Secure account provisioning

• US 20120078735A1
• Filed: 09/28/2010
• Published: 03/29/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Barclays Execution Services Ltd. (Barclays PLC)
• Original Assignee: Barclays Bank PLC (Barclays PLC)
• Inventors: Bauer, John, McMillen, Glenn Curtiss, Crozier, Eric, Schuetz, Christine Ann, Lloyd, Garry
• Granted Patent: US 9,558,481 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/204 comprising interface for record bearing medium or carrier for electronic funds transfer or payment credit
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/322 Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3278 RFID or NFC payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/36 using electronic wallets or electronic money safes
• 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 20/4014 Identity check for transactions

Abstract

A mobile payment system and method are described that facilitates the secure and real time user authentication and activation of a mobile payment account for a user portable electronic device over a communications network.

Claims

1. A mobile payment account activation system for facilitating the automated activation of a mobile payment account stored on a portable electronic device, comprising an account activation unit for automatically authenticating a user associated with an inactive mobile payment account by transmitting validation data to the portable electronic device and for activating the mobile payment account after the user has been authenticated based on the transmitted validation data.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein activating the mobile payment account enables a payment transaction to be made from the mobile payment account.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein mobile payment account data associated with an inactive mobile payment account is stored on the portable electronic device.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the mobile payment account data further includes data identifying the portable electronic device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the account activation unit is arranged to maintain a state of the provisioned mobile payment account indicative of whether the mobile payment account is active or inactive.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the transmitted validation data comprises at least one validation question.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the account activation unit is arranged to receive a validation answer to the at least one validation question from the portable electronic device and to automatically authenticate the user based on the received validation answer.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the validation questions and answers are based on identification and validation information associated with the mobile payment account.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the identification and validation information is stored at one or more of the account activation unit and a payment account issuer.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the validation questions and answers are further based on additional identification and validation information provided by a third party.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the identification and validation information is not transmitted to the mobile electronic device.

12. The system of claim 6, wherein the account activation unit is arranged to configure the number of validation questions transmitted to the portable electronic device based on a determined level of security associated with the user.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the validation data does not facilitate payment from the activated mobile payment account.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the account activation unit is operable to automatically authenticate a user associated with an inactive mobile payment account substantially in real-time.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable electronic device is a mobile handset.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the account activation unit is arranged to communicate with the mobile handset via a cellular telephone network.

18. The system of claim 16, further comprises a communications server for handling secure communication between the account activation unit and the mobile handset.

19. The system of claim 1, further comprising an account creation unit arranged to receive a request from a user for a new mobile payment account and to create an inactive mobile payment account in response to said request.

15. A mobile payment account activation system for facilitating the automated activation of a mobile payment account stored on a portable electronic device, comprising data for a plurality of mobile payment accounts associated with a user and an account activation unit operable to receive a user selection of an inactive one of said mobile payment accounts, automatically authenticate the user associated with the selected mobile payment account via the portable electronic device, and activate the selected mobile payment account after the user has been authenticated.

20. A mobile device for use in a mobile payment system, the mobile device comprising:

a communication network interface;

a secure memory for storing data associated with at least one inactive mobile payment account data;

an account activation module operable to receive validation data from the account provisioning system to facilitate automatic authentication of the user and automatically activation of the mobile payment account.

21. The mobile device of claim 20, wherein activating the provisioned mobile payment account enables a payment transaction to be made from the mobile payment account.

22. The mobile device of claim 20, wherein the received validation data comprises at least one validation question.

23. The mobile device of claim 22, wherein the account activation module is further operable to transmit a validation answer to the at least one validation question and to facilitate automatic authentication of the user based on the received validation answer.

24. The mobile device of claim 20, wherein the payment account module comprises a software application executing on the mobile device.

25. The mobile device of claim 20, further comprising a contactless communication link interface for communicating with an electronic point of sale terminal to perform a financial transaction using an activated mobile payment account on the mobile device.

26. The mobile device of claim 25, further comprising a payment account module operable to process a financial transaction using an activated mobile payment account.

27. The mobile device of claim 20, wherein the payment account module is stored in the secure memory.

28. A computer-implemented method of activating a mobile payment account stored on a portable electronic device, comprising automatically authenticating a user associated an inactive mobile payment account by transmitting validation data to the portable electronic device, and automatically activating the provisioned mobile payment account after the user has been authenticated based on the transmitted validation data.

29. A computer program comprising program code arranged to perform a method of activating a mobile payment account stored on a portable electronic device, comprising:

processor instructions to automatically authenticate a user associated an inactive mobile payment account by transmitting validation data to the portable electronic device; and

processor instructions to automatically activate the provisioned mobile payment account after the user has been authenticated based on the transmitted validation data.

30. A computer program product comprising the computer program of claim 29.