The credit card debts: causes and prevention

The major cause of someone gets sucked into credit card debts is social influences, which may influence what you think and react towards credit card.

One of the social influences is the credit card interest rate is high, which means the accumulated debt that you unable to pay will be charged by interest and it will make the owing amount getting more and more. Next, it is very easy to get credit cards, multiple credit cards in fact. The liberal, unfettered use of credit card may lead you to credit card debts. Then, most probably people around you will have credit cards. Some of them like to talk about it and flash it around from time to time. This may influence your own attitude towards credit card debts. In addition, people who do not want to be outdated will also get into credit card debts easily because they always buy something just because other has been boasting about theirs.

Here are a few ideas to prevent credit card debts. The most direct way to avoid credit card debts is stop using credit card. Secondly, take cash only when shopping, once the cash is gone, stop shopping. Thirdly, set a budget and think of what you absolutely must buy and would like to buy before spend your money. Lastly, use credit card only when you have no cash on you, as a convenient and will repay it before the interest start accrue.

The application of pre-paid cash card for consumers.

Touch ‘n Go card is used as an electronic purse mostly in transportation sector in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The card looks similar to a credit card where user can continue using the card as long as it is pre-loaded with electronic cash. Users can reload the card at toll plazas, train stations, Automated Teller Machines, Cash Deposit Machines, Petrol kiosks and at authorized third party outlets.

Touch ‘n Go enhances the speed of paying for low value but high frequency transactions. Apart from the speed, it is also very convenient because user no longer need to prepare for small change or wait in queue at the cash lane to complete the transaction.

On the other hand, 'Octopus' is widely used in Hong Kong for purchases on public transport, convenience stores, fast food shops, supermarkets, cake shops, vending machines, schools and parking. Octopus is also used for office and residential premises access control.

Each Octopus has a built-in microchip containing an electronic purse and other applications which can accurately record the holders' transaction details. Users simply hold their Octopus over a reader, and the correct amount will be deducted automatically. There's no longer a need for coins.

In Singapore, there is a card called Ez-link card which is very similar to Touch 'n Go card in Malaysia. The card is used at MRT or bus entrance and it can be top up at the MRT counter by cash or using ATM card. There is a discount on the bus and MRT fares when you use the card for the fee.
More information in http://www.ezlink.com.sg/

Mobile Payment Systems In Malaysia: Its Potentials And Consumers' Adoption Strategies

Mobile payment system is an effective means of providing customers with admission or money off vouchers which can be coded or designed to allow viral spread. One of the mobile payment systems that available in Malaysia is Mobile Money. It is a PIN-based Mobile Payment Solution designed by Mobile Money International Sdn. Bhd. to deal with the limitations and bottlenecks created by cash, cheques and credit cards.

Mobile Money can advance the function of mobile phone to allow registered users to pay for goods and services at anytime, anywhere by using only a mobile phone coupled with a 6-digit security Personal Identification Number (PIN) via Short Messaging Service (SMS).

Mobile Money is targeting 1 million Malaysian mobile phone subscribers to use the MM Wallet from about 7,000 Malaysian currently. Besides, there are 13,000 merchants linked with Mobile Money which will provide services to user and enable user to send cash to anyone, pay merchants, buy Telekom Malaysia Bhd’s (TM) iTalk card, Celcom and Maxis reload cards, bus tickets and other utility bills by just replying to an authorization PIN to make payment.

In a globalization trend nowadays, Money Mobile has to make more effort to promote their services in order to encourage more consumers to adopt this payment system. For example, Mobile Money committed to provide the highest level of security to protect their user which will enhance the user's confidence over their service.

Other than that, Money Mobile may also give member benefit to user which can allow user to purchase some products or services with a lower price when they using mobile payment system. (eg. MM Corporate Call Plan).

For more information please go to http://www.mobile-money.com/index.html

Electronic Currency

Electronic currency (also known as e-money, e-cash, digital money, digital cash or digital currency) refers to money which is exchanged electronically through the internet, computer networks and digital stored value systems.

One of the examples is PayLoadz -- the e-micropayment system product. PayLoadz is a service to sell intangible products such as software, e-books, music, movies, digital art, manuals, articles, certificates, forms, files and anything else that can be downloaded. It is an automated delivery service, which means seller can go on vacation without worrying about sending download links to the consumers every time a payment is made. These files can be either downloaded through hyperlink or sent through e-mail based upon seller’s product. PayLoadz also has an easy integration with PayPal and Google Checkout. Payloadz services can be used depending upon seller’s sales and product’s file size. They have various plans for various users.

There are several benefits of using PayLoadz, such as free lifetime basic account, secure file storage on PayLoadz’s servers, automated delivery of your digital goods immediately after payment, supports downloads and CD fulfillment, and so on.

To learn how does it work and what are the plans available for various users, you may click on the icon/link below to get further details:

http://www.payloadz.com/

Phishing: Examples and its prevention methods

Phishing is an automated form of identity theft, targeted primarily at the casual e-mail user. It tries to make you believe they are genuine emails from popular websites like eBay, Paypal, or even bank, in an attempt to get you to disclose confidential information.

The following are some examples of what a phishing scam e-mail message might look like:

An example of a phishing e-mail message, which includes a deceptive URL address that links to a scam website.

Another example of a phishing email, disguised as an official email from a (fictional) bank. The sender is attempting to trick the recipient into revealing secure information by "confirming" it at the phisher's website.

Below are some general tips to help you identify phishing attempts:

• A phishing email calls you to take some actions such as updating your personal details or changing your password that no legitimate institution would ask you to do so by email.

• It urges you to take rapid action, threatening for example to close your account by the end of the day.

• The messages contain no specific information about you and your relationship with the website or information such as account number is incorrect. A legitimate email would contain your full name, username or account number.

• Of course, if you email address is of the form yvonneangie@example.com, do not trust a mail saying “ Dear Yvonne Angie” simply because it contains your name.

Here are some prevention methods that provided by Paypal to protect yourself from become the victim of phishing:

• Learn if it is legitimate: If you are not sure an email is fake, forward the entire email to spoof@paypal.com

1. Simply click "Forward" and send it to spoof@paypal.com
2. Don’t change the subject line or anything else
3. Then once you’ve sent it, delete the email – in most cases, Paypal can verify if an email is fake or not

• One of the simplest and most important things that you can do to protect yourself is to upgrade your browser to one with anti-phishing features- like Internet Explorer 7. It will take just a few minutes and you will be protected with the most up-to-date security available.

To learn more about the prevention methods, you may click on the link below to get more details:
www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/phishing/identify.mspx

How to safeguard our personal and financial data

Currently, the use of internet and electronic services is very common. In tandem, the use of personal and financial data has increase. These mean that the opportunity of personal and financial information being stolen or hacked is tend to be high.

Below are some ways to safeguard our personal and financial data:

First, never reveal your personal or financial information through the phone, mail or internet, unless you have initiated the contact or know whom you are dealing with. Furthermore, do not respond to the web which present as your bank website that requires you to update your personal information because bank will never ask you to update it through the internet.

Secondly, keep items which contain personal and financial information such as receipts, copies of credit applications, bank checks and financial statement, and expired credit cards in a safety place, such as safety box. Besides, you must tear or shred those documents before you throw it away!

Thirdly, add password to the file or hardware which stores your personal and financial data. When create a password, it is advisable not to use identity card number or birth date as your password because such password is easily be traced.

Fourthly, remember to log out after access to privacy website such as bank account, mail box or other personal accounts and also log off your personal computer after using it.

Fifthly, utilize the anti-virus, anti-spyware software programs and firewall to prevent hacker or cracker to steal your personal and financial information via internet.

The Threat of Online Security: How Safe Is Our Data?

Online security threats are one of the biggest challenges on the internet today. Every unprotected online computer can be affected with the viruses, malware, adware, hackers’ attacks and Trojans. There are many security risks on internet that can lead you to serious financial loss, information theft and the attack on your computer.

Recently, the names and contact information for 10,000 customers of Automatic Data Processing and Sun Trust Banks were stolen from Salesforce.com, which provides online customer management software for those two companies. It is due to a hacker tricked a Salesforce’s employee into disclosing the password.

Besides, file sharing programs are used by most computer users to share files. Peer to peer file sharing is an easy way to share files between computer users as it uses a network to link the computer to one another so the information can be shared. However, the problem is raised that hackers can easily access to search or download files from any computer on the network. Therefore, experts are not encourage computer users to use peer to peer programs to share files.

The best way that we can overcome those problems is to use security software and hardware such as firewalls and authentication servers, as this is the most effective way to protect our computer and personal information. However, we need to choose hardware and software that will be updates itself automatically due to there are many new viruses and security threats that is launched all over the internet everyday.

The application of 3rd party certification programme in Malaysia.

Internet users may fear whether personal data that they provide in the internet are safe and not stolen by others. Most of the public organizations have imposed internet security onto their internet web page. These internet securities basically guarantee four essential components in establishing trust on-line and smart card based transactions, and they are: confidentiality, authentication, integrity and non-repudiation.

At present the licensed Certification Authorities which can issue out digital certificates are Digicert Sdn Bhd and MSC Trustgate Dotcom Sdn Bhd. Both companies offer certification services with digital certificates to secure web servers, browser and email packages with a range of assurance level.

Besides, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission have played a role where it oversees and regulates the operations of the Certification Authorities, repositories and date/time stamping services in Malaysia. Apart from that, it is also empowered to ensure that the licensed Certification Authorities and the recognized repositories and date/time service providers maintain a high level of integrity and quality in rendering their services. It also looks into the determination and coordination of the Certification Authority trust model and cross-certification policies with foreign Certification Authorities.

.

.

With the 3rd party certification programme in Malaysia, we will be able to transact on the internet without fear of having our personal data stolen, our information contaminated by third parties, and our transacting party denying any commercial commitment with us. Furthermore, it assists in the development of greater Internet based activities.

Cycle Time Reduction, Employees' Empowerment, Facilitate Customer Support

Cycle time reduction means shortening the time it takes for a business to complete a productive activity from the beginning to the end. E-Commerce plays an important role in cycle time reduction where it reduces the delivery time of digitized products and services and also the administrative work. The cycle time can be cutting down for more than 90 percent. For example, eBay is one of the successful online trading companies who reduce its administrative and transport time.

Many organizations have strategy of giving its employees the power to act and make decisions on their own. Individuals or teams who got the authorities from administration level can perform the work faster and with fewer days delay. For example, empowered salespeople and customer service employees are given the authority to make customer satisfied with their products and services and this helps to increase customer loyalty.

Since mid-1990s, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has been enhanced by different types of information technologies. CRM technology is making use of new IT devices and tools. The use of internet, intranets and extranets make customer service much more effective and efficient than before the internet. CRM provides help features for online transactions. If a product is purchased off-line, customer service may be offered online. For example, when a customer purchases a product off-line, he or she may find detailed instructions online if needs expert advice on how to use it.

The History and Evolution of E-Commerce

Electronic commerce (E-Commerce) was founded late in the 1970’s and it was introduced for transactions done via computer to computer. The term e-commerce meant the process of execution of commercial transactions electronically with the help of the leading technology -- Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) which gave an opportunity for user to exchange business information and perform electronic transaction.

The development of e-commerce was one of the things that happened slowly and then suddenly. At the early stage, the term refers simply to any commerce that takes place electronically which includes ATM and credit card transactions as well as the ability to do billing and invoicing through electronic methods.

However, in year 2000, a great number of business companies in the United States and Western Europe represented their service in the World Wide Web. Since then, people began to define the term e-commerce as the process of purchasing of available goods and services over the Internet using secure connections and electronic payment services.

In the history of e-commerce, Amazon was among the first internet company to perform electronic transaction. Currently, they are 4 companies such as Dell, Staples, Office Depot and Hewlett Packed follow the step of Amazon.com to become most famous worldwide Internet retailers.

The failure of eToys.com in e-commerce and its causes

EToys.com is one of the websites which sell toys via e-commerce. EToys.com was founded by CEO Toby Lenk, COO Frank Han and Bill Gross in 1997. Etoys seemed like a very good idea for busy parents. It provides them a chance to order thousands of toys category from the comfort of their homes. The most popular sections of eToys.com – Babycenter and Parentcenter which provide articles and newsletters for new and expectant mothers had formed a loyal customer base.

However, eToys.com suffered a black eye after it failed to achieve one of its initial goals – speedy and reliable during the Christmas in 1999. Thousands of customers complained that their orders were either late in arriving at their destination or contained the wrong merchandise. This event had seriously destroyed the first image of eToys.com for new customers and made many worry of using the site again.

Unfortunately, Etoys.com was gone into another crunch when Toys “R” Us and Amazon.com formed a partnership in August 2000. Etoys.com faced a major competitor during the 2000 holiday shopping season.

In order to avoid the shipping missteps of 1999, the company spent heavily to build two large warehouses to handle inventory and delivery. Nevertheless, the total $ 120 million income of sales for the 2000 season was just half of the company’s expectation. Short of money and other funding options exhausted, eToys.com filed for bankruptcy finally in March 2001.

The Success of Amazon.com and Its Causes

Amazon.com, Inc. is an American e-commerce company. Its global headquarters is located in Seattle, Washington. It is best known as the first online retailer of the internet world. Today, Amazon is dominating the e-commerce world!

Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com, Inc. in 1994, and launched it online in 1995. Amazon.com started as an on-line bookstore, but soon expanded to product lines of DVDs, CDs, software, hardware, kitchen utensils, electronics, apparel, watches, cosmetics, furniture, food, toys, gifts, etc. Thus, it consist items which are suitable for all ages, all interests and all fields.

Amazon is ruling the internet business with its excellent marketing techniques and expertise with respect to the market trends and demands of its customers. Its operating cost is low. This allows them to provide lower cost items to its consumers. Besides, its stockholding is lower than the brick-and-mortar businesses.

The efficiency in dealing with customers and making them a priority by providing excellent customer services make Amazon gains competitive advantage over the other e-commerce companies.

Amazon has established separate websites in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, China, and Japan. It provides global shipping to certain countries for some of its products. This helps them to attract the locals of foreign countries towards its business in regard to expansion its customers and increase in profits.

Hello! Sze Yung

Hi, Lee Sze Yung here. I come from Sarawak, Kuching. I am an undergraduate student and currently studying in University Tunku Abdul Rahman. My major is Accounting. I very enjoy my university life because I have more free time as compare to secondary school time. I like to read, watch movie or drama and shopping during my free time. Anyway, I hope I can make more friends during my university life.

The top 5 websites that I always visited are Hotmail, Sinchew, Utar, Xunlei and Google. Hotmail is a good website that provides mailbox for me to receive, read and send e- mail. Sinchew is one of the local newspapers --- Sin Chew Daily’s website. It provides news that happen everyday. Utar website is my university’s website which provides information that relates to my university and students. Xunlei is a search engine for download movie, drama, game and music or song. Google is a good search engine for any information.

The top 5 internet activities that I always do are chat with friends via msn messenger, search and download movie or drama via xunlei, check and reply e-mail at hotmail website, read news at sinchew and go online search for information to do assignment. Internet makes my life easier and enjoy.

YvoNNe says:

This is Miss Ng Ying Hua, Yvonne. I am a full time student, yet a freelancer. To be a student and a freelancer at the same time, it makes my life extremely busy and tired most of the time. However, I enjoy my life so much as I gain a lot of precious experience from my works and it helps me to expose myself to the society and I manage to meet many people from different levels. I like photo shooting. I like anything related to fashion. I am interested in modeling industry and I am ready to step into the field.

The top 5 websites that I visited the most are Hotmail, Facebook, Friendster, Windows Live Space, and Victoria's Secret. Hotmail is a good tool to forward and receive interesting e-mails; Facebook is a good engine to be used to keep in touch with friends by looking at their recent photos and there are many interesting applications available to be played with; Friendster is a path I use to search for freelance jobs and to update my recent status; Windows Live Space is a place where I express my happiness, sadness, anxiety and also my anger; last but not least, Victoria's Secret is the sexiest and trendiest website that I like to visit to update myself with the latest design of inner wears, swim wears, clothes, beauty care products and others.

Besides, the top 5 internet activities I always do are chat with friends through Msn or Skype; check out my friends' blogs; exchange comments with people out there through forum; update myself with latest fashion news; and observe how people run their online boutique as I am going to set up my own online boutique soon. So, please feel free to visit my online boutique anytime and enjoy shopping there! (http://fashionaffaires.blogspot.com/)

HI, I am Ang Kar Seng

Hello, welcome to my blog.

My name is Ang Kar Seng, 22 years old. I'm an University Tunku Abdul Rahman undergraduate and study Accounting course there. I come from Ipoh and I live at Scotpine, Sungai Long now where is not far from my university.

My hobby is play football and futsal. Since the early of this year 2008, I played futsal with my best friends at Kajang every Tuesday night. Other than that, I also like to travel. From travel, I can see and know many things which are special and have not experience before. Recently, I took my my friends from Kuala Lumpur to visit around my hometown, Ipoh. Besides that, I also took them to Gua Tempurung and University Tunku Abdul Rahman which is located at Kampar,Perak.

Besides that, I also like to surf internet. The top 5 websites that I visited the most are Friendster, Hotmail, Youtube, Google and Orang-Shark. Frienster is a website that can allow me to upload my daily life photo and let my friends to view my photo. On the other hand, I also use it to view my friends photo.

For the hotmail, I can recieve the mail from my friends. Usually, I will send some information to my friends through hotmail instead of traditional letter. It is because using hotmail is free of charge and save time.

In Youtube, I will watch movie clips which are very funny when I am free. Usually, i watch football highlights on this website.

Google is a very important website for me nowadays because it is a very good search engine. It help me to find out the information which are needed to complete my assignment.

OrangeShark is a website that provides different types of mini game. When I feel stress or boring, I will play games in this webdsite to relax myself. Although this website contains a lot of mini games that suitable for children, it's still nice to play.

If you want to know more about me, please just leave me a message. You may also give some comments about my blog. Thanks !!!!

Introduction of myself, Phooi Yee

Hi, everybody. Here is my introduction of myself. I am Gan Phooi Yee from tutorial group 4 of Accounting course. I currently stay in Puchong with my family and travel to school everyday. When I am free, I like to watch Hong Kong drama and listen to music. I also like to travel and hope to have chance to visit every places in the world.

The 5 top websites that I visited most is Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, The Star, Google and Youtube. Yahoo Mail and Hotmail are for me to check the mails that sent by my friends. I visit The Star to update myself with the current issues that happen in our country. Google is for information searching especially when we are doing our assignments. As for Youtube, I normally use it for entertainment purpose.

Normally, I use internet to chat with my friends. This is very convenient when I get to keep in touch with my friends from overseas. Besides that, I also use internet for information searching. It is very convenient to download songs and dramas from the internet. Internet is also one of the tools for me to be updated of the current issues that currently happen in our country and overseas as well.