E-Commerce: Payment Systems and Security The list of payment solutions

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorUniversity, Master's February 2008

download word file, 9 pages 0.0

E-Commerce: Payment Systems and Security The list of payment solutions for e-commerce seems to be endless. Many banks and ISPs have adapted their own e-commerce payment systems where compatibility has not been considered. However, it seems that everything is currently pointing towards SET (Secure Electronic Transaction) as becoming the standard to follow.

The first payment methods for services that took place over the internet were conventional. Users of services would transfer periodically the amount directly from their bank account to the provider's account. This type of payment takes a great deal of time to go through.

In the case of product purchase the same method would be used, the customer would pay the amount due through the bank accounts. This mechanism, of course, is not considered as a pure internet payment.

To avoid this kind of transaction, a more advanced method would be to use credit cards as a method of payment.

The client would use internet to provide the supplier of the product or services with the credit card information. The supplier would charge the amount instantly and the credit card company would take care of the rest. At this point is when private and delicate information starts circulating through the internet, attempting against the privacy of the buyer (that can be monitored), and the confidentiality of banking information, which could be stolen and fraudulently used.

Security mechanisms are implanted to guarantee the confidentiality and integrity of the content, as well as the identity of the client and supplier.

The solution would seem to be the use of encryption to securely send the number and information of the credit card. But still, some certain factors have to be considered. One would be that the amount of the transaction itself could be increased.

The next step taken would...