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Modulr glossary

Electronic Money

Electronic Money (e-money) is a digital store-of-value product where all e-money issued by a e-money issue backed up by fiat currency stored electronically and with equivalent monetary value represented by a claim on the issuer. EMI accounts, often referred to as Virtual Accounts, are digital accounts that hold e-money. EMI accounts come with sort codes/account numbers and IBANs and have access to payment schemes.

Applications

E-commerce:

Reduces fraud in online card payments by verifying the cardholder's identity

Banking and fintech:

Helps issuers and payment providers comply with Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) requirements.

Advantages

  • Enhanced security: Reduces unauthorised transactions by verifying that the genuine account holder is authorising the payment
  • Fraud prevention: Helps reduce chargebacks related to fraud.

Challenges

  • User Experience: Additional authentication steps can cause friction and increase checkout abandonment
  • Implementation complexity: Requires integration with card schemes and issuer systems.

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