Virtual account based digital cash protocols employ two pairs of private and public keys. Each public key is certified separately and the protocols do not use any blind signature schemes. As a result, the virtual account based digital cash protocols provide strong protection of the user privacy by using two certified public keys instead of a blind signature. One pair of certified keys consists of one master user private key and one master user public key. A second pair of certified keys consists of one pseudonym user private key and one pseudonym user public key. The use of a master key pair and a pseudonym key pair circumvents the need for blind signatures. As a result, the proposed protocols do not require blind signatures and do not add additional overhead and security requirements necessitated by conventional blind signature schemes. The protocols use public key protocols, digital signatures and symmetric key protocols, which may be readily implemented in standard information security based systems based on cryptographic constructs. In addition, the protocols may be deployed in mobile, off-line, and on-line settings.