An Approach to A National E-Payment Architecture

AbstractWith the increasing deployment of Web-enabled technologies, electronic fund transactions and home banking is rapidly taking place over the Internet. There is a growing need for a solid and robust electronic business and payment system. The current payment system bears several types of difficulties for Internet users. Financial institutions, banks, customers and merchants, around the country, are willing to take the advantage of a failsafe and efficient electronic payment and transaction system with a hierarchical payflow structure. The hierarchical structure will mainly comprise autonomous regions. The major requirement for the autonomous regional system should, at a minimum, provide interoperability among national and international systems and products. This paper, will, in addition to a proposed national e-payment backbone, pinpoint technology conformance to international standards. Most individuals that use home banking use telephone based services, which have been in use for several decades. These systems are both difficult to use and bear some major security threats. This situation is expected to change over time with the aid of the rapidly evolving Web-enabled services.