Secure Electronic Transactions (SET)

Customer fears of their credit card information being intercepted are one of the biggest obstacles to growth in e-business and e-commerce. The issue has been recognized as a threat to e-business for some time. The Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) protocol was developed jointly by Visa and Mastercard in 1996. By using cryptography, the SET protocol provides confidentiality of information, ensures payment integrity, and verifies the authenticity of the seller and cardholder. A trusted certification authority (CA) issues both the buyer and the seller with a digital certificate (or key). Several certificate authorities operate in the United Kingdom, including the Post Office (ViaCode) and BT (Trust Wise).