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

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