Re[2]: e-Cash: CAFE vs. Mondex

["David Klur" <dklur@dttus.com>]

     >Matthias Schunter Said
     
     [snip]
     
     >The CAFE system is a cheque based system. This means that the 
     >customer receives an electronic chequebook, where each cheque is 
     >(blindly) signed by the bank. >During each payment the customer has 
     >to use one of these signed cheques.
     
     [snip]
     
     If the CAFE card contains cheques (which are not digital cash, and 
     therefore must be tied back to a customer's checking account), how can 
     the bank blindly sign them?  The merchant will have to deposit the 
     cheque in order to transfer the money out of the customer's account and 
     into the merchant's account.  I don't see how the bank can not know the 
     identity of the customer.
     
     This is why digital cash can be anonymous - because once the bank 
     (blindly) signs the cash tokens, these tokens ARE money.  They are not 
     pointers (in the case of cheques) to customers' bank accounts.
     
     However, if Alice (the customer) contacts her bank and requests a 
     cheque be made out to Bob (the vendor) for, say, $12.50 then the bank 
     can withdraw $12.50 from Alice's account and blindly sign a cheque for 
     $12.50 payable only to Bob.  Then the bank would not know Alice's 
     identity.  I don't think this is how CAFE works, since CAFE is 
     designed as an off-line smart card system.  Therefore, Alice cannot 
     requests bank cheques from her bank made payable to Bob when she walks 
     into Bob's store.
     
     Maybe your definition of a cheque is different than mine?
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