Commercial Transactions and the rise of currency 3
Electronic Commerce and the World Economy 7
Electronic Commerce and Business Strategy 9
The Effects of Electronic Commerce 11
PAYMENT SYSTEMS USED IN ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 12
Issues associated with Micropayments 21
SECURITY ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 24
Public Key Infrastructure and Electronic Commerce 32
Digital Signatures and Certificate Authorities 33
Increased competition between PayPal-type systems and Traditional Payment Systems 35
Issues Associated with Mobile Payments 38
Although the Internet is an increasingly large part of the commercial environment, it continues to represent only a small fraction of the total commercial transactions taking place during any given day. Nonetheless, there are important factors that need to be taken into account with regard to electronic commerce, and the payment systems used to facilitate that commerce are key.
As commerce became a more important aspect of the lives of humans, the need for a medium of exchange developed as bartering became inconvenient. Today, payment is a common part of most commercial transactions whether conducted online or in-person. There are specific problems that arise when conducting business online, from verifying that the person making the purchase has the authority to do so to ensuring that funds are transferred quickly and economically from the buyer to the seller. Credit cards, debit cards, electronic wallets and PayPal-like models have been developed to address these issues.
To fully appreciate the payment systems used in electronic commerce, it is necessary to understand also the role of payment systems in commerce, how electronic commerce works on an international level, the security issues associated with electronic commerce as well as the details of specific payment systems. This research considers each of these areas, and also considers the future of e...