System and method for securing a credit account
First Claim
1. A computer system for approving a commercial transaction between a user with account information and a merchant, said computer system comprising:
- a processing unit for processing data and code; and
memory for storing said data and said code, said data and said code together includinga merchant communications module operative to facilitate a connection with said merchant for receiving a transaction approval request,activation data accessible to an account-holder, said activation data indicative of the activation status of an account associated with said account-holder and with said account information, andan authorization module responsive to said transaction approval request and operative to deny said transaction approval request if said account associated with said account-holder is deactivated;
wherebyprior to said user initiating said transaction with said merchant said account-holder can modify said activation data to activate said account, thereby facilitating approval of said transaction approval request;
subsequent to approval of said transaction approval request, said account-holder can modify said activation data to deactivate said account such that subsequent transaction approval requests will be denied; and
prior to said user initiating a future transaction using said account information, said account-holder can again modify said activation data to facilitate approval of a transaction approval request associated with said future transaction, thereby allowing said card-holder to deactivate said account between each future transaction.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method is disclosed for verifying a commercial transaction between a card-holder, a merchant, and a credit card company. The card-holder makes a purchase with the merchant using a full credit card number. The merchant submits a transaction approval request for approval with the credit card company. The credit card company executes conventional credit approval of the transaction approval request, as well as verifies the transaction approval request with the card-holder. An approval is sent to the merchant only after the transaction approval request is both conventionally approved by the credit card company and verified by the card-holder. The card-holder, or the credit card company, may initiate verification of the transaction approval request. The transaction approval request can also be automatically verified if one or many pre-verification criteria is/are satisfied by data contained in the transaction approval request. The pre-verification criteria can be initially determined and/or modified by the card-holder. As another security feature, the card-holder may selectively activate and deactivate their credit card/account as desired. The credit card itself includes indicia of security measures.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. A computer system for approving a commercial transaction between a user with account information and a merchant, said computer system comprising:
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a processing unit for processing data and code; and memory for storing said data and said code, said data and said code together including a merchant communications module operative to facilitate a connection with said merchant for receiving a transaction approval request, activation data accessible to an account-holder, said activation data indicative of the activation status of an account associated with said account-holder and with said account information, and an authorization module responsive to said transaction approval request and operative to deny said transaction approval request if said account associated with said account-holder is deactivated;
wherebyprior to said user initiating said transaction with said merchant said account-holder can modify said activation data to activate said account, thereby facilitating approval of said transaction approval request; subsequent to approval of said transaction approval request, said account-holder can modify said activation data to deactivate said account such that subsequent transaction approval requests will be denied; and prior to said user initiating a future transaction using said account information, said account-holder can again modify said activation data to facilitate approval of a transaction approval request associated with said future transaction, thereby allowing said card-holder to deactivate said account between each future transaction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. In a computer system, a method for facilitating commercial transactions between a user with account information and a merchant, said method comprising:
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receiving deactivation instructions from an account-holder to temporarily deactivate an account associated with said account-holder and with said account information; receiving reactivation instructions from said account-holder to temporarily activate said account, said reactivation instructions being received in a communication separate from and subsequent to receipt of said deactivation instructions; receiving additional deactivation instructions from said account-holder to again temporarily deactivate said account, said additional deactivation instructions being received in a communication separate from and subsequent to receipt of said reactivation instructions; receiving a transaction approval request from said merchant; determining whether said account was temporarily deactivated at a time associated with said transaction approval request; and denying said transaction approval request if said account was temporarily deactivated at said time associated with said transaction approval request;
whereby said account-holder can deactivate said account between each transaction byactivating said account in anticipation of a commercial transaction between said user and said merchant, thereby facilitating approval of said transaction approval request; deactivating said account following said approval of said transaction approval request, thereby preventing approval of subsequent transaction approval requests; and reactivating said account in anticipation of a subsequent commercial transaction by said user, thereby facilitating the approval of a transaction approval request associated with said subsequent commercial transaction. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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Specification