E-Money

José Engrácia Antunes

Keywords

Money; Cash; E-Money; E-Cash; Payment; Monetary Obligations.

Abstract

The present paper aims at analyzing electronic money, or e-money, both as an economic and a legal phenomenon. From an economic perspective, electronic money is a new type of money, alternative to the traditional physical money (notes and coins) and bank money (transfers between bank accounts). In spite of its youth, e-money has already become a popular instrument of payment, especially in the area of micropayment, retail market and ecommerce (e.g., “Pay Pal”, “Worldpay”, “Revolut”, “Alipay”, “E-Gold”, “Mondex”, “Visa Cash”, “Google Wallets”, “Digicash”, etc.). From a juridical perspective, e-money was gradually regulated by legislators worldwide, including Portugal, with the so-called “Legal Regime on Payment Services and Electronic Money” of 2018. Among other aspects of the said regime, a particular attention is given to the legal notion of e-money and to its legal status as an alternative type of money, as well as to the emission, circulation, and users of e-money.