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Although future versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape's Navigator will come with SET wallets pre-installed, currently users need to download and install a wallet on their computers. During the installation process the user provides credit card details and obtains user name and PIN to provide secure access to the wallet. The installation process also produces a public and private key for the user. The user also has to obtain a digital certificate from their bank or certificate agency (CA) for each credit card.

To use SET, users select products from the merchant's Web site and then elect to pay via SET by pressing an on-screen button. This automatically starts the wallet program. The user then selects which credit card they wish to use and the wallet and the merchant's server exchange certificates. If these are accepted, the wallet then encrypts and transmits the purchase details to the merchant.