Re: decentralized wallets and payment processors

Wallets vs Accounts

I have come across very different definitions of a "wallet" both in this
group and amongst payments industry practitioners for some time. There
seems to be two camps. One sees the wallet as an account, simply a store of
value and the other as a virtual wallet that stores all the things one
normally stores in a physical wallet such as payment cards (ways to pay),
loyalty cards (ways to identity you as a member of some group), electronic
"cash" (which compares closely to the former definition).

I see no value in the first definition, this is simply an account.

To add, I think that a wallet shouldn't have too much built in "logic" or
"business rules" or it is no longer a wallet. My wallet in my pocket
doesn't execute payments autonomously.

I like the definition of a wallet as being the virtual version of the
physical thing. A place to store instruments that can be used to complete a
payment, which if you think about it are normally just credentials of some
form.

I also like the concept of a payment agent which the IG have started to
define in their architecture document. This is a service that acts as a
broker between an entity, it's wallet and/or accounts and other payment
agents. Under this model the wallet is a component of (or is interfaced to
by) the payment agent.

Thoughts?

Adrian

On 1 May 2015 at 19:19, Melvin Carvalho <melvincarvalho@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> On 1 May 2015 at 19:04, Melvin Carvalho <melvincarvalho@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> On 1 May 2015 at 18:42, David Nicol <davidnicol@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Conversely, is a digital wallet (or does a digital wallet imply) a bank
>>> account?
>>>
>>
>> Banks tend to perform a number of mandatory services, of which a wallet
>> function is just one.  For example, withdrawal counters, direct debit,
>> standing orders, phone banking, reversing fraudulent payments, investments,
>> and many more.  The downside is that customers pay for these services in
>> the form of interest (either lower interest for savers, or higher interest
>> for borrowers), occasional defaults and bail outs.
>>
>> So I would say, a wallet is a small tool in banking services, it's not
>> the same as a bank account, imho.  But using the web as an existing
>> infrastructure can hopefully spur new innovation, and make existing systems
>> more efficient
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The matter will only be resolved by consensus on definition of terms,
>>> after a discussion in which the overlap is recognized and explored,
>>> and there is at least one clarifying
>>>
>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venn_diagram
>>>
>>
>> Yes, exactly.  Every term will have overlaps with others, and they could
>> be debated for a long time.  Our primary goal is to get the definitions
>> good enough, and quickly enough, so that software systems can be built.
>>
>> Although interesting, and it's great to hear from legal experts, this is
>> not primarily a legal forum.
>>
>
> Just wanted to clarify this a bit more.
>
> David says there's a venn diagram for overlapping terms.  So, spec
> designers will mean one thing by one term, legal experts will mean another
> thing, and general every day use of language will mean yet another.
>
> The process we come to consensus in software standards (at least at the
> w3c) is through ontologies, and learning through building software.  While
> it's really interesting to hear a cross section of views in the venn
> diagram, my hope in starting this thread was to focus on the software and
> ontology part.
>
>
>>
>>
>>>
>>> is produced.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> >> Is a bank account a type of digital wallet?
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > A bank account is not a digital wallet
>>>
>>> --
>>> Case law is made by litigants questioning Judges' decisions.
>>>
>>
>>
>