Abstract: A method of performing a financial transaction involves a provider of goods or services, a purchaser of goods or services, a credit card issuer that has issued a credit card to the purchaser, and an information clearing center with a private credit card database coupled to a private network. When a transaction is performed between the provider and the purchaser, a further identifier different from the credit card identifier is associated with the purchaser. The purchaser's further identifier—but not said credit card identifier—is communicated to the information clearing center over the Internet. The private credit card database retrieves the purchaser's further identifier and performs a secure mapping between the further identifier and the purchaser's credit card identifier. The purchaser's credit card identifier is then securely communicated from the information clearing center to the credit card issuer.