Economic and Legal Aspects of Electronic Money

• Main Author: Otakar Schlossberger
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Finance and Administration 2016-06-01
• Series: ACTA VŠFS
• Subjects: electronic money; virtual money; issuer of electronic money; payment card; regulation; emission; monetary base; money supply
• Online Access: https://is.vsfs.cz/auth/repo/5261/Schlossberger_ACTA_2016_1.pdf

The term “electronic money” first appeared in Czech legislation in 2002 as the result of the transposition of legislation into the Czech Republic’s legal system in anticipation of the country’s accession to the European Union. This term subsequently reappeared in 2009 during the recodification of the legal regulation of payment services, payment systems and electronic money. At this time, the definition was subjected to certain changes which continue to exert a significant influence on current practice with respect to the issuance and subsequent use of electronic money. This paper addresses the term “virtual money” and considers the mutual relationships between “electronic money”, “cashless money” and “virtual money” from the point of view of selected legal and economic approaches. The aim of the paper is to employ the analytical method in order to investigate selected legal and economic aspects of the various interpretations of the categories “electronic money”, “cashless money” and “virtual money”. A comparative analysis approach will be applied so as to ascertain both the legal and economic differences between these categories and general conclusions will be suggested employing the deduction method. The article is further concerned with the influence of these categories on the monetary base and money supply indicators.