Credit Cards and the Web

In E-commerce transactions, credit card systems will operate much in the same way as they currently do. The customer will be able to use his/her current credit card, if desired, to purchase items directly from the vendor. The main difference is that the major credit card companies have developed an encryption standard called Secure Electronic Transaction (SET). With SET the merchant does not receive your credit card number. Rather, they receive a token, which is passed on to the bank which then uses the token to get the actual number, authorizes or declines the transaction and then sends the merchant an authorization number. The merchant is assured that the card is good, and completes the transaction. All of this is done with public-key encryption to assure authenticity of the parties. Also, with SET the consumer receives a certified digital receipt for the transaction.

Advantages & Disadvantages of this paying method