Ectronic Payment Systems: A User-Centered Perspective and Interaction Design - Essay Example

? E-Payment of the of the Executive summary Magnitude and frequency of online business and e-payment has been increased manifold in recent years and at present, e-commerce companies are using multiple e-payment systems in order to collect payment for goods purchased by customers. In such context, key objective of this paper is to recommend suitable e-payment system for the client that can not only help them to collect payment from customers but also to generate brand awareness regarding e-commerce business of client among customers. The report has conducted a brief literature review regarding e-payment systems in order to highlight their importance for an e-commerce company. Advantages, disadvantages and implications of three types of e-payment systems as Biometric Payments, Mobile Payments and Person-to-Person (P2P) Payments have been discussed in the report and based on the evaluation; the report has recommended suitable e-payment solution to the client. In the later section, the report has also evaluated security frameworks that can protect the customer account information, transaction information and website database from unauthorized and malicious access. At the end of the report, suitable security recommendation has also been provided to the client, which can not only increase transparency of the e-payment system but also help the client to improve their brand presence through social media marketing. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 E- Commerce and E-Payment Systems 4 Different types E-Payment Systems 6 Biometric Payments 6 Mobile e-Payments 7 Person-to-Person (P2P) Payments 9 Recommendations 11 Website and Database Security 13 Conclusion 15 Introduction Fazlollahi (2002) stated that demand for e-payment and online transaction has been increased manifold with the growth of e-commerce. Fazlollahi (2002) defined e-payment as combination of direct online credit/debit payments, stored-value money, electronic bill payments and mediated credit/debit payments. The paper will propose design of suitable e-payment system that can help the client collecting payments online without compromising with the security of the website and database used for the system. Throughout the paper, the researcher will propose e-payment system for Book Bunker that can not only help the client to ease the payment process but also increase their online presence. In the next section, the researcher will describe the theoretical model of e-payment system in order to prepare the background of the proposed recommendations. Three different e-payment systems will be proposed for Book Bunker and security suggestion will also be provided at the end of the report. E- Commerce and E-Payment Systems According to Khosrow-Pour (2008), e-commerce sites help users to buy and sell products and merchandises through online platform and internet communication. When product purchase and sell is being done online then it would be unfeasible to connect manual cash payment with the virtual system due to three reasons, 1- lack of synchronization between manual and online system, 2- lack of symmetry in the information processing and 3- synchronization might decrease the speed of processing (Khosrow-Pour, 2008). Hence, it can be said that absence of e-payment system might create problem for users of the system to pay cash in the virtual environment of e-commerce. Heng (2004) reported that before the arrival of e-payment system, e-commerce companies introduced various e-cash systems such as “Millicent”, “Digicash”, and “PayBox” etc as the predecessor of e-payment system but this earlier version of e-payment systems failed to provide the security and efficiency of transactions. Due to such inefficiency of previous e-payment system, customers shifted to online transaction via credit/debit cards payment or cash payment. According to Abrazhevich (2004), consumers also check for the security settings in the e-payment system and often stop using the e-payment system if the service vendor has not taken additional measures to ensure security of the e-payment platform. Fletcher (2007) found that despite the widespread of growth of e-commerce, public awareness regarding the benefits of e-payment system is pretty limited. Fletcher (2007) and Irwin & Slay (2010) highlighted the fact that cyber criminals or malicious hackers not only hack system information in e-payment system but also access personal information of users. In most of the cases, hacking through e-payment system is done in order to rob money and account detail from users. Therefore, the situation is no less important than cyber crime and companies should take sufficient measures to ensure security of the e-payment system. Now, readers of this report might ask why e-commerce companies are not taking sufficient measures to improve security of the e-payment system. Well, the process is not very easy because Sofaer and Goodman (2001) argued that there are infinite information channels available in online world hence creating standard security options for this information channel is humanly impossible. Now the fact is that in the e-payment system or online transactions, users do not realize the physical presence of the individual at the opposite end of transaction and such ambiguity creates the fear of uncertainty and security crisis in the mind of customers. Tsiakis and Sthephanides (2005) also argued that customer’s attitude towards e-payment is directed by the trust and security of the e-commerce website and database. In such context, design of e-payment system has two layers such as implementation design level and system design level. In case of system design level, issues like safety measure & design tools are being incorporated while in case of implementation design level, issues like programming platform and language are being considered by system architects. Patel, Qi & Taghavi (2011) stated that Unified Modeling Language (UML) is being used for designing the e-payment system in order to modify, specify, visualize and develop object-oriented information artifacts in the system. In the next section, the report will provide detail of such technical specifications that are being incorporated to design e-payment system. Different types E-Payment Systems In this section, the researcher will discuss about three different types of e-payment system that can be used by the Book Bunker to collect payment from customers. The researcher will propose three types of e-payment systems as Biometric Payments, Mobile Payments and Person-to-Person (P2P) Payments as part of e-payment system of Book Bunker. Advantages and disadvantages of the above mentioned e-payment system will be discussed in order to help Book Bunker to select e-payment system by comparing different alternatives. Biometric Payments Human body parts can be used as payment tool for Biometric Payments system. Von Graevenitz (2007) pointed out that in case of bio metric system, fingerprints or voice of customers can be used as identification and customers will not need any card to validate their identity through e-payment system. In case of Biometric e-payment system, customers will not need any card or online account to pay for the order rather they can send voice message to direct the bank to transfer the fund to the account of Book Bunker. The payment system uses near-infrared light which might be transmitted through eye or finger print of customers. A camera is located in the payment website and it will capture the transmitted wavelength from customer end. The Biometric e-payment system can be depicted in the following manner; Figure 1: Biometric e-Payment System (Source: Von Graevenitz, 2007) It is evident from the pictorial depiction, there will be two part in the Biometric e-Payment System such as 1- imaging device in the company website and LED controller that is directly integrated with the customer database. According to Von Graevenitz (2007), financial institutions and banks are even using the voice recognition technology automating the payment functions. In such context, it is recommended to Book Bunker to install the voice recognition and radio frequency identification (RFID) system within the website that will help customers to use their fingerprints or voice to verify their identity and even they can order the financial institutes to debit the ordered amount to the account of Book Bunker. Mobile e-Payments Chou, Lee & Chung (2004) pointed out that mobile phones can be used as potential tool for making payment and it can be considered as the alternate version of e-payment system. These scholars have also argued that chip and software of mobile phones make it easier for electronic transactions. In case of mobile e-payment, consumers can do the transaction through transmit PIN number, WAP, SMS message, infrared, Bluetooth etc. For example, PowerSwipe is a small mobile payment device launched in USA that gives opportunity to customers to make payment via magnetic stripe reader, pass-through connector and infrared printing port (American, 2013). According to Bangdao and Roscoe (2012), modern day customers can make payment through mobile applications installed in Smartphone and they gave example of money transfer application in Apple iPhone. In simple words, Human Interactive Security Protocol (HISP) system installed in mobile phones facilitates authentic electronic connection between the e-commerce sites and customers paying for the order given to the e-commerce sites. HISP creates e-identities for the customers and it can be synchronized with the banking account of customers. Although, e-payment through Short Message Service (SMS) is most common type of m-commerce but the process is pretty much laborious and complex. Hence, the report will recommend to Book Bunker should implement mobile Bluetooth based e-payment system which should be guarder with identity codes which can protect the transaction from the attack of human selected passkey. In case of mobile Bluetooth based e-payment system, Book Bunker should use a Secure Simple Pairing (SSP) scheme in order to increase security of the e-payment system (Bangdao and Roscoe, 2012). Figure 2: Mobile & HISP driven e-payment System (Source: Bangdao and Roscoe, 2012) According to the above e-payment structure, M is HISP enabled mobile system and E is Bunker Books. E-cheque can be generated by the m-commerce web site and customer can verify merchant's E-Identity and after verification, customers will need to share the HISP password with the connected banks to disburse the money in the favor of Bunker Books. Person-to-Person (P2P) Payments According to American (2013), P2P payment is probably the most used e-payment system in the world and most of the e-commerce companies use the payment model to collect payment from customers. In P2P payment model, customers need to create online account or prepaid card to pay the bill amount to e-commerce companies. For example, customers of Ebay can use the PayPal account to transact online and PayPal account is directly connected with the preferred bank or financial institute of the customers and the money can be disbursed in the favor of e- retailer. In case of P2P payments, customers do not need to send their money directly through the bank account rather they can use third party payment systems like PayPal, online portal of the retailer, bank’s online banking portal etc. To clarify the functioning of P2P e-Payments system, the study will cite the example of e-payment system used by PayPal transactions. Figure 3: PayPal P2P e-payment (Source: Windh, 2011) According to the above model, PayPal transactions are inexpensive and instantaneous and the P2P transaction depends heavily on stored value account of buyers or senders of the fund. Payment to the seller is being done through fund loaded PayPal account working in online marketplace. Sellers also need to have access to the PayPal account and they add the collected money from buyer in the PayPal’s books. Buyers also got the opportunity to reallocate the funds in the PayPal account to another account in case of urgency hence it can be said that PayPal helps in creating closed-loop network between buyer and seller (Windh, 2011). In such context, Bunker Books should think of using P2P as the e-payment system due to wide acceptance of the system among customers. Recommendations In this section, the researcher will compare above mentioned three e-payment systems such as Biometric Payments, Mobile Payments and Person-to-Person (P2P) Payments on the basis of their respective advantages and disadvantages in the following manner. Table 1: Comparison Matrix between three different e-payment systems e-Payment systems Advantages Disadvantages Biometric Payments Customers can use their body parts in the payment process and due to use of body parts like eye retina or voice, security of the e-payment process increases manifold. Another thing is that customers can use their voice process to identify the authenticity of e-retailers and it gets very difficult for cyber criminals to crack down the e-payment process. The process is very cost intensive and for individual venture like Bunker Books, it will not be feasible to invest huge amount of money in buying Biometric Payments equipments. The technology is still at the experimental stage and the process very much sensitive to human touch hence without taking proper precautions; the e-payment system may get disrupted. Mobile Payments Customers can use their Smartphone applications to facilitate the mobile based e-payment and the process is not only simple but also customizable. System security is the major concern for the mobile based e-payment system and Secure Simple Pairing (SSP) scheme is not even sufficient in providing firewall against activity of cyber criminals. Bluetooth based e-payment system can even be doped with pass key. Hence, mobile based e-payment cannot be considered as viable option for Bunker Books. Person-to-Person (P2P) Payments Probably the most cost efficient and responsive e-payment system. The system is highly customizable as per requirement of customers and fund transfer can be done through book transfer method. Using virtual currency mode increases the complexity in the accounting process of the e-payment system and the system is not free from the attack of cyber criminals. (Source: American, 2013) On the basis of the above evaluation, it can be said that Person-to-Person (P2P) Payments is the most feasible e-payment method for Bunker Books due cost efficiency of the process. From security aspect, Biometric Payments seems to be most suitable but due to its cost intensity, Bunker Books can think of implementing the e-payment process after earning sufficient revenue from its operation. E-marketing plan and social media campaign for Bunker Books have already been developed in the previous assignments and the report will recommend that the use of Person-to-Person (P2P) Payments as e-payment can be synchronized with the social media marketing campaigns of the company. Bunker Books should connect the Person-to-Person (P2P) Payments system with their social media promotion in Facebook, MySpace, Orkut, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Meetup in order to guide customers regarding the payment process in online transactions. Integrating the concept of e-payment with social media advertising campaign will improve the clarity of the communicated transaction process to customers and increase ability of Bunker Books to sell books to large number of customers worldwide. Website and Database Security Although, the report has depicted three different e-payment systems but the researcher has selected Person-to-Person (P2P) Payments as the immediate strategic choice for Bunker Books. In case of P2P, the company will have to maintain a separate database of user information and online portal to connect with virtual currency account of users. In such context, following privacy framework can be used by Bunker Books to ensuring the protection of customer’s account and e-commerce transaction. Figure 4: e-Payment Security Framework (Source: Irwin, Slay, Choo and Liu, 2013) According to the above model, hackers using multiplayer online games (MMOGs) and fraudulent advertisements to track the customer account information installed in e-payment database. The above mentioned security system will create decision checkbox at every point of e-payment through Bunker Books websites and setting of the decision check box can be customized by the e-commerce site in order to verify identity of customers while making payment. For example, Bunker Books can place voice recognition system as the decision check box and ask users to verify their voice while making e-payment. In most of the cases, cybercriminals fail to copy the pre-recorded voice of real users and ultimately unauthorized access gets identified and system cancels the transaction automatically. Bunker Books should also ask for providing magnetic signature of customers and in practical cases, hackers find it difficult if not impossible to copy magnetic signature of customers (Irwin, Slay, Choo & Liu, 2013). By implementing the above mentioned steps and e-Payment Security Framework, it is expected that Bunker Books would be able to protect customer account information and privacy of the transaction process. Conclusion In case of traditional e-payment system, efficiency of the transaction process has been plagued by various factors such as high transaction costs, lack of trust among users regarding the efficiency of the security of transaction, lack of perceived benefits, threat of account hack and online theft etc. Abrazhevich (2004) also found that these factors play significant role in preventing consumers to switch to online payment from manual transaction system. However, throughout the report, the researcher has tried to recommend various e-payment systems and P2P has been selected as most optimal e-payment process for Bunker Books. In the conclusion, it is recommended for Bunker Books to prohibit use of virtual currency in the e-payment process to improve the efficiency and security of e-payment process. References Abrazhevich, D. (2004). Electronic payment systems: A user-centered perspective and interaction design. Eindhoven: Technical University of Eindhoven. American. (2013). Types of E Payment. Retrieved from http://www1.american.edu/initeb/sm4801a/epayment3.htm. Bangdao, C., & Roscoe, A. W. (2012). Mobile Electronic Identity: Securing Payment on Mobile Phones. Retrieved from http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/files/3884/mobileElectronicIdentity.pdf. Chou, Y., Lee, C. W., & Chung, J. (2004). Understanding m-commerce payment systems through the analytic hierarchy process. Journal of Business Research, 57(12), 1423-30. Fazlollahi, B. (2002). 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