Banking on cyberspace

THE old banking system is collapsing under pressure from new technologies, causing sleepless nights to big bankers. The bank of the future will be a cyber- space one, which never closes, nor has long queues at its counters and does not even deal with hard cash. These banks' -as they've been named -will clear electronic money units, called cash', instantly from person to person and even across countries, just at the push of a button.

To store the electronic money, a smartcard -a palm-sized device equipped with a microprocessor -will be put in use. Companies in the us are frantically developing easy-to-use software like CyberCash and DigiCash to get into the electrosphere. The software giant Microsoft is trying to enter the field as well, developing its own new global financial transaction system. Criticism of electronic banking has hinged mainly on the threat from hackers and fears that E-cash could undermine the internationall>anking system and macroeconomic policies. But supporters of the system are confident of its success once it comes into widespread use.