A firm that has EDI relationship with its supplier, for example, sends a messaged requesting delivery of a given quantity of the desired goods to a number of its locations. The prices and terms of delivery have typically been agreed on in advance, but EDI also has bidding protocols. The supplier responds, and that message may serve as both order and bill. Since EDI mainly involves private firms, no solid estimate of its prevalence has been published. A rival to the Internet-based payment mechanisms is home banking.
Customers generally obtain home banking services in one of two ways.
Alternatively, the customer can sign up with one of the home banking providers. Typically, such providers have their own special software and telephone service with which to access the customer s bank account while acting as his or her financial agent. Those providers are now negotiating with banks to provide their services through the blanks, blurring the distinction between the two approaches. Although home banking has been around over two decades, recent trends indicate that may actually be true now. One industry survey in the first half of 1995 found 300,000 customers nationwide do their banking through those systems.