Jupiter Communications just revised its online payments projections, giving electronic cash a mere 1 percent of transactions in 2002. The move by Mark Twain Bank isn't surprising in light of the very low success of eCash among online merchant. The best known is CyberCoin from CyberCash . First Virtual , which had a form of e-cash, exited the payment business in July. But, given the proliferation of credit cards in the United States, the micropayment idea has yet to take hold.
Consumers prefer instead to use credit cards for secure online transactions.
In Europe, where there are fewer credit cards and more cash transactions, micropayment technologies make more sense. In fact, DigiCash and some of its competitors see Europe as fertile territory for its services. But DigiCash remains upbeat, citing plans by a new chief executive, Scott Loftesness, and his team to push the electronic cash portions of DigiCash's business, particularly in the United States. Loftesness was formerly a top executive in First Data Corporation , a major credit card processor, and at Visa . He formerly served on the board of First Virtual Holdings.