The introduction of modern bank card-based electronic cash (e-cash) in many formerly hard cash-dominated countries, such as China, has offered advantages of safety, convenience, interoperability and standardised management. 

Bank card-based e-cash keeps the currency features of traditional cash, with commercial banks as the main source of cash supply, but users of integrated circuit (IC) cards transfer currency from deposit accounts to e-cash accounts, instead of withdrawing cash from banks.