System and method for third party facilitation of electronic payments over a network of computers
First Claim
1. A method to enable a facilitator computer to facilitate payment for goods and/or services in a transaction between a vendor and a purchaser, wherein the facilitator computer, a vendor computer (associated with said vendor), and a purchaser computer (associated with said purchaser) are connectable to a computer network, and wherein the purchaser computer is connectable to said network via an access provider with which the purchaser has established a network access service account, the method comprising the steps of. receiving, for the transaction, a message from said vendor computer identifying the vendor computer, the purchaser computer, and details regarding the transaction;
- comparing the identities of the vendor computer and the purchaser computer with stored identities for known vendor computers and purchaser computers;
in response to a failure to match either the vendor computer or the purchaser computer identities with said stored identities, optionally terminating the transaction;
in response to a match for both the vendor computer and the purchaser computer identities with-said stored identities, retrieving details of the purchaser computer from stored details;
sending a message to said purchaser computer seeking purchaser confirmation that the details of the transaction specified in the message received from the vendor computer are correct and that the purchaser is prepared to pay for the goods and/or services;
in response to a failure to receive purchaser confirmation, sending a message to the vendor computer instructing it to terminate the transaction;
in response to receipt of purchaser confirmation, sending a message to the vendor computer instructing it to provide the goods and/or services to the purchaser and recording details of the transaction; and
sending at least some of said transaction details to said access provider for addition to said network access service account.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A facilitator computer for making electronic payments. The first and second parties are a payee and a payer, who maybe a vendor (with a vendor computer) and a purchaser (with a purchaser computer). The method involves a message from the vendor computer, identifying the vendor computer and transaction details, which is received by the facilitator computer (trusted thrid party). Subsequent processing by the facilitator computer, involving interaction with the purchaser computer leads to a secure payment transaction. In coordinating the transaction, the payment server may check as to whether the customer'"'"'s computer is available (on-line) and/or whether the goods or services are supplied at a timed rate. The identity of the vendor and purchaser computers is verified and authenticated against a known list of computer identities to improve security in the system.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method to enable a facilitator computer to facilitate payment for goods and/or services in a transaction between a vendor and a purchaser, wherein the facilitator computer, a vendor computer (associated with said vendor), and a purchaser computer (associated with said purchaser) are connectable to a computer network, and wherein the purchaser computer is connectable to said network via an access provider with which the purchaser has established a network access service account, the method comprising the steps of.
receiving, for the transaction, a message from said vendor computer identifying the vendor computer, the purchaser computer, and details regarding the transaction; -
comparing the identities of the vendor computer and the purchaser computer with stored identities for known vendor computers and purchaser computers;
in response to a failure to match either the vendor computer or the purchaser computer identities with said stored identities, optionally terminating the transaction;
in response to a match for both the vendor computer and the purchaser computer identities with-said stored identities, retrieving details of the purchaser computer from stored details;
sending a message to said purchaser computer seeking purchaser confirmation that the details of the transaction specified in the message received from the vendor computer are correct and that the purchaser is prepared to pay for the goods and/or services;
in response to a failure to receive purchaser confirmation, sending a message to the vendor computer instructing it to terminate the transaction;
in response to receipt of purchaser confirmation, sending a message to the vendor computer instructing it to provide the goods and/or services to the purchaser and recording details of the transaction; and
sending at least some of said transaction details to said access provider for addition to said network access service account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of using a purchaser computer to enable a purchaser to pay a vendor for goods and/or services, by making use of a computer network to which the purchaser computer and a vendor computer (associated with the vendor) are connectable, the method involving the intermediary of a facilitator computer connectable to the network and arranged to facilitate payment for goods and/or services over the network, the method comprising the steps of:
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connecting with the network via a network access provider;
sending, to the facilitator computer, a message containing a network address of a purchaser computer associated with said purchaser and an identification code to identify the purchaser or the user of the purchaser computer;
receiving notification of successful verification of said purchaser computer network address and said identification code by said facilitator computer;
selecting goods and/or services offered by way of the vendor computer and sending a request to purchase those goods and/or services;
receiving a message from the facilitator computer containing details of said goods and/or services;
sending a confirmation message to the facilitator computer confirming willingness to purchase the goods and/or services from the vendor;
receiving the goods and/or services from the vendor; and
paying the network access provider for the goods and/or services received from the vendor as part of an account payment for network access. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer-based system for enabling a facilitator computer to facilitate payment for goods and/or services in a transaction between a vendor and a purchaser, wherein the facilitator computer, a vendor computer (associated with said vendor), and a purchaser computer (associated with said purchaser) are connectable to a computer network, and wherein the purchaser computer is connectable to said network via an access provider with which the purchaser has established a network access service account, the system including:
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means for receiving, for the transaction, a message from said vendor computer identifying the vendor computer, the purchaser computer, and details regarding the transaction;
means for comparing the identities of the vendor computer and the purchaser computer with stored identities for known vendor computers and purchaser computers;
means for, in response to a failure to match either the vendor computer or the purchaser computer identities with said stored identities, optionally terminating the transaction;
means for, in response to a match for both the vendor computer and the purchaser computer identities with said stored identities, retrieving details of the purchaser computer from stored details;
means for sending a message to said purchaser computer seeking purchaser confirmation that the details of the transaction specified in the message received from the vendor computer are correct and that the purchaser is prepared to pay for the goods and/or services;
means for, in response to a failure to receive purchaser confirmation, sending a message to the vendor computer instructing it to terminate the transaction;
means for, in response to receipt of purchaser confirmation, sending a message to the vendor computer instructing it to provide the goods and/or services to tie purchaser and recording details of the transaction; and
means for sending at least some of said transaction details to said access provider for addition to said network access service account. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A computer-based system for using a purchaser computer to enable a purchaser to pay a vendor for goods and/or services, by making use of a computer network to which the purchaser computer and a vendor computer (associated with the vendor) are connectable, involving the intermediary of a facilitator computer connectable to the network and arranged to facilitate payment for goods and/or services over the network, the system including:
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means for connecting with the network via a network access provider;
means for sending, to the facilitator computer, a message containing a network address of a purchaser computer associated with said purchaser and an identification code to identify the purchaser or the user of the purchaser computer;
means for receiving notification of successful verification of said purchaser computer network address and said identification code by said facilitator computer;
means for selecting goods and/or services offered by way of the vendor computer and sending a request to purchase those goods and/or services;
means for receiving a message from the facilitator computer containing details of said goods and/or services;
means for sending a confirmation message to the facilitator computer confirming willingness to purchase tie goods and/or services from the vendor;
means for receiving die goods and/or services from the vendor; and
means for paying the network access provider for the goods and/or services received from tie vendor as part of an account payment for network access. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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Specification