APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SECURE CREDIT CARD PROCESSING INFRASTRUCTURE

• US 20090132413A1
• Filed: 11/10/2005
• Published: 05/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Runtime AB
• Original Assignee: Runtime AB
• Inventors: Engelbrecht, Bo K.
• Application Number:
  US11/719,111
• Publication Number:
  US 20090132413A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4016 involving fraud or risk level assessment in transaction processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for secure value transactions between a customer and a merchant in a computerised environment being part of a global interconnecting network, such as the Internet. The method is adapted for utilising existing credit card processing infrastructure and includes the steps of: the customer obtaining a password, such as a PIN, from an intermediate transaction party and validating a server of the intermediate transaction party, the merchant having installed a code module function on its web-based service that generates a transaction identification number, and redirecting or presenting the customer with a link to the intermediate transaction party. The present invention is characterised by the intermediate transaction party presenting the customer with a password-protected account page to validate a purchase either by marking a correct validation or inputting the transaction identification number and amount.

Claims

1. A method for secure value transactions between a customer and a merchant in a computerised environment being part of a global interconnecting network, such as the Internet, the method being adapted for utilising existing credit card processing infrastructure and including the steps of:

the customer obtaining a password, such as a PIN, from an intermediate transaction party and validating a server of the intermediate transaction party,

the merchant having installed a code module function on its web-based service that generates a transaction identification number,

redirecting or presenting the customer with a link to the intermediate transaction party,

characterised by

the intermediate transaction party presenting the customer with a password-protected account page to validate a purchase either by marking a correct validation or inputting the transaction identification number and amount.

2. A method for secure value transactions according to claim 1, comprising the steps of:

adding a code module function to the web-based service of a merchant,

the code module function generating a transaction identity as well as order details in response to the customer having placed an order,

redirecting or presenting the customer with a link to a service provided by an intermediate transaction party,

a server associated with a intermediate transaction party receiving the transaction identity and credit card information from the merchant'"'"'s code module function,

the customer accessing a protected account page via the link to the service provided by the intermediate transaction party,

characterised by

validating the server access with a unique identifier for the customer, which is followed by the customer marling an existing box related to a transaction, the box verifying that the transaction is to be completed, whereby a clearance message is transferred to the merchant for allowance of the purchase.

3. The method for secure value transactions according to claim 2, characterised by

instead of marking a validation, such as marking a box, the customer manually inputting a simple transaction identity (STID) and amount relating to a transaction so as to verify that the transaction is to be completed.

4. The method for secure value transactions according to anyone of claims 1-3, characterised by

transferring or directly pointing the customer to his personal account page by using a number, such as the credit card number, as part of the address.

5. The method for secure value transactions according to anyone of claims 1-3, characterised by

the password protecting the server associated with the intermediate transaction party being the personal identification number PIN associated with the credit card.

6. The method for secure value transactions according to anyone of claims 1-3, characterised by

the password protecting the server associated with the intermediate transaction party being a specific personal identification number PIN created for this purpose.

7. The method for secure value transactions according to anyone of claims 1-3, characterised by

transferring secure information between parties involved in a transaction by electronic mail formatted according to any established protocol and technique, such as SMTP.

8. The method for secure value transactions according to anyone of claims 1-3, characterised by

if the transaction is chosen to be delayed or cannot occur in real-time, following the hypertext link to the web-based service within a pre-defined period of time, preferably so as to allow the transaction to occur at a later stage.

16. Computer program product for integral installation into existing infrastructure for secure value transactions between a customer and a merchant, the infrastructure being part of a global interconnecting network, such as the Internet, characterised in that

the computer program product being adapted to carry out the method steps of anyone of claims 1-8.

9. Apparatus for secure value transactions between a customer and a merchant in a computerised environment being part of a global interconnecting network, such as the Internet, the apparatus being adapted for utilising existing credit card processing infrastructure, wherein

a code module function is associated with a merchant'"'"'s web-site,

the code module function is adapted to generate a transaction identity as well as order details in response to the customer having placed an order,

the customer is redirected or presented with a link to a service provided by an intermediate transaction party,

a server associated with a intermediate transaction party is provided for receiving the transaction identity and credit card information from the merchant'"'"'s code module function,

access is provided the customer to a password-protected page provided by the intermediate transaction party via the link to the service,

characterised in that

a for the customer unique identifier validates the server access, in response to which the customer verifies an existing transaction or inputs a correct transaction identity and amount that verifies that the transaction is to be completed, whereby a clearance message can be transferred to the merchant for allowance of the purchase.

10. The apparatus for secure value transactions according to claim 9, characterised in that

the server of the intermediate transaction party is adapted to allow delayed confirmation of the transaction from the customer, so as to operate also without real-time connection.

11. The apparatus for secure value transactions according to claim 9, characterised in that

the link presented to the customer is a hypertext link to a web-based service provided by the intermediate transaction party.

12. The apparatus for secure value transactions according to claim 9, characterised in that

the service presented to the customer being a number of randomly placed pictures, provided by the intermediate transaction party, of which pictures the customer is to identify and choose one.

13. The apparatus for secure value transactions according to claim 9, characterised in that

the service presented to the customer being a number of randomly placed pictures, provided by the intermediate transaction party, of which one picture is to be chosen.

14. The apparatus for secure value transactions according to claim 13, characterised in that

the one picture to be chose initially having been uploaded by the customer and/or having been selected by the customer from a set of pictures presented by the intermediate transaction party.

15. The apparatus for secure value transactions according to claim 9, characterised in that

the code module function added to the merchant'"'"'s web-site is any proprietary or non-proprietary code module function, such as CGI (Common Gateway Interface), Agent or code like PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor).