“Right now, retailers need to get to grips with the down of contactless payment. In the past week there has been a raft of announcements and news on alternative payment methods. Technologies everywhere are still convinced that they can come up with something better than cash for smaller transactions. The alternative method that retailers must consider in the immediate future is contactless payment. A few stories in London have gone live with the Barclaycard Business. Contactless payment system already more than 1.000 other sites have signed up to use it and 3.000 consumers have registered their interest in the system’s One Pulse contactless card.”

One of the example of using contactless payment system is applied by digital cash called e-Money. 

How is its application in Indonesia?

In Indonesia, almost all major telecom operators already took participation into the digital cash industry. Reported by Bank of Indonesia, the total value of e-money transactions in 2013 reached Rp 6,7 billion per day or Rp 2 trillion per year. While the total value of transactions in Indonesia is Rp 260 trillion per year. However, the adoption and expansion of using digital money in Indonesia still faces many obstacles and challenges. The public has been accustomed to use physical money which makes it difficult to move to digital money.

Could we use or apply it in Indonesia?
Yes of course. The procedures of e-Money are not too complicated because it's aligned with the existing IT developments. Even we don't need to go to the bank to make it. We can just sit at home or wherever we are, and just make it by online.

What are the advantages or benefits that we got as a consumer?
As a consumer, we will be given many benefits by using e-Money, such as:
Convenience. Having an e-money card that is handy and lightweight is much more convenient than carrying around cash. The users will be comfortable not having to bring a heavy purse.
Safer. The existence of the code used to lock the system in the card, allowing users to lock their money in the card so if the card is lost or stolen, others won't be able to use that money.
Time savings. Money transfer between virtual accounts usually takes a few minutes, while a wire transfer or a postal one may take several days. Also, you won't waste your time waiting in lines at a bank or post office.
User-friendly. Usually every service is designed to reach the widest possible audience, so it has the intuitively understandable user interface. In addition, there is always the opportunity to submit a question to a support team, which often works 24/7. Anyway you can always get an answer using the forums on the subject.

Which one would you prefer: card, cash or mobile phone?
I prefer to use card and mobile phone, because I always bring them everywhere i go, so i can use it anytime and anywhere.