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CyberCash - How it Happens

  • 1.Consumer has shopped the merchant's site and decided what it is they wish to purchase, where they want it shipped, etc.... Merchant server returns a summary of the item, price, transaction ID, etc. to consumer.
  • 2.Consumer clicks on the "Pay" Button which launches the CyberCash, Checkfree or Compuserve Wallet and chooses which credit card from their "wallet" they wish to pay with and clicks OK to forward the order and encrypted payment information to the merchant.
  • 3.Merchant receives the packet, strips off the order and forwards the encrypted payment information digitally signed and encrypted with his private key to the CyberCash server. The merchant cannot see the consumer's credit card information.
  • 4.CyberCash server receives the packet, takes the transaction behind its firewall and off the Internet, unwraps the data, reformats the transaction and forwards it to the merchant's bank over dedicated lines.
  • 5.The merchant's bank then forwards the authorization request to the issuing bank via the card associations or directly to American Express or Discover in those cases. The approval or denial code then is sent back to CyberCash.
  • 6.CyberCash then returns the approval or denial code to the merchant who then passes it on to the consumer. From Step 1 to Step 6 takes approximately 15-20 seconds.


Copyright 1997 by Slackers Union. Comments should go to any of the group members. Opinions reflected on this page are by no means opinions of UCSD. Go sue somebody else.

Last Modified: June 1st, 1997