The experts may be right that e-commerce and online shopping represent the unstoppable wave of the future. But with all the media attention being lavished on cybermarketing, perhaps not enough attention is being paid to other new ways in which determined merchants are trying to get reluctant consumers to loosen the grip on their purse strings. Especially notable among methods of getting us to part with our money -- quickly -- is the new debit-card system just introduced nationwide at some 100,000 stores, hotels, restaurants and other businesses, and even at some hospitals.

Some have questioned the advantage of the widely heralded J-Debit card payment system when credit cards are already in such widespread use. The benefits most heavily promoted by the 617 financial institutions taking part in the system seem real enough.

One is that there is no need for the customer to sign a sales slip. Purchases are paid for simply by passing the debit card through a terminal and entering one's personal identification number. Another is that there are no fees involved on the customer's side. Of course, this means that -- unlike with credit cards -- shoppers cannot make extravagant purchases now and pay later. In what may be another distinct advantage for careless consumers, the new cards are effective only for the amount currently in one's bank account.