Payword, Millicent, and MicroMint - which is the best - Essay Example

Computer Sciences and Information Technology By: Payword, Millicent, and MicroMint - Which is the Best Lecturer’s Date1. Comparing the Payment Methods1.1. Desirable Properties of Millicent SystemMilicent can not be used without a virtual wallet integrated in the web brower. Customers buy scripts from the brooker, containing unique serial number for making several payments. Being based on electronic coupons, it operates as Casino gaming chips (Ellis 1997, p. 47). The main advantage of milicent is the reduction of costs.1.2.

Desirable Properties of Payword MicroPayment SystemPay word micropayment has a number of advantages, including Transaction Security, reduced costs and simplicity. In terms of security, pay word micropayment system prevents forgery and double payment. It reduces operational cost by using offline brokers (Wayner 1996, p.39). Payword micropayment is easy to use as long as the user has created an account with a broker. Pay word micropayment system however breaches the application of anonymity whereby vendors obtain the personal information of the users for verification.

Vendors also obtain the personal information of the users.1.3. Desirable Properties of Micro Mint SystemThe MicroMint requires heavy initial investment before it begins to operate. According to Rivest and Shamir (1996, p. 36), Micromint system is only profitable when there are many users. It experiences a double-spending issue, because one user can use one coin to make payments to more than one vendor. This cannot be detected until the transactions are confirmed with the broker, and tracing all the users of the particular coin.

According to Gwenn (2004, p. 52), the security of MicroMint is applied by changing coins frequently to prevent the hacker from braking into the system. This is an additional cost of operation. 2. Selecting the BestFrom the methods of operation of the three methods, the best choice is payword micropayment method. Even though the Micromint and Millicent methods are successful, payword micropayment is advantageous owing to its security, reduced cost and prevention of double spending.ReferencesEllis C, 1997, Evaluation of Micropayment Schemes, HP Labs Technical Reports, p. 47.Gwenn B, 2004, Online Micro-Payments: Has the Time Come?

Bank Systems & Technology, p. 52.Wayner, P 1996, Digital Cash: Commerce on the Net. Academic Press, p.39.Rivest, R and Shamir, A, 1996, PayWord and MicroMint: Two simple Micropayment schemes, p.36.