SET is expected to become the standard for secure online transactions. For Internet commerce to fulfill its potential, phone lines to the home will have to be able to carry more data faster. As users proliferate, the servers that form the Internet's backbone will also come under more strain. Access to the Word Wide Web also must be simplified. But before consumers will start shopping, the device will have to be cheaper.
Interactive TVs are another possibility.
There is good reason to believe that much of the above can be sorted out within the next few years. Those controlling the new money medium stand to make big bucks charging people to shop online. Not surprisingly, banks fear losing customers one day to upstart e-money dispensers and are themselves getting in on the act. Many offer routine on-line services. From a PC you can transfer money, buy shares, apply for loans, check balances.