eCommerce comprises all the components required for transacting business in the digital domain. The eCommerce super system includes digital payment systems, payment servers, payment gateways, eWallet, and security systems like firewall and intrusion detection.

Digital payment systems include virtual financial instruments like eCheque and credit cards. eWallet is used to hold different payment instruments. Payment servers and payment gateways make end-to-end payments possible in the electronic domain. Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) enables effective operation of eCommerce in real life applications.

With the spread of the Internet, more and more applications are going online. eCommerce is an enabling technology that helps buyers and sellers, individuals and businesses, retail and bulk suppliers. It has attractive features like anywhere, anytime shopping / banking (24 x 7 x 365) with no holidays, zero inventories, elimination of middlemen, etc.

Customers can compare various products and study their features and performance to make an informed decision before a purchase. Producers and sellers get targeted customers without the expenditure of active marketing or advertising. eCommerce technology benefits everybody.

	PKI
	Payment systems
	eCommerce products eBillPay Web Interface for Secure Banking (WISeBank) Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) responder Digital time stamping server

Authentication frameworks
An authentication framework helps an organisation enforce multi-factor authentication mechanisms such as username / password, PKI / smart card, biometrics, etc, for various web-based systems developed using Java technologies. These mechanisms can be combined to suit its security policy. New authentication schemes can be added dynamically, without modifying the client application.

Web services
Event notification service
Event Notification Service (ENS) is a component service used to send messages to the application subscriber, asynchronously or synchronously, based on events. Events can be notified through different channels such as email, SMS, fax, WAP-push or voice mail. New delivery channels can be added.

It follows a publisher-subscriber model. The publisher publishes events on the ENS system. A subscriber can subscribe to the published events. Events will be intimated to the ENS system by the publisher application, through the publisher's selected message channel(s).

	Technologies: Java, XML, J2EE and VC++
	Application servers: JBoss, Weblogic, Pramati (J2EE compliant)
	Web servers: Apache, Tomcat and JavaWebserver2.0
	Database: Oracle 8i, MS SQL Server 7.0
	Tools: Rational Suite, VSS (Visual Source Safe)

R&D initiatives in progress
Clearing and settlement for electronic payment instruments
CMC is working on a clearing and settlement system for inter-bank clearing of electronic payment instruments. A cheque truncation and imaging system is being developed to facilitate a faster and more economical clearing of intra-bank outstation paper cheques.

3D Secure implementation
3D Secure is a new credit card payment authentication protocol introduced by VISA, to provide issuers with the ability to authenticate cardholders during an online purchase, in order to reduce fraudulent use of Visa credit cards. CMC has completed 3D Secure protocol implementation and is planning to get VISA certification.

Server-based wallet
We are developing eWallets with no client installation, to increase the mobility of users. The data stores are either on smart cards or hosted servers. This architecture will enable migration to mobile and hand-held devices.

	CMC successfully deployed eBillPay and ePayServ applications which integrate with the billing system of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) in 2001-02, for test-bed implementation (Technologies for eCommerce project). Gate eWay, an eCheque payment gateway, was deployed at Andhra Bank for the same test-bed.
	SMS banking is integrated with the BRAINS 2000 legacy database system as a pilot run at the Vijaya Bank Koramangala branch, Bangalore.

For more information about CMC's eCommerce suite of products and technologies, download this Rich Text Document — techecom-abstract.pdf