Method and apparatus for surrogate control of network-based electronic transactions

• US 7,006,993 B1
• Filed: 05/26/2000
• Issued: 02/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: The Coca-Cola Company
• Original Assignee: The Coca-Cola Company
• Inventors: Mason, Jeffrey A., Cheong, Leslie, Vogt, David A.
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, JAGDISH
• Application Number:
  US09/579,787
• Time in Patent Office: 2,104 Days
• Field of Search: 705/39, 705/41, 705/26, 705/42, 705/43, 705/38, 705/35, 705/40
• US Class Current: 705/38
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/108 Remote banking, e.g. home banking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/123 Shopping for digital content
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/28 Pre-payment schemes, e.g. "pay before"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/351 Virtual cards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/385 using an alias or single-use codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof

Abstract

A surrogate system for the transparent control of electronic commerce transactions is provided through which an individual without a credit card is enabled to shop at online merchant sites. Upon opening an account within the surrogate system, the account can be funded using numerous fund sources, for example credit cards, checking accounts, money orders, gift certificates, incentive codes, online currency, coupons, and stored value cards. A user with a funded account can shop at numerous merchant web sites through the surrogate system. When merchandise is selected for purchase, a purchase transaction is executed in which a credit card belonging to the surrogate system is temporarily or permanently assigned to the user. The credit card, once loaded with funds from the user'"'"'s corresponding funded account, is used to complete the purchase transaction. The surrogate system provides controls that include monitoring the data streams and, in response, controlling the information flow between the user and the merchant sites.

Claims

1. A method for surrogate control of electronic commerce transactions, comprising:

funding at least one surrogate account in a surrogate electronic system;

accessing at least one electronic commerce system through the surrogate electronic system;

selecting at least one item for purchase from the at least one electronic commerce system;

selecting at least one credit card account in the surrogate electronic system;

determining an amount due to complete at least one purchase transaction on the at least one electronic commerce system;

transferring funds equal to the amount due from the at least one surrogate account to the at least one credit card account;

executing the at least one purchase transaction using the at least one credit card account;

reconciling transactions for the at least one credit card account, wherein reconciling includes;

maintaining a surrogate system ledger including at least one balance for the at least one surrogate account and at least one corresponding purchase transaction record;

periodically receiving a credit account statement ledger including purchase transactions resulting in a chance in the at least one balance; and

using the credit account statement ledger to adjust the surrogate system ledger.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing fraud detection on at least one fund source.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein funding comprises placing funds in the at least one surrogate account from at least one fund source, wherein the at least one fund source includes at least one fund source selected from a group consisting of credit cards, checks, money orders, gift certificates, incentives, online electronic currency, Automatic Teller Machines, and stored value cards.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein funding using online electronic currency comprises:

determining a plurality of online electronic currency balances in a plurality of accounts;

aggregating an amount of online electronic currency from the plurality of accounts.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein incentives comprise incentive codes resulting from the purchase of a product.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing is transparent.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

compiling records of purchase transactions completed through the surrogate electronic system;

presenting at least one list of merchants rank ordered according to the compiled records.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising controlling information provided through the surrogate electronic system from the at least one electronic commerce system.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the controlling comprises:

monitoring data streams;

performing pattern recognition on data streams transferred from the at least one electronic commerce system;

determining content of the data streams;

controlling information provided from the at least one electronic commerce system in response to the content.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein controlling includes at least one operation selected from a group consisting of inserting additional information into the data stream, substituting information in the data stream, filtering information in the data stream, and removing information from the data stream.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the controlling comprises:

assigning a surrogate electronic mail address to a user that is mapped to an actual electronic mail address of the user;

providing the surrogate electronic mail address to the at least one electronic commerce system in response to requests for the actual electronic mail address;

filtering and categorizing electronic mail received from the at least one electronic commerce system, wherein sensitive information of the surrogate electronic system is removed; and

forwarding the filtered electronic mail to the actual electronic mail address of the user.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an amount due to complete at least one purchase transaction comprises:

determining a total amount due to complete the at least one purchase transaction;

determining a value of applicable credits selected from a group consisting of coupons, merchant incentives, and surrogate system incentives; and

subtracting the value of applicable credits from the total amount due to get the amount due.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one credit card account includes determining if the available credit of the at least one credit card account is sufficient to cover a purchase amount of the at least one purchase transaction.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein transferring funds comprises:

determining if a balance of the at least one surrogate account is enough to cover the amount due; and

increasing the balance of the at least one surrogate account if the balance is not enough, the increasing including receiving and aggregating funds from a plurality of fund sources.

15. A system for surrogate control of electronic commerce transactions, comprising:

a surrogate web site coupled among at least one client computer, at least one financial system, and at least one database including at least one user account, wherein the at least one user account is funded by a user with at least one user funding source; and

at least one proxy server coupled among the at least one database, the at least one client computer, and at least one electronic merchant system, wherein at least one purchase transaction is supported on at least one client browser and the at least one electronic merchant system through the at least one proxy server, wherein payment for the at least one purchase transaction is funded using a surrogate funding source loaded with funds from the at least one user account, the surrogate funding source comprising a credit card account, wherein the at least one proxy server reconciles transactions for the at least one user account, wherein reconciling includes;

maintaining a surrogate system ledger including at least one balance for the at least one user account and at least one corresponding purchase transaction record;

periodically receiving a credit account statement ledger including purchase transactions resulting in a change in the at least one balance; and

using the credit account statement ledger to adjust the surrogate system ledger.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising at least one fraud detection device for performing fraud detection scoring on the at least one user funding source and information associated with the user.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the at least one user account is funded by placing funds in the at least one user account from the at least one user funding source, wherein the at least one user funding source includes at least one funding source selected from a group consisting of credit cards, checks, money orders, gift certificates, incentives, online electronic currency, Automatic Teller Machines, and stored value cards.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein funding using online electronic currency comprises:

determining a plurality of online electronic currency balances in a plurality of accounts at a plurality of locations on at least one network;

aggregating an amount of online electronic currency from the plurality of accounts.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein incentives comprise incentive codes resulting from the purchase of a product.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the at least one proxy server:

compiles records of purchase transactions completed through the system;

presents to the user at least one list of electronic merchant systems rank ordered according to the compiled records.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein the at least one proxy server controls information provided through the surrogate web site from the at least one electronic merchant system, wherein the at least one proxy server includes at least one shopping proxy server and at least one email proxy server.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the controlling comprises:

monitoring data streams;

performing pattern recognition on data streams transferred from the at least one electronic merchant system;

determining content of the data streams;

controlling information provided to the at least one client browser from the at least one electronic merchant system in response to the content.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein controlling includes at least one operation selected from a group consisting of inserting additional information into the data stream, substituting information in the data stream, filtering information in the data stream, and removing information from the data stream.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the controlling comprises:

assigning a surrogate electronic mail address to the user that is mapped to an actual electronic mail address of the user;

providing the surrogate electronic mail address to the at least one electronic merchant system in response to requests for the actual electronic mail address;

filtering and categorizing electronic mail received from the at least one electronic merchant system, wherein sensitive information of the system for surrogate control is removed; and

forwarding the filtered electronic mail to the actual electronic mail address of the user.

25. The system of claim 15, wherein the at least one proxy server determines an amount due to complete the at least one purchase transaction by:

determining a total amount due to complete the at least one purchase transaction;

determining a value of applicable credits selected from a group consisting of coupons, merchant incentives, and surrogate system incentives; and

subtracting the value of applicable credits from the total amount due to get the amount due.

26. The system of claim 15, wherein payment for the at least one purchase includes determining if the available credit of the surrogate funding source is sufficient to cover a purchase amount of the at least one purchase transaction.

27. The system of claim 15, wherein payment for the at least one purchase transaction comprises:

determining if a balance of the at least one user account is enough to cover the amount due; and

increasing the balance of the at least one user account if the balance is not enough, the increasing including receiving and aggregating funds from a plurality of fund sources.

28. A device for controlling electronic commerce transactions, comprising at least one surrogate processing system including a database coupled among at least one client computer and at least one electronic merchant system and a surrogate web site and at least one financial system and at least one transparent proxy server, wherein the at least one surrogate processing system is configured to:

fund at least one surrogate account in the database;

access the at least one electronic merchant system to allow selection of items for purchase from the at least one electronic merchant system using the at least one client computer;

select at least one surrogate credit card account;

determine an amount due to complete at least one purchase transaction on the at least one electronic merchant system;

transfer funds equal to the amount due from the at least one surrogate account to the at least one surrogate credit card account; and

execute the at least one purchase transaction using the at least one surrogate credit card account, wherein the at least one surrogate processing system is further configured to reconcile transactions for the at least one credit card account by;

maintaining a surrogate system ledger including at least one balance for the at least one surrogate account and at least one corresponding purchase transaction record;

periodically receiving a credit card account statement ledger including purchase transactions resulting in a change in the at least one balance; and

using the credit card account statement ledger to adjust the surrogate system ledger.

29. The device of claim 28, wherein the at least one surrogate processing system is further configured to perform fraud detection scoring on at least one fund source.

30. The device of claim 28, wherein funding comprises placing funds in the at least one surrogate account from at least one fund source, wherein the at least one fund source includes at least one fund source selected from a group consisting of credit cards, checks, money orders, gift certificates, incentives, online electronic currency, Automatic Teller Machines, and stored value cards.

31. The device of claim 30, wherein incentives comprise incentive codes resulting from the purchase of a product.

32. The device of claim 30, wherein funding using online electronic currency comprises:

determining a plurality of online electronic currency balances in a plurality of accounts at a plurality of locations on at least one network;

aggregating an amount of online electronic currency from the plurality of accounts.

33. The device of claim 28, wherein the at least one surrogate processing system is further configured to:

compile records of purchase transactions completed through the surrogate electronic system;

present to a user at least one list of merchants rank ordered according to the compiled records.

34. The device of claim 28, wherein the at least one surrogate processing system is further configured to control information provided through the surrogate electronic system from the at least one electronic commerce system using the at least one transparent proxy server, wherein the at least one transparent proxy server includes at least one shopping proxy server and at least one email proxy server.

35. The device of claim 34, wherein the control of information comprises:

monitoring data streams;

performing pattern recognition on data streams transferred from the at least one electronic commerce system;

determining content of the data streams;

controlling information provided to the at least one client computer from the at least one electronic commerce system in response to the content.

36. The device of claim 35, wherein controlling information includes at least one operation selected from a group consisting of inserting additional information into the data stream, substituting information in the data stream, filtering information in the data stream, and removing information from the data stream.

37. The device of claim 34, wherein the control of information comprises:

assigning a surrogate electronic mail address to a user that is mapped to an actual electronic mail address of the user;

providing the surrogate electronic mail address to the at least one electronic commerce system in response to requests for the actual electronic mail address;

filtering and categorizing electronic mail received from the at least one electronic commerce system, wherein sensitive information of the surrogate electronic system is removed; and

forwarding the filtered electronic mail to the actual electronic mail address of the user.

38. The device of claim 28, wherein determining an amount due to complete at least one purchase transaction comprises:

determining a total amount due to complete the at least one purchase transaction;

determining a value of applicable credits selected from a group consisting of coupons, merchant incentives, and surrogate system incentives; and

subtracting the value of applicable credits from the total amount due to get the amount due.

39. The device of claim 28, wherein selecting at least one surrogate credit card account includes determining if the available credit of the at least one surrogate credit card account is sufficient to cover a purchase amount of the at least one purchase transaction.

40. The device of claim 28, wherein transferring funds comprises:

determining if a balance of the at least one surrogate credit card account is enough to cover the amount due; and

increasing the balance of the at least one surrogate credit card account if the balance is not enough, the increasing including receiving and aggregating funds from a plurality of fund sources.

41. A computer readable medium containing executable instructions which, when executed in a processing system, causes the system to control electronic commerce transactions, the control comprising:

funding at least one surrogate account in a surrogate electronic system;

accessing at least one electronic commerce system through the surrogate electronic system;

selecting at least one item for purchase from the at least one electronic commerce system;

selecting at least one credit card account in the surrogate electronic system;

determining an amount due to complete at least one purchase transaction on the at least one electronic commerce system;

transferring funds equal to the amount due from the at least one surrogate account to the at least one credit card account;

executing the at least one purchase transaction using the at least one credit card account; and

reconciling transactions for the at least one credit card account, wherein reconciling includes;

maintaining a surrogate system ledger including at least one balance for the at least one surrogate account and at least one corresponding purchase transaction record;

periodically receiving a credit card account statement ledger including purchase transactions resulting in a change in the at least one balance; and

using the credit card account statement ledger to adjust the surrogate system ledger.

42. The computer readable medium of claim 41, wherein funding comprises placing funds in the at least one surrogate account from at least one fund source, wherein the at least one fund source includes at least one fund source selected from a group consisting of credit cards, checks, money orders, gift certificates, incentives, online electronic currency, Automatic Teller Machines, and stored value cards, wherein funding using online electronic currency includes determining a plurality of online electronic currency balances in a plurality of accounts, and aggregating an amount of online electronic currency from the plurality of accounts.

43. The computer readable medium of claim 41, wherein the control further comprises:

compiling records of purchase transactions completed through the surrogate electronic system;

presenting at least one list of merchants rank ordered according to the compiled records.

44. The computer readable medium of claim 43, wherein incentives comprise incentive codes resulting from the purchase of a product.

45. The computer readable medium of claim 41, wherein the control further comprises controlling information provided through the surrogate electronic system from the at least one electronic commerce system.

46. The computer readable medium of claim 45, wherein controlling information comprises:

monitoring data streams;

performing pattern recognition on data streams transferred from the at least one electronic commerce system;

determining content of the data streams; and

controlling information provided from the at least one electronic commerce system in response to the content.

47. The computer readable medium of claim 46, wherein controlling information includes at least one operation selected from a group consisting of inserting additional information into the data stream, substituting information in the data stream, filtering information in the data stream, and removing information from the data stream.

48. The computer readable medium of claim 45, wherein controlling information comprises:

assigning a surrogate electronic mail address to a user that is mapped to an actual electronic mail address of the user;

providing the surrogate electronic mail address to the at least one electronic commerce system in response to requests for the actual electronic mail address;

filtering and categorizing electronic mail received from the at least one electronic commerce system, wherein sensitive information of the surrogate electronic system is removed; and

forwarding the filtered electronic mail to the actual electronic mail address of the user.

49. An electromagnetic medium containing executable instructions which, when executed in a processing system, causes the system to control electronic commerce transactions, the control comprising:

funding at least one surrogate account in a surrogate electronic system;

accessing at least one electronic commerce system through the surrogate electronic system;

selecting at least one item for purchase from the at least one electronic commerce system;

selecting at least one credit card account in the surrogate electronic system;

determining an amount due to complete at least one purchase transaction on the at least one electronic commerce system;

transferring funds equal to the amount due from the at least one surrogate account to the at least one credit card account;

executing the at least one purchase transaction using the at least one credit card account;

reconciling transactions for the at least one credit card account, wherein reconciling includes;

maintaining a surrogate system ledger including at least one balance for the at least one surrogate account and at least one corresponding purchase transaction record;

periodically receiving a credit card account statement ledger including purchase transactions resulting in a change in the at least one balance; and

using the credit card account statement ledger to adjust the surrogate system ledger.

50. The electromagnetic medium of claim 49, wherein funding comprises placing funds in the at least one surrogate account from at least one fund source, wherein the at least one fund source includes at least one fund source selected from a group consisting of credit cards, checks, money orders, gift certificates, incentives, online electronic currency, Automatic Teller Machines, and stored value cards, wherein funding using online electronic currency includes determining a plurality of online electronic currency balances in a plurality of accounts, and aggregating an amount of online electronic currency from the plurality of accounts.

51. The electromagnetic medium of claim 50, wherein incentives comprise incentive codes resulting from the purchase of a product.

52. The electromagnetic medium of claim 49, wherein the control further comprises:

compiling records of purchase transactions completed through the surrogate electronic system;

presenting at least one list of merchants rank ordered according to the compiled records.

53. The electromagnetic medium of claim 49, wherein the control further comprises controlling information provided through the surrogate electronic system from the at least one electronic commerce system.

54. The electromagnetic medium of claim 53, wherein controlling information comprises:

monitoring data streams;

performing pattern recognition on data streams transferred from the at least one electronic commerce system;

determining content of the data streams; and

controlling information provided from the at least one electronic commerce system in response to the content.

55. The electromagnetic medium of claim 54, wherein controlling information includes at least one operation selected from a group consisting of inserting additional information into the data stream, substituting information in the data stream, filtering information in the data stream, and removing information from the data stream.

56. The electromagnetic medium of claim 53, wherein controlling information comprises:

assigning a surrogate electronic mail address to a user that is mapped to an actual electronic mail address of the user;

providing the surrogate electronic mail address to the at least one electronic commerce system in response to requests for the actual electronic mail address;

filtering and categorizing electronic mail received from the at least one electronic commerce system, wherein sensitive information of the surrogate electronic system is removed; and

forwarding the filtered electronic mail to the actual electronic mail address of the user.