ABSTRACT

This Digital Cash Transaction System is the act of exchanging goods and servicesis an old and enduring
venture. The fact that man cannot satisfy his own needs allby himself has necessitated the need
to trade. Trading has evolved from itsprimitive stages to a more advanced and sophisticated form.
One of the primitiveforms of trade is the trade by barter. The trade by barter preferred to some
extentthe necessary solution to the problem of exchange; it however, has so
manyinadequacies attached. The problem of mutual coincidence of wants among othersis a major
setback to the development of the system.An emerging generation of information technology (IT)
survey, Nigerian aredriving the for e-payment system which is becoming increasingly popular
becauseof its convenience. Though, the growth trend is towards the offline digital cash(examples
ATM, Master card, and Visa International) where cards (metal orplastic) are used for
withdrawals on special machines made for the purpose. Theonline digital cash transaction system which
involves the use of computers withconnection lines is however on the increase as well.

INTRODUCTION

The act of exchanging goods and services is an old and enduring venture. The factthat man cannot
satisfy his own needs all by himself has necessitated the needtrade. Trading has evolved from its
primitive stages to a more advanced andsophisticated form. One of the primitive forms of trade is
the trade by barter. Thetrade by barter preferred to some extent the necessary solution to the
problemexchange; it however, has so many inadequacies attached. The problem of mutualcoincidence
of wants among others is a major setback to the development of thesystem.The advent of the paper
cash system was a major breakthrough in the systemexchange (trade) as paper cash possesses
certain properties (homogeneity,portability malleability), is backed by the government and the
central bank is alegal tender for exchange. The paper cash system indeed contributed enormouslyto the
ease with which trade is being carried out.The landmark achievement however in the areas of
electronics, computers andinformation technology coupled with the need to carryout transactions at
a veryfast rate has paved the way for the digital cash transaction system.The digital cash transaction
system evolved after the paper cash.

. More technically, digital cash transaction system is a payment or withdrawalmessage bearing a

digital signature (pin code) and function are medium ofexchange (trading).Essentially, digital
cash mimics the functionality of paper cash. Paper currency andcoins represent value because they
are backed by a trusted third party, thegovernment and the banking sector.Digital cash transaction
system also represents value because it is backed by a thirdparty usually a bank that is willing to convert
digital cash to physical cash.To a degree, the digital cash transaction system operates in the following
manner.A user opens an account in a bank and is being given the digital cash transactioncard. He or she
is also given his or her pin code for the card that is confidential tothat person. That is the pin should not
be known to another person. The owner of acard can deposit money into his or her account by
going to the bank. Thetransaction can be used to withdraw money outside to the bank, buy things
fromshopping malls or merchant sites and can also check his/her account balance in anyof these places.
a The extent to which the problem of security may impede the growth of thedigital cash transaction
system

b. The need to ensure adequate security in digital cash transaction systemwithout unnecessary
or excess expenditure on hardwares.

c. The extent to which effective software design can tackle the problem ofsecurity in the digital
transaction cash system.

Purpose of study

Since The enthronement of democratic process in Nigeria in 27th of May 1999,there has been huge
foreign investment in the economy. The rate at which financialtransaction are carried out has increased
significantly. Without a medium of doubt,the prevalent use of paper cash is gradually giving way
to a new system ofpayment, which is digital cash transaction system.

An emerging generation of information technology (IT) survey, Nigerian aredriving the for e-
payment system which is becoming increasingly popular becauseof its convenience. Though, the growth
trend is towards the offline digital cash(examples ATM, Master card, and Visa International)
where cards (metal orplastic) are used for withdrawals on ATM

Objective

purpose of which this project is undertaken is to critically examine the impact of good software design
on the security of a typical digital cash transaction system.The study is therefore intended to achieve the
following:

a. Incorporate an effective security design into digital cash transaction systemto prevent all forms of
excess spending of available money in owner’saccount i.e. spending above what you have in your
account or withdrawingwhat you have in your account.

b. Develop a database design that aids fast synchronization during verificationof account which is
necessary

SYSTEM

It consists of the aggregate of units or parts functioning in a particular order toachieve specific
objective (s).

SECURITY

It is the totality of all procedures, guidelines, routines and so on, put in place tocheck illicit access to
operations in an installation

.SOFTWARE
They are set of instruction or codes that control the hardware. It can also bedefined as virtual
engine that drive the hardware.DESIGNIt is the systematic approach or a deliberately planned
arrangement of proceduresto achieve an aim.

Review

This observation has also revealed the impact of software on the dependability ofthe digital cash system.
In essence, ensuring adequate security in the system coulddepend enormously on the software design
(though not undermining the role ofhardware). Hence, the design of the software plays an important
role in the securityand growth of the system.Mandane Jahanian Farsi (1997) took a close look of the
forgery in the digital cashtransaction system and has helped in identifying two major types

Card forgery: to make or create a valid looking transaction card in makingcorresponding transaction like
withdrawal.

Excess spending: Using more than you have in your account, either bywithdrawing more than
what you have in your account or buying more thanyou have in your account balance.

To protect however against the above, the bank maintains a database ofspent cash and cash remaining
in the account of the owner (also database)and any expenditure above are rejected.

ONLINE DIGITAL CASH TRANSACTION SYSTEM

The structure of this online digital cash transaction system is indeed very similar tothe one, which is
being used in the existing paper cash system. In the online digitalcash transaction system, there are
three main components; the bank, the customerand the merchants. The user can withdraw or
shop directly on line from themerchant and the money is deduced from his/her account.

The user in (pin code) in this online digital cash transaction is fully anonymous andit is done by using a
protocol. It is good to hide the user’s ID (pin codes) but thisraises the problem of lacking since the
digital cash transaction system isrepresentation of a user’s wallet.

OFFLINE DIGITAL CASH TRANSACTION SYSTEM

In the offline scheme, the withdrawal and shopping are very similar to the one inthe online scheme. The
main difference is in the transaction part model. Instead ofverifying cash during every transaction, the
security is guaranteed without directinvolvement of the bank. This is achieved by adding a temper
resistance device atthe point of sale known as a smart card reader. The device is trusted by the bankand
is used to verify the authenticity of the card. This device makes the wholetransaction offline.

MONEY: USES AND PROPERTIES

The following perspectives on money, its uses and properties are widely agreedupon, thus, money is
that which is generally acceptable in the exchange of goodsand services. It would be difficult for even a
primitive society to operate fithoutsomething to serve as money. A modern economic system
just couldn’t existwithout it. No other kind of asset is as liquid (as easily and rapidly exchangeableinto
other things) as money.

USES OF MONEY

MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE It is hard to trade things without money to serve as a medium of exchange.

b. UNIT OF VALUE Money serves as the standard of valuing things. People automatically compare
thevalue of things in terms of how much “money” each thing is worth.

c. STORE OF VALUE Money serves as a convenient form in which to hold savings. It is a thing, whichcan
be used to store up value of the future

.d. STANDARD OF DEFERRED PAYMENT Money serves as a convenient form in which to hold savings

PROPERTIES OF MONEY

a. DURABILITY Money should not be easily destroyed in its usage

.b. HOMOGEMTY What is called money should be the same in all its various denominations. Thereshould
not be any discrepancies in the same denomination of money.

c.PORTABILITY Money should be easy to carry and transport from one place to the other
eitherphysically or virtually.

SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN

INTRODUCTION Today great reliance is placed upon computer for all kinds of application,
includingbanking, insurance, public and private administration, and national defence and soon. The cost
of programming has risen because the shortage of skilled personnel asrequired for programming
have pushed up labour cost, whereas the cost ofhardware have fallen because of technical
innovation and increased automation.In system development life cycle, theories and practice of
system developmenthave identified the following stages in the process.

a. PRELIMINARY SURVEY/STUDY The purpose of this survey is to establish whether there is need for a
new systemand if so to specify the objectives

.b. FEASIBILITY STUDY The purpose of the feasibility study is to investigate the project in sufficient
depthto be able to provide information that justifies the development of the new systemor shows why
the project should not continue

.c. INVESTIGATION AND FACT RECORDING At this stage in the life cycle, a detailed study is conducted.
This study is far moredetailed and comprehensive than the feasibility study. The purpose of this study
isto fully understand the existing system and to identify the basic informationrequirements.
d. ANALYSIS Analysis of the full description of the existing system and of the objective of the proposed
system, should lead to few specification of the user’s requirements. This requirements specification can
be examined and approved before system design is embarked upon.

e. DESIGN The analysis may lead to a number of possible alternative designs. For exampledifferent
combinations of manual and computerized elements may be considered.Once an alternative has been
selected, the purpose of the design stage is to workfrom the requirement specification. The system
specification will be detailed set ofdocuments that provides details of all features of the system.

f. IMPLEMENTATION This involves following the details set out in the system specification.
Twoparticularly important tasks are programming and staff training. It is worthobserving in
passing that the programming task has its own life cycle in the formof various stages in programming

MAINTENANCE AND REVIEW

Once a system is implemented and in full operation, it is examined to see if it hasmet the objectives set
out in the original specification. Unforeseen problems mayneed to be overcame and that my involve
returning to earlier stages in the cycle totake corrective actions.STAGES IN SOFTWARE DESIGN

1. Problem definition

2. Analysis of the problem and modeling

3. Algorithmic

4. Flowchart

5. Coding

6. Debugging (testing)

7. Documentation

3.2 DESIGN OF PROPOSED SYSTEM

There are numbers of relevant concept that should be considered in programdesign.1.

COMPUTABILITY This is concerned with what task the computer can do, how they do them, here westop
briefly to face the fact that the are many problems that computer cannot solve,not just for particular
reason but because task can be proven to be theoretically

A task may be said to be computable if it can be in principle beperformed by a machine.

2. COMPLEXITY It is measured in terms of the quality of resource used. The main

resourceconsiderations are time and storage. Clearly, for many task there may bealternative
solution and for practical reasons, knowledge of their complexity willmake the best choice.

3. CORRECTNESS
A program is correct when it meets its specification. Ideally when we complete theimplementation of
any program, we want to be able to say for certain that theprogram is correct, it is necessary to
show certain that all permissible inputs to theprogram, the program will produce the required result.The
system produces the complete detail specification of the proposed system. Itindicates how it will look
and what it would offer its users.The major phase leading to the design of this new system includes:

1) Input Design

2) Output Design

3) Database Design

4) Control Design

5) Feature of programming language used

INPUT DESIGNDesigning the input is a major step in the design of the proposed system. Input
datamakes up the databases. The type of input to be design depends largely on howdata will be
processed and on the required output. The input requirement of theproposed system will be in
different phases

ACCESS WINDOW The window provides security to accessing the system; input required at this
phaseincludes your four digital numbers (password).

3.4 OUTPUT DESIGNThe phase discussed in the input design also incorporate one or various
outputdepending on the input data and program requirement

ACCESS WINDOW If the information entered by the user at this window is wrong, an output windowis
displayed that informs the user to enter a valid pin. The output in this windowincludes the following.

a. Change pin: This window allows the users to change their password, forsecurity measures

b Balance: This window allows the users to check their balance.

C Withdrawal: This window allows the users to withdraw limited amount of money.

d. Shop: This window allows the users to shop for products displayed bymerchant.3.5
DATABASE FILE DESIGN

Undoubtedly, a good file and database design forms an integral part of the Digitalcash system. In the
course of operation, constant synchronization is required intoand out of the database to ensure that
double spending (the use of the same papercash twice) is put in check. The major data base
requirement of this system is the identification of an entity with a singular attribute and the value the
attribute willtake.It is good to note that the design of the database with a good efficient techniqueforms
the major objective that will be achieved by this project
.3.6 CONTROL DESIGNSoftware design takes place at two levels logical and physical. At logical level,
theprocessing modules required for the application are defined and organized intohierarchy.The
hierarchy represents the problem related connections among the softwarecomponents. It
documents the processing activities that will be implemented andshow how these activities are
related to one another in terms of their datainterfaces.

Once a logical system is devised, it must be adopted for computer processing.Thus, at the
physical or implementation level, consideration is given to theexecution structure of the soft
were, which involves determining the sequence ofcomputering operations within and between
modules, simple stated, structureddesign emphasizes the restricted number of way in which to
construct relationshipbetween program components. In this project, the minimum set of logical -
controlstructure including sequence selection necessary for controlling the activationsequence
of processing components within the program module employed.The design control also ensures that
input data are duly processed, that outputinformation is complete and accurate and that no data
have been lost. In otherwords, they help minimize system errors. 3.7 FEATURES OF THE
PROGRAMNIING LANGUAGE USEDA program is a set of coded instruction written in computer readable
form to solvea particular problem. Hence, it has to be written with the object computer in mindfor easy
interpretation.When choosing a programming language some factors needed to be considered.1) Ease
of manipulation2) Availability3) The flow and structure of programming4) Expressively

5) Database management compatibility6) DocumentationWith the above consideration in view

Microsoft Visual Basic is considered as theappropriate language for this project with Microsoft
Access as the linkingdatabase.Microsoft access provides standard features for data storage, data
retrieved andinformation presentation.SOME VISUAL BASIC FEATURESIt has a high level languageIt
has in built object for creating and auditing database file.It allows modular structure programmingIt
allows linkage with database applicationIt graphical tool makes form generation and design easy.It is
very flexible on application

CHAPTER FOURSYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION4.1 INTRODUCTIONThe system implementation and

documentation is the phase of systemdevelopment that constitutes a proof to the making of the
new system. Planning theimplementation of a system begins in the detailed design stage.This phase of
the project will involve installation and testing of a thoroughlystructured program to make sure
that the result of the new system are theanticipated ones. Most system failures due to
inadequate conduct of theimplementation phase.This phase is very important because the success of
the project depends on it.4.2 SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATIONHaving design the new system on chapter
three, it is very important to ascertainproper operation of the system to ensure that it achieved the aim
of the project.The new system has been designed and every necessary thing has been done toensure
its perfect operation. System implementation is the final stage where thedesigned us put to use. Here
we look into various technical aspects that influencethe successful implementation of the new system
and also determine its effectiveoperation.

4.2 MENU OPTIONSOne entry into the new system, the welcome window leads you to the
loginwindow, which requires security information to allow access, command buttonsare distributed on
the next interface that gives other menu options in the program.4.3 SYSTEM TESTINGThe phase “System
Testing” is the most rigorous and time consuming. It majorobjective is to find and correct any
error remaining. There could be logic orperforming bug and will be found in linkage between
program and computerprocedures. It is very rare for newly written program to run successfully at
firstinstance.Much time has to be spent debugging the program after being tested. No system is
completely free of errors, it is then advisable for the new system to berun and tested for several weeks.
This system should be continuously tested so thatthere will be provision for any future correction.4.4
SYSTEM DOCUMENTATIONDocumentation is the formalized record containing the design of the new
system. Itoutlines the techniques and methods used to correct the problem areas in
theexisting system. The system documentation comprises the following.a. Program flowchartb. Program
structure

c. Input layoutd. Program codes4.5 USER’S GUIDEThe new system has been design to be a very
interactive system. Because of thesecurity sensitive nature of the new system, its design incorporates
feature thatclosely guides it use by the user.The program is an executable program that runs on
Microsoft window 2000 andabove. Microsoft Access is also required on the system implementation.It is
good to note that the design of this project is tailored towards achievingeffectiveness in the component
design of a Digital Cash Transaction System.

project has been tested and documented with due consideration being given toflexibility and ease of
accessibility. The following include those things that havebeen achieved by this project.1) Adequate
security measures have been put in place to ensure correctidentification.2) An interface
design that ensures effective categorization of differentwindows.3) Three on-line shopping
interface for various transactions have been includeto demonstrate how transaction is carried out with
Digital cash system.4) Total payment of transaction is reflected on the customer’s account to helpkeep
track of payment.5) A program design the prevents user from spending the same money twice.

5.2 RECOMMENDATIONThe concept of the On-line Digital Cash Transaction System is a new
innovationand there is still a lot that could be done to improve its effectiveness. Havingconsidered
the concept of the online Digital cash system, the followingrecommendation are hereby
suggested1) The online or real time implementation of this project should form the basisfor future
work, as the present implementation constitutes a stand-aloneapplication program.2) The
implementation of a multi user version of this project is alsorecommended.3) The online
transaction interface design implementation in this project makesit a veritable tool for online payment
in supermarket, mini market, merchantshop etc.4) The design of the various interfaces and its
implementation in this projectmakes it an available tool for use in Commercial Banks, Merchant
Banks,and Development Banks etc. including other financial institutions.