Long Title:e-Contracts and Payments
Language of Instruction:English
Module Code:H8ECNP
Credits: 5
NFQ Level:LEVEL 8
Field of Study: Computer use
Module Delivered in 1 programme(s)
Module Coordinator: Simon Caton
Module editor: Simon Caton
Teaching and Learning Strategy: Learning and teaching will take place in computer laboratories to facilitate access to the necessary tools to conduct practical work. Classes will be divided into lectures and instructor lead lab sessions. For more advanced topics, group-based hackathons may also be employed. A literature review based continuous assessment strategy is in place to facilitate future and emerging technologies in the area as well as new and evolving use cases of the technology.
Learning Environment: Learning will take place in classroom or lab environments as appropriate. In lab environments, each student will have access to IT resources. Learners will have access to library resources and to faculty outside of the classroom where required. Module materials will be placed on Moodle, the colleges LMS.
Module Description: The module aims to introduce learners to e-contract, smart contract, e-payment and e-cash technologies, and the disruptive effect they are having on nancial markets, as well as an ever-increasing number of new domains. Learners will be exposed to new frameworks and application programming interfaces (APIs) that can be leveraged for the implementation of e-contract and payment applications. In addition to the technical as well as disruptive nature of the technologies introduced in the module, learners will also be exposed to the ever-increasing need to regulate such technologies.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module the learner will be able to:
LO1 Investigate e-contract and smart contract as well as e-payment and e-cash technologies, and their use cases.
LO2 Evaluate the challenges and disruptive aspects of e-contract and payment technologies.
LO3 Review current and emerging technologies and their fundamental as well as disruptive effects upon the nancial services sector and beyond.
LO4 Evaluate compliance and regulation issues in e-contracts and payments.
LO5 Build and evaluate proof-of-concept applications speci c to the domain
Pre-requisite learning
Module Recommendations

This is prior learning (or a practical skill) that is required before enrolment on this module. While the prior learning is expressed as named NCI module(s) it also allows for learning (in another module or modules) which is equivalent to the learning specified in the named module(s).
No recommendations listed
Requirements

This is prior learning (or a practical skill) that is mandatory before enrolment in this module is allowed. You may not enrol on this module if you have not acquired the learning specified in this section.
No requirements listed
 

Module Content & Assessment

Indicative Content
e-Contracts
Fundamentals of e-Contracts (representations, legal frameworks, etc.)  Digital signatures, and identities  Regulation and compliance of e-Contracts  From e-Contracts to e-Payments: instrumenting transactions e-Payments  Case Studies in e-Payment providers and platforms (e.g. WePay, PayPal, WorldPay, BitCoin etc.)  Evolution of e-Payments  Architecture of e-Payment systems
Blockchain Technologies and Cryptocurrencies
Blockchain Stack, and Core Components  Currencies and Platforms  Transaction Types  Trading via blockchain  Storing and using cryptocurrencies  Distributed Ledgers  Mining  (Smart) Contracts and digital identities  Distributed consensus and Autonomy  BitCoins and altcoins  Blockchain on Tor
Building e-Contract and Payment Applications
Service Providers and their APIs  Practical examples (e.g. BitCoin, Paypal, zero coin, etc.)
Assessment Breakdown%
Coursework50.00%
End of Module Assessment50.00%

Full Time

Coursework
Assessment Type Assessment Description Outcome addressed % of total Assessment Date
CA 1 (0380) n/a 1,2,3,4,5 50.00 n/a
End of Module Assessment
Assessment Type Assessment Description Outcome addressed % of total Assessment Date
Terminal Exam n/a 1 50.00 End-of-Semester
No Workplace Assessment

NCIRL reserves the right to alter the nature and timings of assessment

 

Module Workload

This module has no Full Time workload.
This module has no Part Time workload.
 

Module Resources

Recommended Book Resources
  • Melanie Swan., Blockchain, Sebastopol, CA; O'Reilly [ISBN: 1491920491.]
  • Paul Vigna, The age of cryptocurrency: how bitcoin and digital money are challenging the global economic order, New York; St. Martin's Press [ISBN: 1250065631]
This module does not have any article/paper resources
Other Resources
 

Module Delivered in

Programme Code Programme Semester Delivery
HDFINTECH HDip FinTech 2 Optional