Requirements for network payment: the NetCheque perspective

Secure methods of payment are needed before we will see widespread commercial use of the Internet. Recently proposed and implemented payment methods follow one of three models: electronic currency, credit-debit, and secure credit card transactions. Such payment services have different strengths and weaknesses with respect to the requirements of security, reliability, scalability, anonymity, acceptability, customer base, flexibility, convertibility, efficiency, ease of integration with applications, and ease of use. NetCheque is a payment system based on the credit-debit model. NetCheque is described and its strengths with respect to these requirements are discussed.