Posted On: 2021-08-18 19:37:29
Digital life
With years and centuries passing by, people started evolving in different ways to contribute something better to society. Evolving has led to the curiosity behind the laws of nature which gave them the realization of the existence of Science.
Science is the systematic knowledge about the laws, and technology can be explained as the application of this knowledge in real-time. This implication of science has led to the invention of many scientific systems that have been helping humans since ancient times. With the help of technology, the creation of the internet(previously known as ARPANET) was possible. 1 January 1983 is known as the official birthday of the internet. Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf are the creators of this crazy invention.
The early Internet was used by computer specialists, engineers, scientists, and librarians. The internet used during the initial time was non-friendly. Computers were rare, there were no home or office personal computers in those days, and anyone who used them, whether a computer professional or an engineer or scientist or librarian, had to study to use a very complicated system. With time passing by and the internet evolving, the world slowly entered the digital phase. The Internet became a common necessity in the everyday life of every individual through the passing of time. With the help of the internet, every aspect of life from talking to people to sending emails instead of letters is possible. The Internet has become a major aspect of everyone’s life, especially the life of youngsters. People prefer chatting on the internet rather than meeting a person or talking on phone calls with the help of the internet. This major use of technology, especially the internet has led to the creation of the digital era. You can know more about technology, the internet, and more about the digital era in our blog https://filaantro.org/blog/2021/03/16/ict-the-digital-era/
Online banking
The first bank known to mankind was established in the year 1472 in Banca Monte Dei Paschi di Siena in Tuscan city located in Siena, Italy. The bank started to help the needy by providing them with loans. After a century, the second bank known as Berenberg Bank the world’s oldest merchant bank was established in 1590 in Germany, as it was a hub for financial and trading in the late 16th century. After these banks, many other banks were formed in the coming centuries. Each one of these banks had a system where people had to visit banks for every small transaction. The system of banking was new to people and due to the same, it took people centuries for the banks to gain their trust of the people. But, when everyone was familiar with the concept of banking, several people started investing in them. People had to stand in queues or have appointments to visit the bank for mere things.
This system went along for centuries. The challenge of this physical system was noted by various banks, but none of them was able to create a system to solve the issue. Sumitomo Bank in Japan came up with the solution of online banking using the internet to resolve the chaotic issue in 1997. Soon, between 2000-2010 most of the banks across the world had adopted the system of online banking aka net banking for their customers. In India, ICICI Bank was the first bank to start net banking in the year 1998.
Plastic money & Online Payments
Paying physical paper money had its drawbacks and had more chances of the money getting stolen. This problem was understood by Australian banks and the system of plastic money was introduced in 1988. Using plastic money was a safer alternative and cards made of biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) in the form of credit cards, and debit cards were offered to customers by banks for easy transactions. Though the system of plastic money saved paper and was easy to carry it had its drawbacks. Use of plastic money for daily uses like paying for paper, milk, or to your staff like maids, or security guards was not possible, most of the small outlets did not support the use of plastic money since they did not have the point of sale (POS) machines and they wanted to avoid service charges for every transaction. There was a fear of losing the card or the card being misused, falling into a debt trap on credit cards, not being able to use cards if it is damaged and the usage of credit cards being blocked in case of delay in paying the bills. Also, due to the lack of sufficient knowledge, people were not able to use plastic money for payments and transactions, but with the growing network and with the knowledge of security and safety factors that were introduced, these payment activities are safer than earlier.
Net banking was also introduced as an additional option for digital payments, which added to the convenience of the users who could now minimize visits to the banks. In fact, nowadays banks levy an additional charge if the customers visit the bank for manual transactions which could have been done digitally.
In many developing countries like India, many people have access to mobile phones and the internet as the charges are one of the cheapest in the world. Also, with demonetization, the awareness and convenience of digital payments were known to many who had never tried it in the past. It is during this period that many forms of digital mobile money wallets came into existence. These wallets induced new customers through various offers where one could also redeem points earned through games and other loyalty points for purchases, discounts, bill payments, and mobile recharges.
Crowdfunding platforms
Many of the crowdfunding platforms are online, so if one wants to help a cause, the individual can make a donation digitally on the platform. Mobile wallet apps like Google Pay, Paytm, PhonePe, Amazon Pay, or other forms of digital payment like net banking, credit card, and debit card can be used. Each of these platforms has an option to either donate with these mobile wallets or through online banking from your respective banks. With the help of these online payments, you can support a cause that is miles away from your city or even country.
Steps to donate
Almost all of the crowdfunding platforms use the same way of accepting donations for the cause.
The steps are:
Enter your card number, expiry date, card holder’s name, and CVV, and click on Pay ‘the amount’
Entering UPI ID or scanning the code from your UPI app and clicking on Pay ‘the amount’
Selecting the bank name
Entering the CRN number and MPIN and clicking on the secure login and pay option
Freecharge, Airtel money, Ola Money, Payzapp
Select the mode, enter details and click on pat’ the amount’
Clicking on Pay ‘the amount’ entering the bank details and paying.
These steps are with reference to Filaantro(https://filaantro.org/), a leading Crowdfunding platform.
“The digital payment methods have helped this era by introducing a convenient way of transactions that has no age barrier, time-limitation, and can be used from anywhere.”
Author : Hritika Singh
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