RISK MANAGEMENT IN AN EXPEDITIOUS FUNDS-HOLDER PAYOR AUTHENTICATION AND FUNDS TRANSFER SYSTEM AND METHODOLOGY
First Claim
1. A method for making an expeditious transfer of funds to an end merchant at the request of a client without waiting for settlement of an electronic fund transfer from a source account of the requesting client, the method comprising:
- providing an intermediary service having a server system in electronic communication with at least the client, the client'"'"'s source account, the end merchant, and an intermediate account;
receiving at the intermediary service a request from the requesting client to transfer an amount of requested funds to the end merchant from the client'"'"'s source account;
obtaining from the requesting client an assertion of the requesting client'"'"'s authorization to transfer funds from the source account;
authenticating the client'"'"'s authorization to transfer funds from the source account by establishing a strength of the assertion and at least a permitted amount of the requested funds to be transferred based on the strength of the client'"'"'s assertion, the authenticating of the client authorization further comprising;
providing a question database accessible by the server system and having two or more authenticating questions, at least one of which is non-financial, accessing at least one information server by the server system, the at least one information server having corresponding account holder specific answers to the authenticating questions, posing the authenticating questions to the client and receiving client answers, comparing the client answers and the account holder specific answers for assessing a match threshold, and comparing the match threshold and a verification threshold, and if the match threshold meets the verification threshold, then authenticating the requesting client'"'"'s authorization to transfer funds from the source account; and
substantially contemporaneous with the authentication, initiating a first electronic fund transfer of the least a permitted amount of the requested funds from the intermediate account as transferred funds which are transferred to the end merchant; and
thereafter initiating a settlement transaction including submitting a second electronic fund transfer for seeking to recover at least the permitted amount of the requested funds from the source account to the intermediary account.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for enables expeditious transfer of funds electronically to an end merchant substantially instantaneously upon the request of a new payor or client. An intermediary service having a server in communication with an automated clearinghouse system and having a client interface provides an online account for transfer of at least a permitted portion of requested funds to the merchant account of a participating end merchant at the request of a payor client. The intermediary verifies the client'"'"'s identify through a series of authenticating questions including those verifying non-financial information for establishing the client'"'"'s authorization to access the client'"'"'s source account for settlement of the transferred funds. In another embodiment, a merchant indemnification system provides further financial security for the end merchant.
54 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for making an expeditious transfer of funds to an end merchant at the request of a client without waiting for settlement of an electronic fund transfer from a source account of the requesting client, the method comprising:
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providing an intermediary service having a server system in electronic communication with at least the client, the client'"'"'s source account, the end merchant, and an intermediate account;
receiving at the intermediary service a request from the requesting client to transfer an amount of requested funds to the end merchant from the client'"'"'s source account;
obtaining from the requesting client an assertion of the requesting client'"'"'s authorization to transfer funds from the source account;
authenticating the client'"'"'s authorization to transfer funds from the source account by establishing a strength of the assertion and at least a permitted amount of the requested funds to be transferred based on the strength of the client'"'"'s assertion, the authenticating of the client authorization further comprising;
providing a question database accessible by the server system and having two or more authenticating questions, at least one of which is non-financial, accessing at least one information server by the server system, the at least one information server having corresponding account holder specific answers to the authenticating questions, posing the authenticating questions to the client and receiving client answers, comparing the client answers and the account holder specific answers for assessing a match threshold, and comparing the match threshold and a verification threshold, and if the match threshold meets the verification threshold, then authenticating the requesting client'"'"'s authorization to transfer funds from the source account; and
substantially contemporaneous with the authentication, initiating a first electronic fund transfer of the least a permitted amount of the requested funds from the intermediate account as transferred funds which are transferred to the end merchant; and
thereafter initiating a settlement transaction including submitting a second electronic fund transfer for seeking to recover at least the permitted amount of the requested funds from the source account to the intermediary account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for making an expeditious transfer of funds to an end merchant at the request of a client without waiting for settlement of an electronic fund transfer a source account of the requesting client, the system comprising:
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an intermediary service having a server in electronic communication with the client, the end merchant, and an intermediate account;
a client interface for receiving at the intermediary service an request from the requesting client to transfer an amount of requested funds to the end merchant from a source account;
a verification interface for obtaining from the requesting client an assertion of the requesting client'"'"'s authorization to transfer funds from the source account, the interface posing two or more authenticating questions to the client, at least one of which is non-financial, and limiting a permitted amount of the requested funds to be transferred based on the strength of the client'"'"'s assertion;
a first automated clearinghouse request means for committing transfer of the permitted amount of the requested funds from the intermediate account as transferred funds which are transferred to the end merchant, the transferred funds being irrevocable to the end merchant; and
a second automated clearinghouse request means for initiating a settlement transaction including transfer of at least the permitted amount of the requested funds from the source account to the intermediary account. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification