George: > > Option to set an automatic 'payment delay' on all payments attempted from > > an account. > > You can't have the option to set a delay for payments because if the user > would be able to set this option, it would also be possible for the thief to > un-set it before he would still the money.
Obviously it will be set up in such a way that changes in 'payment delay' will also use the payment delay period before they take effect. The thief can set it 0 , but it will be another 24 hours (or whatever) until he can steal money.. And of course an email will warn you that the payment delay setting has been changed in your account. David: > I'd add that, rather than having to deal with multiple accounts, > it'd be more straight-forward to allow the user to configure a > certain threshhold to differentiate between payment types. That will be much more complicated to implement and also much more difficult to understand and explain to new users. I am looking for a really simple way to prevent theft from my account. A 'payment delay' and 'full email notification' are just two extra fields in the customer database. With these 2 new functions in place I can have a 2 digit password or even give my password to you, and you will not be able to steal from this account. That's what I call safe. Many people have savings accounts and current accounts in the bank, so using 2 e-gold accounts will not be such an alien idea to most users. > Taking the idea one step further, I wouldn't object if I could > add a second threshhold which requires even further authentication, > such as physical mail or a telephone call. I'd be willing to > agree to a US$10 charge for each payment authenticated in this > fashion. Not a bad idea, but it will mean a lot of extra overhead and much more complicated system. But your willingness to pay $10 for this extra service is telling how people feel about the safety of an e-gold account. Robert: > > 1) Option to have email notification whenever somebody logs in to my account > > and whenever a transaction is done. > > > You do have a point there. Of course, there is the issue about privacy. > Emails are not exactly secure and I can think of several reasons why > someone wouldn't want an email sent out each time. On the other hand there > could be a PGP option. Since it will be optional, those who don't want to receive emails each time need not use the new feature. Also the email message can be really short like : "There was activity in your account" If that is still too unprivate, PGP is a possibility, or even simpler, let the user set the message text he wants to receive. Then the email message could read: "Come see what's happening to big Beth!" , and you will know that there was activity in your e-gold account, while everybody else who gets to see the message will think it is spam. > That would then require that people have PGP > installed and it would make things more complicated for normal consumers. Too complicated indeed. > Someone said that Pecunix's weakness is the difficulty to set up an > account, or somesuch and I have to say that our inhouse kid genius tech > improvisario had to look three times at the instructions and then shook > his head and said that (L)users will never take to it - his words. Oh sure, it costs them a lot of business, and it is not safer at all. Now you have to keep the password sequences in store on paper or on a computer somewhere, because it is absolutely impossible to remember them. While just full email notification and payment delay can make an account totally safe without the need for such very complicated login procedures. > It appears to be the old story were people give up saftety for perceived > comfort. And I think if e-gold was more sophisticated and more difficult > to use, people would look for easier alternatives. > Remember, the majority of the herd is stricty ignorant and often violently > argue their right to ignorance ;o) It is not so much they are ignorant. Many are not so tech savvy , and if they don't understand a system they perceive it as unsafe. Some will argue that an e-gold account with a good passphrase is totally safe, but that's not what matters to people, it is their 'perception' of safety or unsafety that convinces them or not. This perception of safety depends to a large extent on how well they feel 'in touch' with the account: are they in control or not. That's where full email notification, that alerts them of every activity in the account, is so important: it makes them feel in control and they can correct if something has gone wrong. > > 2) Option to set an automatic 'payment delay' on all payments attempted from > > an account. > > > Actually, you'd be on very thin ice with delaying payments. I think most > merchants would be up in arms and vote with their feet. I know that we > would. But it is 'optional', and how it would affect you? I use my account with 24 hour p.d. to pay for something on your site today. Once you see the gold coming into your account tomorrow you send me the goods... If I cancel the payment during the 24 hour p.d. you don't see any gold coming in and you don't send anything. In fact you will often not know if I used payment delay or not. You see an amount of e-gold coming in together with a batch number and you have no way to know if I spent it with 24 delay or 48 hour delay or no delay at all. Once you see the gold in your account whatever delay period is already over and the client cannot change his mind anymore. For stuff that has or needs only instant delivery I will of course use another account with payment delay set to 0 > We accept e-gold payments because the market wants us to - and because I > personally believe that it is a great thing and the natural way of > free-market development. But if that belief, as many others I hold dear, > would give me economic disadvantages, then i would not let it influence my > business decissions. Meaning, if people can change their minds within 24 > hours, most of the commercial activity outside mere exchangers would come > to a grinding halt - for 24 hours. TGC would not let you wager gold until > 24 hours later, we wouldn't register domain names until 24 hours after we > received the order, proxy shops wouldn't pass orders on for a day... You will probably process orders when you receive the gold, just like you do now. If somebody pays you with a check, you also wait till the check clears don't you? Payment delays are very usual in most business. Really, a few more possibilities to customize the account features would go a long way to make e-gold better. An optional maximum daily spend limit would be a good safety feature as well. Danny --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Use e-gold's Secure Randomized Keyboard (SRK) when accessing your e-gold account(s) via the web and shopping cart interfaces to help thwart keystroke loggers and common viruses.
