Adapting an electronic purse for internet payments

Abstract

Since the beginning of 1996, every Austrian eurocheque card is equipped with a chip that provides not only off-line ATM transactions but also an electronic purse function similar to CEN 1546. The use of the Austrian electronic purse also for secure payments across the Internet (cybermoney) is the primary goal of our research project. Although both cybermoney and an electronic purse are forms of digital money, we encountered certain problems when adapting the electronic purse. In this paper we present these problems and our solutions.