Anonymous transaction authentication

• US 7,264,152 B2
• Filed: 07/30/2004
• Issued: 09/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Inventors: Wells, Stephen, Barton, legal representative, Blagg, Lynn Holm, Tsuei, Henry, Barton, deceased
• Primary Examiner(s): Le; Thien Minh
• Application Number:
  US10/710,741
• Publication Number:
  US 20040254894A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,131 Days
• Field of Search: 235/380,449,493,375,379,382,382.5 705/1,54,74,14,26,67 709/204,206,248
• US Class Current: 235/380
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/00 Payment architectures, schemes or protocols apparatus for performing or posting payment transactions G07F7/08, G07F19/00; electronic cash registers G07G1/12
• 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 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/342 Cards defining paid or billed services or quantities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/383 Anonymous user system
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/385 using an alias or single-use codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4037 Remote solvency checks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/025 by means, e.g. cards, providing billing information at the time of purchase, e.g. identification of seller or purchaser, quantity of goods delivered or to be delivered
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/08 by coded identity card or credit card or other personal identification means without personal verification means G07F7/02

Abstract

An automated system for the confirmed efficient authentication of an anonymous subscriber'"'"'s profile data. The system is comprised of software/hardware interface to facilitate centralized access and exchange to easily and inexpensively allow the confirmed authentication of subscriber profiles of customers wishing to blind their transactions, while maintaining current services. In one aspect the system allows a subscriber to anonymously accomplish credit card transactions without associating any aspect of the transaction with any information associated with the true identity of the subscriber.

Claims

1. A system for confirmed authentication of uniquely identified personal and business type information related to a particular subscriber to a service provider requesting an authentication of said information by means of an alias identity associated with the subscriber, comprising:

a) at least one segregated database containing said uniquely identified personal and business type information related to a particular subscriber stored in association with the subscriber'"'"'s alias identity

b) a communication component coupled to the database for receiving a request for authentication of information relating to a subscriber from a requesting service provider via a communication link, the request including the alias identity;

c) a confirmation component for confirmation of the authentication by confirming the receipt of the request for authentication with the requesting service provider and confirming receipt of a formatted response provided to the requesting service provider; and

d) a program component responsive to a confirmed request for authentication from the requesting service provider for accessing the segregated database based on the alias identity, determining whether to provide an authentication based on information related to the particular subscriber retrieved from the segregated database, and preparing the formatted response to the requesting service provider that includes the authentication.

2. The system as set out in claim 1, wherein the service provider is selected from the group comprising vendors, wholesale, retailers and e-commerce vendors.

3. The system as set out in claim 1, wherein the service provider is a financial service provider.

4. The system as set out in claim 1, wherein the service provided is a credit card company.

5. The system as set out in claim 1, wherein the formatted request includes an alphanumeric code.

6. The system as set out in claim 1, wherein said communications link is selected from the group consisting of a public communication system and a private communications system.

7. The system as set out in claim 6, wherein said public communication system is a preexisting public communication system.

8. The system as set out in claim 7 wherein the public communication system is the Internet.

9. The system as set out in claim 8 wherein the protocol on said Internet is selected from the group consisting of virtual private network and X.400.

10. The system as set out in claim 1 wherein said segregated database is accessed by at least one central server.

11. The system as set out in claim 10 wherein said at least one central server is a multi tiered system.

12. The system as set out in claim 1, wherein said business type information related to a particular subscriber is a subscriber information financial profile.

13. The system as set out in claim 12, wherein said subscriber profile is a financial subscriber profile.

14. A method for confirmed authentication of uniquely identified business type records which are related to a particular subscriber to an authorized requesting entity using a secure database which communicates with the requesting entity by means of a communications link comprising the steps of:

a) providing a secure database for storing an alias identity of the particular subscriber in association with information relating to the subscriber'"'"'s actual identity;

b) receiving a request for authentication of the uniquely identified business records in a specified format that includes the alias identity from the requesting entity via the communication link;

c) accessing information related to the particular subscriber in the secure database based on the alias identity;

d) confirming receipt of said formatted request and generating a formatted response; and

e) transmitting the response to the requesting entity via the communications link.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the steps of:

providing an alias account for a credit cardholder on a credit card processing system that is associated with a first credit card and that identifies the cardholder with the alias identity;

providing a primary account for the credit cardholder on the credit card processing system that is associated with a second credit card and identities the cardholder with the cardholder'"'"'s real identity; and

storing information in the secure database corresponding to a relationship between the alias account and the primary account to carry out credit card processing functions.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of creating the relationship between the alias and primary account by constructing a database that associates a second primary account and a second alias account stored in the secure database.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising the steps of:

constructing a first database that contains information for setting up the second alias account in the secure database;

constructing a second database containing information for assigning an account number to the second alias account setup from information in the first database constructing a third database containing information to create a profile for an issuer that is assigned to the second alias account constructed from the first database;

constructing a fourth database that contains information for matching the second alias account created from the first database and a second primary account that corresponds to the primary account on the card processing system; and

constructing a fifth database containing alias and primary account information for replacing the alias identity with the cardholder'"'"'s real identity retrieved from the second primary account.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a security stub from an applicant and using the security stub to setup an alias account in the secure database that corresponds to a second alias account in the credit card processing system;

providing the alias account'"'"'s information to the credit card processing system so that the credit card processing system can set up the second alias account;

receiving a credit card application at the credit card processing system from an applicant to setup the primary account in the credit card processing system; and

providing the primary account'"'"'s information from the credit card processing system to the secure database so that the secure database can setup a second primary account that corresponds to the account in the credit card processing system.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the steps of:

receiving the security stub with a password and a first document tracking number;

receiving the credit card application with a source of credit information and a second document tracking number that corresponds to the first document tracking number on the security stub; and

creating the relationship between the alias account and the primary account based on the first and second document tracking number.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising the steps of:

creating a first credit line for the primary account on the credit card processing system;

transmitting an indication of the first credit line from the credit card processing system to the secure database;

receiving the indication of the first credit line at the secure database and apportioning the fast credit line and assigning a second credit line to the primary account and a third credit line to the alias account; and

transmitting a message reflecting the second credit tine back to the credit card processing system to replace the first credit line as a new credit line associated with the primary account.

21. The method of claim 15, further comprising the steps of:

closing the primary or alias account on the credit card processing system;

transmitting an indication to the secure database that the primary or alias account has been closed;

receiving the indication at the secure database that the primary or alias account has been closed and in response to receiving the indication;

combining the second primary account and the second alias account into a new account; and

transmitting the new account to the credit card processing system.

22. The method of claim 14 wherein said response is a denial of the request.

23. The method of claim 14 wherein said response is an authentication.

24. The method of claim 14 wherein said response is at least a partial informational compliance.

25. The method of claim 14 wherein said response comprises uniquely identified customer related profiles.

26. The method of claim 14 wherein said communication link is selected from the group consisting of a public communication system and a private communication system.

27. A system for anonymous confirmed authentication of a transaction for an anonymous credit card account associated with a particular subscriber to a requesting service provider in response to receipt of a request for authentication that includes an alias identity associated with the subscriber, comprising;

a) at least one requesting service provider capable of communicating with at least one server via a communications link, and generating formatted requests for said a authentication, capable of confirmed transmission of said requests over said communication link and capable of confirmed receipt of a formatted response over said communications link;

b) at least one subscriber having a primary account associated with the subscriber'"'"'s real identity and an alias account associated with the primary account;

c) at least one server capable of verifying the requesting service provider'"'"'s authority and receiving and transmitting via a communication link formatted requests for said authentication and formatted responses for said authentication; and

d) at least one offline database containing unique identified personal and business type information for a particular subscriber associating the primary account with the alias account and associating the alias account with the subscriber'"'"'s alias identity, the database coupled to the communication link for receiving a formatted request for authentication and transmitting a response to said request to a requesting service provider.

28. The system as set out in claim 27 wherein the requesting service provider is selected from the group comprising vendors, wholesalers, retailers and ecommerce vendors.

29. The system as set out in claim 27 wherein the requesting service provider is a financial service provider.

30. The system as set out in claim 27 wherein the requesting service provider is a credit card company.

31. The system as set out in claim 27 wherein said formatted request includes an alphanumeric code.

32. The system as set out in claim 27 wherein said communications link is selected from the group consisting of a public communication system and a private communication system.

33. The system as set out it claim 32 wherein said public communication system is the Internet.

34. The system as set out in claim 33 wherein the protocol on said Internet is selected from the group consisting of a virtual private network and X.400.

35. A method for confirmed authentication of unique y identified business type records which arc related to a particular subscriber having an alias identity to an authorized requesting entity using at least one secure database which communicates with the requesting entity by means of a communications link, comprising the steps of:

a) providing an alias account for a credit cardholder on a credit card processing system that is associated with a first credit card and that identifies the card holder with an alias identity;

b) providing a primary account for the credit cardholder on the credit card processing system that is associated with a second credit card and identifies the cardholder with the cardholder'"'"'s real identity;

c) providing a secure database to create a relationship between the alias account and the primary account to carry out credit card processing functions;

d) initially generating a request for authentication of the uniquely identified business records in a specified format;

e) transmitting the request to the secure database via the communications link;

f) receiving the formatted request by the secure database;

g) confirming receipt of said formatted request and generating a formatted response;

h) transmitting the formatted response to the requesting entity via the communications link; and

i) receiving and confirming receipt of the formatted response by the requesting entity.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising the step of creating the relationship between the alias and primary account by constructing a database that associates a second primary account and a second alias account stored in the secure database.

37. The method of claim 35, further comprising the steps of:

constructing a first database that contains information for setting up the second alias account in the secure database;

constructing a second database containing information for assigning an account number to the second alias account setup from information in the first database;

constructing a third database containing information to create a profile for an issuer that is assigned to the second alias account constructed from the first database;

constructing a fourth database that contains information for matching the second alias account created from the first database and a second primary account that corresponds to the primary account on the card processing system; and

constructing a fifth database containing alias and primary account information for replacing the alias identity with the cardholder'"'"'s real identity retrieved from the second primary account.

38. The method of claim 35, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a security stub from an applicant and using the security stub to set up an alias account in the secure database that corresponds to a second alias account in the credit card processing system;

providing the alias account'"'"'s information to the credit card processing system so that the credit card processing system can set up the second alias account;

receiving a credit card application at the credit card processing system from an applicant to set up the primary account in the credit card processing system; and

providing the primary account'"'"'s information from the credit card processing system to the secure database so that the secure database can set up a second primary account that corresponds to the account in the credit card processing system.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising the steps of:

receiving the security stub with a password and a first document tracking number;

receiving the credit card application with a source of credit information and a second document tracking number that corresponds to the first document tracking number on the security stub; and

creating the relationship between the alias account and the primary account based on the first and second document tracking number.

40. The method of claim 35, further comprising the steps of:

creating a first credit line for the primary account on the credit card processing system;

transmitting an indication of the first credit line from the credit card processing system to the secure database;

receiving the indication of the first credit line at the secure database and apportioning the fast credit line and assigning a second credit line to the primary account and a third credit line to the alias account; and

transmitting a message reflecting the second credit line back to the credit card processing system to replace the first credit line as a new credit line associated with the primary account.

41. The method of claim 35, further comprising the steps of:

closing the primary or alias account on the credit card processing system;

transmitting an indication to the secure database that the primary or alias account has been closed;

receiving the indication at the secure database that the primary or alias account has been closed and in response to receiving the indication;

combining the second primary account and the second alias account into a new account; and

transmitting the new account to the credit card processing system.

42. The method of claim 35 wherein said response is a denial of the request.

43. The method of claim 35 wherein said response is an authentication.

44. The method of claim 35 wherein said response is at least a partial informational compliance.

45. The method of claim 35, wherein said response comprises uniquely identified customer related profiles.

46. A method for anonymous confirmed authentication of a transaction for an anonymous credit card account associated with a particular subscriber to a requesting service provider in response to receipt of a request for authentication that includes an alias identity associated with the subscriber, comprising the steps of:

a) providing a primary account associated with the particular subscriber and an alias account associated with the primary account, the alias account identified by alias identity of the particular subscriber;

b) storing information about the primary account and the alias account in an offline database, with information relating to the alias account only accessible by a requesting service provider by way of the alias identity;

c) receiving a request for authentication of a transaction on the alias account from a requesting service provider via a communication link, the request including the alias identity;

d) verifying the requesting service provider'"'"'s authority by receiving and transmitting via a communication link formatted requests for authentication and formatted responses for authentication; and

e) determining whether to authenticate the transaction on the alias account by accessing the offline database utilizing the alias identity and determining whether the alias account is associated with a corresponding primary account; and

f) providing a formatted response to the request for authentication of the transaction on the alias account to the requesting service provider via the communication link.

47. The method of claim 46 wherein the requesting service provider is selected from the group comprising vendors, wholesalers, retailers and ecommerce vendors.

48. The method of claim 46 wherein the requesting service provider is a financial service provider.

49. The method of claim 46 wherein the requesting service provider is a credit card company.

50. The method of claim 46 wherein said formatted request includes an alphanumeric code.

51. The method of claim 46 wherein said communications link is selected from the group consisting of a public communication system and a private communication system.

52. The method of claim 51 wherein said public communication system is the Internet.

53. The method of claim 52 wherein the protocol on the Internet is selected from the group consisting of a virtual private network and X.400.