Different Ways to Pay

Different Ways to Pay

Cash

• Traditional method of payment, universally accepted.
• Provides immediate transfer of value.

Cheques

• A written order from a customer telling their bank to pay a certain amount from their account to another account.
• Becoming less common due to online banking and faster payments.

Debit Cards

• Remove money directly from a person’s bank account.
• Can be used for both physical point of sale transactions and online payments.

Credit Cards

• Allows user to borrow funds to make purchases.
• Interest is typically charged on outstanding balances.

Online Payments

• Digital transaction made through the Internet for goods or services.
• Provided by services like PayPal.

Direct Debits and Standing Orders

• Regular payments made from a person’s bank account, useful for paying bills.
• Direct Debits can have varying amounts each time whereas Standing orders are fixed.

Mobile Payments

• Made through mobile devices, utilising apps like Apple Pay and Google Wallet.
• Mechanism usually requires pre-registration of bank or card details to work.

Contactless Payments

• Fast and convenient, simply requires a tap of a card onto a card reader.
• Generally have a limit per transaction for security purposes.

Electronic Funds Transfer

• A system of transferring money from one bank account directly to another without any paper money changing hands.
• Most common types include ATM, direct deposit, wire transfer, payment processors, and electronic check conversion.

Digital Currencies

• Utilises blockchain technology.
• Bitcoins are the most recognisable form of this currency.
• Python libraries exist which can help handle bitcoin public-private key pairs and also query blockchain data.