Anonymous credit card transactions
First Claim
1. A method of making a non-cash transaction involving a first party, a second party, and a third party which approves the transaction for the second party, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving a first message in the third party which describes the transaction, the first message containing first information about the transaction which is interpretable by the third party and which identifies the first party and a transaction amount but does not identify the second party or the subject matter of the transaction and second information about the transaction, the second information not being interpretable by the third party, containing no identification of the first party or the third party, and including third information identifying the second party;
in the third party, responding to the first message by determining whether the transaction is to be approved;
in the third party, sending a second message to a communications exchange, the second message indicating whether the transaction has been approved and including the second information and the communications exchange being able to read only the third information;
in the communications exchange, responding to the third information by sending a third message indicating whether the transaction has been approved to the second party; and
in the second party, responding to the third message by dealing with the transaction with the first party as indicated by the third message.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques for performing credit-card transactions without disclosing the subject matter of the transaction to the institution providing the credit card. The techniques include the use of a communications exchange so that information and funds may be transferred without the destination for the transfer knowing the source of the information or funds and the use of public key encryption so that each party to the transaction and the communications exchange can read only the information the party or the exchange needs for its role in the transaction. Also disclosed are techniques for authenticating a card holder by receiving personal information from the card holder, using the information to ask the card holder one or more questions, and using the answers to authenticate the card holder.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method of making a non-cash transaction involving a first party, a second party, and a third party which approves the transaction for the second party, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a first message in the third party which describes the transaction, the first message containing first information about the transaction which is interpretable by the third party and which identifies the first party and a transaction amount but does not identify the second party or the subject matter of the transaction and second information about the transaction, the second information not being interpretable by the third party, containing no identification of the first party or the third party, and including third information identifying the second party; in the third party, responding to the first message by determining whether the transaction is to be approved; in the third party, sending a second message to a communications exchange, the second message indicating whether the transaction has been approved and including the second information and the communications exchange being able to read only the third information; in the communications exchange, responding to the third information by sending a third message indicating whether the transaction has been approved to the second party; and in the second party, responding to the third message by dealing with the transaction with the first party as indicated by the third message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method wherein a first party and a second party make a non-cash transaction which is approved for the second party by a third party, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a first message in the third party which describes the transaction, the first message containing first information about the transaction which is interpretable by the third party and which identifies the first party and a transaction amount but does not identify the second party or the subject matter of the transaction and second information about the transaction, the second information not being interpretable by the third party, containing no identification of the first party or the third party, and including third information identifying the second party; in the third party, responding to the first message by determining whether the transaction is to be approved; in the third party, sending a second message to a communications exchange, the second message indicating whether the transaction has been approved and including the second information and the communications exchange being able to read only the third information and the communications exchange being operative to respond to the third information by sending a third message indicating whether the transaction has been approved to the second party, whereby the second party may deal with the transaction with the first party as indicated by the third message. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A method of making a transaction between a first party and a second party in which a third party vouches for the first party to the second party, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a first message in the third party which contains first information and second information, the first information being interpretable by the third party and containing information needed by the third party to vouch for the first party but no identification of the second party and the second information not being interpretable by the third party, containing no identification of the first party or the third party, and including third information identifying the second party; in the third party, responding to the first message by determining whether to vouch for the first party; in the third party, sending a second message to a communications exchange, the second message indicating whether the third party is vouching for the first party and including the second information, the communications exchange being able to read only the third information; in the communications exchange, responding to the third information by sending a third message indicating whether the third party is vouching for the first party; and in the second party, responding to the third message by dealing with the transaction with the first party as indicated by the third message.
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16. A method wherein a third party vouches for a transaction between a first party and a second party, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a first message in the third party which contains first information and second information, the first information being interpretable by the third party and containing information needed by the third party to vouch for the first party but no identification of the second party and the second information not being interpretable by the third party, containing no identification of the first party or the third party, and including third information identifying the second party; in the third party, responding to the first message by determining whether to vouch for the first party; in the third party, sending a second message to a communications exchange, the second message indicating whether the third party is vouching for the first party and including the second information, the communications exchange being able to read only the third information and the communications exchange being operative to respond to the third information by sending a third message indicating whether the third party is vouching for the first party to the second party, whereby the second party may deal with the transaction with the first party as indicated by the third message.
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17. A method of automatically authenticating a first party to a second party comprising the steps of:
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in the second party, responding to a request which apparently comes from the first party by sending an encrypted question which is readable only by the first party to the first party, the encrypted question having been previously provided by the first party together with a similarly-encrypted answer thereto; in the first party, responding to the encrypted question by decrypting the question, making an answer to the question, encrypting the answer so that the answer is interpretable only by the first party, and sending the encrypted answer to the second party; and in the second party, responding to the encrypted answer by comparing the encrypted answer with the previously-provided encrypted answer, and if the comparison so indicates, treating the request as coming from the first party. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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Specification