Method and system of conducting network-based transactions

• US 20020123971A1
• Filed: 12/11/2001
• Published: 09/05/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Maritzen, L. Michael, Ludtke, Harold Aaron
• Application Number:
  US10/015,070
• Publication Number:
  US 20020123971A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/64
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/322 Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3265 characterised by personalisation for use
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

A system and method for performing financial transaction clearing, settlement, and fraud prevention in real time over a network. The invention uses intelligent agents and component based objects in an interactive network to allow secure financial transactions to be conducted.

Claims

1. A method of conducting a transaction over a network of nodes including a user node associated with a user, a merchant node associated with a merchant of goods or services, a bank node associated with account information pertaining to the user, and a clearinghouse node, the method comprising at the clearinghouse node:

receiving a request from the user node for the purchase of at least one of the goods or services of the merchant,

determining whether the user is authorized to purchase the good or service by exchanging information with the bank node such that the bank node updates the user account information in the event of authorization,

if the purchase is authorized, sending notification of the authorization to the user node and merchant node such that the good or service is not provided until such notification is received by the merchant.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising recording purchases and reducing the cost of the good or service in the event the user has previously purchased goods or services from other merchants.