Listenin g, Unde rstan d in g, an d Respo ndi ng to th e ' N ew ' Hos p ital ity , Lei s ure , Spo r t and T ourism Und e rgradua tes (LURN)

Equipment and method for acknowledging a transaction in an electronic payment system, comprising first processing means for providing electronic receipts corresponding to payments, second processing means for receiving said receipts, and transfer means for transferring said receipts between the first and second processing means. Said electronic receipt or part of it is encrypted with a public-key algorithm by using the payee's private key as an encryption key, and a receipt is decrypted with a public-key algorithm by using the payee's public key as s decryption key. If a recipient of the receipt wants to be convinced of the authenticity of the receipt, he decrypts the encryption by means of the payee's public key. Digital encryption with the payee's private key certifies the origin of the receipt undeniably. As long as the receipt is in encrypted form, it cannot be read without exactly knowing the payee, and counterfeiting of the receipt is impossible. An electronic receipt can be easily read and transferred between different destinations.