The financial transaction processing system includes at least one financial server connected through a public network to a number of users associated with client computers. Each user accesses the financial server through a web browser. The web browser is provided with the capabilities to generate encryption keys, to encrypt and decrypt HTML forms, and to digitally sign and timestamp HTML forms. The financial server transfers web pages including HTML forms representing financial transactions. The HTML forms contain extensions that specify the format of an incoming format and the format of a returned form. An HTML form can be transmitted in an encrypted format, in a format including a user's digital signature and timestamp, and in an encrypted format that contains the user's digital signature and timestamp. The financial server tracks each processed transaction through an audit trail including the user's account, the user's digital signature, the timestamp of the transaction, and the text of the transaction.