ELECTRONIC PURCHASING AND FUNDS TRANSFER SYSTEMS AND METHODS
12 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic transaction method, funds transfer apparatus and method for facilitating a funds transfer. The methods comprise sending information from a purchaser or payor to a funds transfer system separate from a vendor system or payee, validating and confirming personal financial information at the funds transfer system, and transferring funds from a purchaser or payor account to the vendor or a payee account without exposing either party'"'"'s financial and account information to the other. Additionally, a funds transfer apparatus is disclosed comprising connections to a payor and payee system and mechanisms for receiving and validating party and transaction information and a mechanism for transferring funds from one party to the other.
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Citations
42 Claims
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1-22. -22. (canceled)
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23. A method for facilitating an electronic purchase using a funds transfer system, the method comprising steps of:
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receiving, at the funds transfer system, purchase information from a vendor system, the purchase information including a purchase price; receiving, at the funds transfer system, selection of a private payment option from a purchaser, the private payment option comprising indication of a choice for private transfer of financial information from the purchaser to the funds transfer system exclusive of the vendor system; establishing a secure connection between the funds transfer system and the purchaser, the secure connection preventing access by the vendor system during the transfer of the financial information over the secure connection; receiving, at the funds transfer system via the secure connection, purchaser information from the purchaser, the purchaser information including an identification of a purchaser account; transmitting, via the secure connection, a validation request to the purchaser; receiving, via the secure connection, validation information from the purchaser in response to the validation request; and determining whether to validate the purchaser by checking the validation information against a database at the funds transfer system, wherein if the purchaser is validated; electronically sending a digital “
I owe you”
(IOU) to the vendor system, wherein the digital IOU is comprised of the purchase price; andredeeming the digital IOU. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method for transferring funds from a payor to a payee as part of a checkout process at a point-of-sale device, the method comprising steps of:
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receiving payment information at a funds transfer system, the payment information including identification of the payee and payment amount; receiving, at the funds transfer system, selection of a private payment option from the payor at the point-of-sale device, the private payment option comprising indication of a choice for private transfer of financial information from the payor to the funds transfer system; establishing a secure connection between the funds transfer system and the point-of-sale device, the secure connection preventing access by the payee during transfer of the financial information over the secure connection; receiving, at the funds transfer system via the secure connection, payor identification from the payor; validating the payor identification and availability of the payment amount with the funds transfer system; and transferring funds from an account of the payor to an account of the payee through the funds transfer system if the payor identification and the availability of the payment amount is validated. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32)
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33. An electronic transaction method for transferring funds from a user account to a vendor account to compensate the vendor for a purchase selected by the user while accessing a vendor system online, the method comprising:
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receiving, at a funds transfer system, selection of a private payment option from the user, the private payment option comprising indication of a choice for private transfer of financial information from the user to the funds transfer system; establishing a secure connection from the funds transfer system to the user during checkout of the user with the vendor system, wherein the funds transfer system is separate from the vendor system and wherein the secure connection is configured to prevent access by the vendor during transfer of the financial information over the secure connection; receiving purchase data from the vendor system with the funds transfer system; requesting validation information from the user for the purchase; receiving, at the funds transfer system via the secure connection, validation information from the user; checking the validation information at the funds transfer system against a database; transferring funds from the user account to the funds transfer system if the step of checking the validation information is successful; and transferring funds from the funds transfer system to the vendor account. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. An electronic purchasing and funds transfer system for transferring funds from a payor to a vendor system, the system comprising:
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a payor input device configured to; transmit a selection of a private payment option from the payor, the private payment option comprising indication of a choice for private transfer of financial information from the payor to the funds transfer system; link to the funds transfer system via a secure connection during checkout of the payor with the vendor system, wherein the funds transfer system is separate from the vendor system and wherein the secure connection is configured to prevent access by the vendor system during transfer of the financial information over the secure connection; and transmit validation information from the payor requested by the funds transfer system; and the funds transfer system, in communication with the payor input device, and configured to; receive purchase data from the vendor system with the funds transfer system; request the validation information from the payor for the purchase; receive the transmitted validation information from the payor; check the validation information at the funds transfer system against a database; and transfer funds associated with the purchase data to the vendor system. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification