A review of security mechanisms in electronic payment systems

Over the last decade, advances in information technology have driven e-commerce and e-payment, enabling global transactions anytime. While offering convenience, these systems raise concerns because fraud, identity theft, and unauthorized payments continue to grow. This paper examines e-payment security, focusing on transaction and protocol vulnerabilities in encryption, authentication, and data integrity, and explores cryptography, authentication mechanisms, and novel architectures. It stresses balancing security and ease of use. Though newer encryption methods and blockchain enhance security, overhead and scalability remain issues. Secure digital transactions require multi-dimensional architectures that integrate authentication, privacy, integrity, non-repudiation, and traditional cryptography with modern technology.