Yahoo! attaches money to emails

Yahoo!'s email payment system has been branded too difficult to use by experts.

The system, called PayDirect, has been developed with HSBC and will be available later this year. It uses public/private key technology, which allows users to send payments to one another via secure email.

This initiative has now come under criticism from security pundits who say end users are likely to shun complex encryption key exchange systems and may make mistakes when sending email payments.

Peter Cox, CEO of ID Data, said users will have a hard time understanding the key system.

"Users are not likely to grasp the complexities of the public/private key system and are more likely to trust encryption keys stored inside a smartcard or SIM because of portability and ease of use," he said.

Email blunders are a growing phenomena and some say the less technically minded are likely to make costly mistakes because email is not taken seriously enough, even when money is concerned.

Lynne Gillon, VP of marketing at security specialist Arcot International, said: "End users are more likely to send an email to the wrong address rather than forget their smartcards because email is yet to prove itself as a viable payment medium."

Yahoo!'s PayDirect allows people to send and receive money to one another via email by linking their credit card, debit card or bank account details to their secure Yahoo! PayDirect account via their HSBC account.

The deal comes amidst attempts from media players like News International, Telegraph Group and Yahoo! to charge consumers for web content.