions than answers. But it is pointless to argue that electronic money has a very rich unrealized potential.

Speaking about the disadvantages and advantages of electronic money, we can say that the advantages

va - significant enough to more fully introduce and use electronic money, however, banks are still afraid and do not want to take risks by developing such projects. And the population is not yet very familiar with the concept of "electronic money" and has practically no idea about the purpose of electronic money, and the state has not yet fully determined its attitude towards them. The fate of electronic money is a matter of time.

PROBLEMS OF ACCOUNTING CALCULATIONS USING ELECTRONIC MONEY

G. I. ALEKSEEVA, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Accounting in Commercial Organizations Yu. I. MAKOVSKAYA, student of the Faculty of International Economic Relations

Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation

One of essential elements market economy is money, since it is money circulation that ensures the normal functioning of market mechanisms, the circulation of goods and services between economic entities. At the same time, money remains one of the most difficult and controversial economic categories... One of the most poorly studied monetary phenomena are monetary surrogates that function in money circulation, are used in internal mutual settlements between different persons and constitute a certain part of the money supply, but at the same time they are not "full-fledged" money.

Monetary surrogates are substitutes for official forms of money, introduced into circulation by arbitrarily economic entities to make payments (banknotes that are not provided for by law and are introduced by individuals arbitrarily). The main reason for the emergence of monetary surrogates, as noted by many economists, is the lack of official banknotes (violation of the real commodity and monetary balance), which can be revealed as a result of the government's excessively tight monetary policy aimed at eliminating negative inflationary processes.

Monetary surrogates can act as a means of payment, but they cannot serve as a store of value and determine the proportion of the exchange of goods. Monetary surrogates, unlike money, do not have absolute liquidity, since they have limited circulation. In addition, monetary surrogates may not ensure the preservation of purchasing power, since in secondary circulation they can be accepted at a discount, that is, at a price below par.

In the economy, monetary surrogates are most widely represented by the following types:

Counterfeit money;

Securities (promissory notes, bonds, certificates of deposit and savings certificates, etc.);

Non-cash money arising in the process of barter exchange;

The right to claim a debt, arising primarily from contracts of a civil nature;

Foreign currency circulating in the domestic market as a means of payment;

Electronic money.

In recent years, electronic money has become more and more common. They become an integral part of settlements between different entities.

By electronic money we mean the equivalent of real money, which circulate only within a specific electronic payment system (EPS). The essence of electronic money is the storage of monetary value on electronic media - smart cards or computer hard drive. They are a monetary obligation of the issuer to their bearer and serve as a method of settlements within the EPS with other users or sellers of goods and services that have entered into agreements with the issuer. To become a member of the EPS, you just need to register on the system's website and conclude an agreement there. Then the EPS website will offer to download and install special program- online wallet. The funds with which the electronic wallet is replenished is the electronic value of money. Operators of electronic payment systems, as a rule, provide agent services.

The circulation of electronic money is regulated by the Federal Law of June 27, 2011 No. 161-FZ "On the National Payment System" (hereinafter - Law No. 161-FZ), which establishes the legal and organizational foundations of the national payment system, regulates the procedure for the provision of payment services, including the implementation transfer of funds, the use of electronic means of payment, and also determines the requirements for the organization and operation of payment systems, the procedure for supervision and supervision in the national payment system.

Electronic money is a monetary obligation of the issuer to its bearer and serves as a method of settlements within the EPS with other users or sellers of goods and services that have entered into agreements with the issuer. Electronic money can be settled not only with the issuer itself, but also with other participants in the system. In this case, the issuer, as a rule, is an organization that is neither a central nor a commercial bank. Unlike traditional money, which can be issued either by the central bank (in the form of cash) or by other banking institutions (in the form of deposit money), monetary value (electronic money) can be issued by specialized non-bank credit institutions that provide for a special procedure for regulating their activities.

Electronic money can be converted into rubles only when withdrawing from the payment system. Many

companies use EPS to receive payments for their goods and services provided via the Internet (distance selling). The operator can only be a credit institution (bank).

The client does not open a bank account, settlements through the operator are carried out by electronic means of payment. The electronic means of payment is corporate. In accordance with paragraph 19 of Art. 3 of Law No. 161-FZ, electronic money settlements are carried out, as noted above, using an electronic wallet.

To use an electronic means of payment, legal entities or entrepreneurs in accordance with clause 7 of Art. 10 of Law No. 161-ФЗ are required to undergo identification, which is carried out in accordance with the provisions of Federal Law No. 115-ФЗ dated 07.08.2001 "On Combating Legalization (Laundering) of Criminally Obtained Incomes and Financing of Terrorism".

From clause 1 of Art. 86 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, it follows that organizations can receive a corporate electronic means of payment at a bank only upon presentation of a tax registration certificate. In this case, the bank is obliged to inform the tax authority about the grant or termination of the organization's right to use corporate electronic means of payment within three days from the date of the relevant event.

In accordance with Art. 7 of Law No. 161-FZ, electronic wallets in EPS are replenished by organizations and entrepreneurs only by transferring from their bank account. The funds transferred by the customer to the electronic money operator remain the property of the customer.

Working with an electronic account has its own limitations. For example, companies and entrepreneurs cannot settle with electronic money among themselves. One of the participants in the calculations must necessarily be individual, which follows from Part 9 of Art. 7 of Law No. 161-FZ. The use of electronic means of payment is possible only if the balance of electronic money does not exceed 100,000 rubles. or an equivalent amount in foreign currency (at the exchange rate of the Bank of Russia at the end of the operator's working day). In accordance with paragraphs. 8 and 9 Art. 10 of Law No. 161-FZ, the amount of the balance may turn out to be more than the limit in only one case: if the change occurred due to the fact that the official exchange rate of the foreign currency increased.

If the balance is exceeded, the operator is obliged to withdraw the excess to the company's bank account. In this case, no order from the owner of the money will be required. For these purposes, the organization must either have a bank account opened with an electronic money operator, or provide the operator with information about a bank account opened with another credit institution, to which the balance (part of it) of electronic money can be transferred. The operator generates records reflecting the amount of his obligations to the client in the amount of funds provided by him (hereinafter - the balance of electronic funds).

The operator is prohibited from lending to the customer, accruing interest on the balance of electronic funds, or paying a commission to the customer. Electronic money transfers are carried out on the basis of payers' orders in favor of the recipients of funds. The transfer of electronic money is carried out immediately after the operator accepts the client's order. The operator simultaneously decreases the payer's electronic money balance and increases the recipient's balance by the transfer amount.

In the cases stipulated by the contract, the operator may not carry out these actions simultaneously. This mode of transfers is called the offline mode of using an electronic means of payment. Once the transfer has been made, it becomes irrevocable and final. The operator immediately sends the client a confirmation of the execution of his order. At the same time, the operator keeps records of information on electronic money balances and transfers made on an ongoing basis. According to Art. 10 of Law No. 161-FZ, organizations and entrepreneurs must use a corporate electronic means of payment that allows the customer to be identified. By order of the organization, the balance of electronic money can also be transferred only to the client's bank account. The withdrawal of money from the electronic wallet of a legal entity or entrepreneur cannot be carried out in cash. Already, the operator has the right to terminate or suspend the use of electronic means of payment by the client. In accordance with paragraph 9 of Art. 9 of Law No. 161-FZ, this is possible on the basis of a notification received from the client, or in case of revealed violations of the contract, which

describes the procedure for using electronic means of payment.

The provisions of Law No. 161-FZ provided grounds for the appearance of relevant instructions in regulatory enactments to believe that electronic money is an analogue of money. Nevertheless, at present, the legislation is not regulated by law for accounting for transactions that are carried out using EPS, as well as funds in an electronic wallet. The Chart of Accounts for accounting of financial and economic activities of organizations and the Instructions for its application, approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated October 31, 2000, No. 94n, does not provide for a special account for accounting for such funds. Therefore, there is no unified approach to accounting for money that is in an electronic wallet.

There are several opinions regarding the reflection in accounting of settlements using electronic money:

Using cash accounts;

Using the count. 58 "Financial investments";

Using the count. 76 "Settlements with different debtors and creditors".

According to the leading economist-consultant of the company “First House of Consulting“ What to Do Consult ”” D. Antonov, who argues his position with the norms of Law No. 161-FZ, “transactions with electronic money are a non-cash form of payments, therefore count. 55 "Special accounts in banks", and analytical accounting for this account can be kept for each type of payment system on sub-accounts.

The commission for transactions using electronic money should be charged to the account. 91 "Other income and expenses", subaccount "Other expenses", for example:

D-t count. 55 "Special accounts in banks" К-т сч. 62 "Settlements with buyers and customers" -

payment has been received from the buyer in electronic money;

D-t count. 51 "Settlement accounts" K-t count. 55 "Special accounts in banks" - funds were transferred from an electronic wallet to a current account;

D-t count. 76 "Settlements with different debtors and creditors" К-т сч. 55 "Special accounts in banks" - the commission for money transfer is taken into account;

D-t count. 91 "Other income and expenses", subaccount "Other expenses" Kt account. 76 “Settlements with various debtors and creditors” - the transfer fee is included in other expenses.

For documentary confirmation of the operations carried out in accounting and tax accounting, it is necessary to have an operator's report on the turnover of an electronic wallet or account ”1.

The leading consultant on accounting and taxation of Baker Tilly Rusaudit LLC EN Deeva has a similar opinion: “This is how transactions will look like when using electronic money:

D-t count. 55 "Special accounts in banks", subaccount "Electronic money" K-t account. 51 "Current account" - replenishment of an electronic wallet;

D-t count. 55 "Special accounts in banks", subaccount "Electronic money" K-t account. 62 "Settlements with buyers and customers" - receipt of electronic money from buyers;

D-t count. 55 "Special accounts in banks", subaccount "Electronic money" Kt account. 90, subaccount "Revenue" - revenue from retail"2.

However, electronic money is not an actual currency, but only its electronic value. An electronic payment system is a non-cash payment system in which settlements are carried out by payment from an electronic wallet through an EPS operator. An electronic wallet is essentially a virtual account in a specific electronic payment system. Calculations in EPS are made using special intra-system electronic money, therefore, in the opinion of the authors, this method of accounting is rather controversial, although a number of specialists offer this very option for accounting for electronic money, referring to their definition given in Law No. 161-FZ: “electronic monetary funds - funds that have been previously provided by one person (the person who provided the funds) to another person who takes into account information on the amount of funds provided without opening a bank account (obligated person) to fulfill the monetary obligations of the person who provided the funds to third parties and in respect of which the person who provided the funds has the right to transfer

1 Antonov D. Electronic means of payment // Consultant. 2013. No. 3.

2 Deeva E.N. Tax nuances when trading goods through

online store // Russian tax courier. 2014. No. 4.

orders exclusively using electronic means of payment ”3.

Adherents of the third method rely on the provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Civil Code of the Russian Federation): electronic money is not money in the understanding defined by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Consequently, the accounting of these funds on the account. 55 "Special accounts" is contrary to the principle of reliability accounting statements... The EPS operator is not a credit institution, but carries out intermediary transactions between the seller and the buyer to carry out settlements. In view of this, it is advisable to reflect the funds on the account of the EPS operator (in the electronic wallet) using the account. 76 "Settlements with various debtors and creditors" with the opening of a special subaccount "Settlements in EPS". Since the funds in the electronic wallet are not intended for any particular transaction, it is more logical to reflect them in the financial statements not as part of other receivables, but to present them in the line "Other current assets" of the balance sheet.

Over the past few years, payment for goods, various works and services via the Internet has become increasingly popular, since this method saves time, is easy to use and affordable. When entered into EPS, cash and non-cash money is transformed into electronic means of payment, which operate only within this system. That is, in essence, electronic money is not money in the traditional sense of the word. It is important to remember that only the ruble is a legal tender that must be accepted at face value throughout the Russian Federation. The means of payment used to replenish the electronic wallet, as noted above, are just the electronic value of money. Real money remains with the EPS operator, that is, when making payments through EPS, the movement of real money does not occur, the company's electronic money

3 On the national payment system: Federal Law dated June 27, 2011 No. 161-FZ.

exchanged for real ones at the end of the transaction through the operator's partner banks.

A company can create an electronic wallet for itself as a legal entity in accordance with Part 3 of Art. 7 of Law No. 161-ФЗ only by transferring from your bank account.

Example. Limited Liability Company (LLC) Zarya has registered an electronic wallet. For cleaning industrial premises decided to buy 10 sets of work clothes in the online store using an electronic wallet. The cost of one set is 1,062 rubles, including VAT - 162 rubles. 11,000 rubles were introduced into the system. The commission for depositing money into the system is 0%, for transferring the amount to the online store - 1.5 %%.

The following entries are made in the accounting records of Zarya LLC:

D-t count. 76 "Settlements with different debtors and creditors" Kt account. 51 "Settlement accounts" - 11,000 rubles. - money has been deposited into the system through the bank;

D-t count. 10 "Materials" Kit count. 76 "Settlements with various debtors and creditors" - 9,000 rubles. - 10 sets of work clothes were taken into account;

D-t count. 19 "Value added tax on acquired valuables" Kt sch. 76 "Settlements with various debtors and creditors" - 1,620 rubles. - Reflected value added tax (VAT) on the cost of 10 sets of work clothes;

D-t count. 68 "Calculations for taxes and fees", subaccount "Calculations for VAT" K-t count. 19 "Value added tax on acquired values" - 1,620 rubles. - VAT on the cost of 10 sets of work clothes is accepted for deduction.

Under the terms of the agreement, the system operator is paid a commission in the amount of 159.30 rubles. (10 620 rubles x 1.5%);

D-t count. 10 "Materials" Kit count. 76 "Settlements with various debtors and creditors" -

135 RUB - the commission is included in the price of 10 sets of work clothes;

D-t count. 19 "Value added tax on acquired values" Kt sch. 76 "Settlements with various debtors and creditors" - 24.3 rubles. - VAT on commission is reflected;

D-t count. 68 "Calculations for taxes and fees", subaccount "Calculations for VAT" Kt account. 19 "VAT on purchased valuables" - 159.3 rubles. - VAT on commission is accepted for deduction.

Thus, we can conclude that there is a need to develop guidelines for accounting for electronic money, which are actively used in their activities by Russian companies.

Bibliography

1. Antonov D. Electronic means of payment // Consultant. 2013. No. 3.

2. Deeva EN Tax nuances in trade in goods through the Internet store // Russian tax courier. 2014. No. 4.

3. Civil Code of the Russian Federation (part one): Federal Law of 30.11.1994 No. 51-FZ.

4. Civil Code of the Russian Federation (part two): Federal Law of 26.01.1996 No. 14-FZ.

5. Tax Code of the Russian Federation (part one): Federal Law of July 31, 1998 No. 146-FZ.

6. Tax Code of the Russian Federation (part two): Federal Law dated 05.08.2000 No. 117-FZ.

7. On the national payment system: Federal Law dated June 27, 2011 No. 161-FZ.

8. On countering the legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime and the financing of terrorism: Federal Law of 07.08.2001 No. 115-FZ.

9. On approval of the Chart of accounts for accounting of financial and economic activities of organizations and Instructions for its application: order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 31.10.2000 No. 94n.