FINANCIAL TRANSACTION AUTHENTICATION SERVERS, METHODS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR FACILITATING FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN BUYERS AND SELLERS

• US 20090157547A1
• Filed: 12/12/2007
• Published: 06/18/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: At&T Delaware Intellectual Property, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.), Iron Bird LLC (Jeffrey M. Gross)
• Original Assignee: At&T Delaware Intellectual Property, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ruckart, John
• Granted Patent: US 8,401,906 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/44
• 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 20/3223 Realising banking transactions through M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3224 Transactions dependent on location of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/405 Establishing or using transaction specific rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

A financial transaction authentication server includes a wireless network interface that is configured to receive fund transfer requests from a buyer via a wireless communications terminal, a wireless terminal location module that is configured to identify the respective locations of the buyer and a seller, and a transaction authorization processor configured to authorize a transfer request if the geographic locations of wireless terminals of the buyer and seller are within a predetermined geographical proximity of each other. The wireless network terminal location module identifies the geographic locations of respective wireless terminals of the buyer and seller. The transaction authorization processor authorizes a fund transfer request if the respective locations of buyer and seller wireless terminals are within a predetermined geographical proximity and suspends a fund transfer request if respective locations of buyer and seller wireless terminals are not within a predetermined geographical proximity of each other.

Claims

1. A method of facilitating a financial transaction between a buyer and a seller, comprising

receiving a money transfer request from the buyer via a wireless communications terminal, wherein the transfer request identifies a financial account of the buyer, a financial account of the seller, and an amount to be transferred from the buyer'"'"'s financial account to the seller'"'"'s financial account;

identifying the respective locations of the buyer and seller;

determining whether the locations of the buyer and seller are within a predetermined geographical proximity of each other; and

authorizing the transfer request if the locations of the buyer and seller are within a predetermined geographical proximity of each other.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the locations of the buyer and seller comprises identifying the locations of the respective wireless communications terminals of the buyer and seller.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the wireless communications terminals are selected from the group including cell phones, PDAs, RFID devices, and Bluetooth devices.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein identifying the locations of the respective wireless communications terminals of the buyer and seller comprises obtaining location information from a GPS system.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein identifying the locations of the respective wireless communications terminals of the buyer and seller comprises obtaining location information from a wireless network provider.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending an alert to the buyer if the locations of the buyer and seller are not within a predetermined geographical proximity of each other.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising suspending the transfer request if the locations of the buyer and seller are not within a predetermined geographical proximity of each other.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the buyer'"'"'s financial account is managed by a first financial institution, and the seller'"'"'s financial account is managed by a second financial institution, and wherein authorizing the transfer request if the locations of the buyer and seller are within a predetermined geographical proximity of each other comprises sending instructions to the first financial institution to transfer payment from the buyer'"'"'s financial account to the seller'"'"'s financial account at the second financial institution.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the buyer'"'"'s financial account and seller'"'"'s financial account are managed by a financial institution, and wherein authorizing the transfer request if the locations of the buyer and seller are within a predetermined geographical proximity of each other comprises sending instructions to the financial institution to transfer payment from the buyer'"'"'s financial account to the seller'"'"'s financial account.

10. A financial transaction authentication server, comprising:

a wireless network interface that is configured to receive money transfer requests from a buyer via a wireless communications terminal, wherein a transfer request identifies a financial account of the buyer, a financial account of a seller, and an amount to be transferred from the buyer'"'"'s financial account to the seller'"'"'s financial account;

a wireless terminal location module that is configured to identify the respective locations of the buyer and seller; and

a transaction authorization processor configured to authorize a transfer request if the locations of the buyer and seller are within a predetermined geographical proximity of each other.

11. The server of claim 10, wherein the wireless network terminal location module is configured to identify the locations of respective wireless communications terminals of the buyer and seller.

12. The server of claim 11, wherein the wireless terminal location module is configured to obtain wireless terminal location information from a GPS system.

13. The server of claim 11, wherein the wireless network terminal location module is configured to obtain wireless terminal location information from a wireless network provider.

14. The server of claim 10, wherein the transaction authorization processor is configured to send an alert to the buyer if respective locations of the buyer and seller are not within a predetermined geographical proximity of each other.

15. The server of claim 10, wherein the transaction authorization processor is configured to suspend a transfer request if respective locations of the buyer and seller are not within a predetermined geographical proximity of each other.

16. The server of claim 10, wherein the buyer'"'"'s financial account is managed by a first financial institution and the seller'"'"'s financial account is managed by a second financial institution, and wherein the transaction authorization processor is configured to send instructions to the first financial institution to transfer payment from the buyer'"'"'s financial account to the seller'"'"'s financial account at the second financial institution if the locations of the buyer and seller are within a predetermined geographical proximity of each other.

17. The server of claim 10, wherein the buyer'"'"'s financial account and a seller'"'"'s financial account are managed by a financial institution, and wherein the transaction authorization processor is configured to send instructions to the financial institution to transfer payment from the buyer'"'"'s financial account to the seller'"'"'s financial account if the locations of the buyer and seller are within a predetermined geographical proximity of each other.

18. A computer program product for facilitating financial transactions between a buyer and a seller, comprising a computer readable storage medium having encoded thereon instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the following steps:

receiving a money transfer request from a buyer via a wireless communications terminal, wherein the transfer request identifies a financial account of the buyer, a financial account of a seller, and an amount to be transferred from the buyer'"'"'s financial account to the seller'"'"'s financial account;

identifying the respective locations of the buyer and seller;

determining whether the locations of the buyer and seller are within a predetermined geographical proximity of each other; and

authorizing the transfer request if the locations of the buyer and seller are within a predetermined geographical proximity of each other.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the computer readable storage medium has encoded thereon instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to identify the locations of the respective wireless communications terminals of the buyer and seller.

20. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the computer readable storage medium has encoded thereon instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to suspend the transfer request if the locations of the buyer and seller are not within a predetermined geographical proximity of each other.