Secure electronic payments for Islamic finance

Secure electronic payment systems are of paramount importance in supporting the further development of electronic commerce. While an electronic payment system must meet the needs of both businesses and consumers, most of the current electronic payment schemes are based on the traditional methods of finance we are familiar with in the western world. The main aim of this thesis is to develop new secure electronic payment schemes that satisfy the requirements posed by Islamic finance principles, which forbid the payment or receipt of interest. After providing a generic model for an electronic payment system, a description of some of the properties that distinguish the various types of electronic payment systems is given. The thesis then reviews examples of electronic payment schemes that are relevant to this thesis. The main concepts underlying Islamic finance are also introduced. The main contribution of this thesis is to propose four protocols that can be used to conduct secure electronic commerce transactions in a way that is consistent with Islamic financial principles. In the theme of developing new schemes to enable new participants to benefit from electronic payments, we also propose a simple and secure interpersonal payment system. EMV compliant IC cards have been developed to secure traditional Point of Sale debit/credit transactions. In this thesis, we propose a way to use EMV-compliant cards to conduct an electronic Murabaha transaction with the goal of exploiting the widespread deployment of EMV cards. The Internet is the platform on which most electronic commerce transactions are performed. To build upon this base, this thesis presents a method for conducting a secure electronic Murabaha transaction using the Internet. The increase in ownership of mobile phones suggests that they can be an effective means of authorising payment in electronic commerce transactions, offering security and convenience advantages by comparison with on-line payments conducted using PCs only. Therefore, this thesis proposes a new GSM-based payment system that enhances the security of Internet Murabaha transactions. Although many charities have a web presence, almost all of them have been designed to accept credit cards as the only means for making donations. The anonymity requirements of many donors, however, make the existing means of donation inappropriate for them. A new scheme supporting anonymous donations and distribution of these donations is therefore proposed

Does observability affect prosociality?

The observation of behaviour is a key theoretical parameter underlying a number of models of prosociality. However, the empirical findings showing the effect of observability on prosociality are mixed. In this meta-analysis, we explore the boundary conditions that may account for this variability, by exploring key theoretical and methodological moderators of this link. We identified 117 papers yielding 134 study level effects (Total N = 788, 164) and found a small but statistically significant, positive association between observability and prosociality (r = .141, 95% CI = .106, .175). Moderator analysis showed that observability produced stronger effects on prosociality (1) in the presence of passive observers (i.e., people whose role was to only observe participants) vs perceptions of being watched, (2) when participants decisions were consequential (vs non-consequential), (3) when the studies were performed in the laboratory (as opposed to in the field/online), (4) when studies used repeated measures (instead of single games) and (5) when studies involved social dilemmas (instead of bargaining games). These effects show the conditions under which observability effects on prosociality will be maximally observed. We describe the theoretical and practical significance of 14 these results

Raising the tax ratio by reining in the "Tax-Breaks": An agenda for action.

Taxation

Can artificial intelligence, RegTech and CharityTech provide effective solutions for anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing initiatives in charitable fundraising

Purpose: Artificial intelligence has had a major impact on organisations from Banking through to Law Firms. The rate at which technology has developed in terms of tasks that are complex, technical and time consuming has been astounding. The purpose of this article is to explore the solutions that AI, RegTech and CharityTech provide to charities in navigating the vast amount of anti-money laundering and counter-terror finance legislation in the United Kingdom; so that they comply with the requirements and mitigate the potential risk they face but also develop a more coherent and streamlined set of actions. Design/methodology/approach: The subject is approached through the analysis of data, literature and, domestic and international regulation. The first part of the article explores the current obligations and risks charities face, these are then, in the second part, set against the examination of potential technological solutions as at August 2020. Findings: It is suggested that charities underestimate the importance of the nature and size of the threat posed to them, this is significant, as demonstrated, given the growing size and impact of the sector. Technological solutions are suggested to combat the issues charities face. Originality: The work is original because it is the first to create the notion of CharityTech, and to specifically explore what technological advances can assist charities in meeting the regulatory compliance challenge