In a method of managing a database of existing accounts (214) for account
holders (202), each account holder (202) has multiple accounts with
one or more account authorities (212) for use of a single device with multiple
accounts, with each account of each account holder being associated with a public
key of a public-private key pair of that account holder. A record of information
pertaining to all accounts of a particular account holder is maintained in a central
location by a central key authority. The information for that account includes
the public keys of that account holder. The central key authority transfers information
from the record for an account holder to a new account authority for which that
account holder desires to establish a new account; the central key authority also
receives information from account authorities for inclusion in the record centrally
maintained for that account holder.