System, apparatus and method for obtaining one-time credit card numbers using a smart card

• US 7,568,631 B2
• Filed: 11/21/2005
• Issued: 08/04/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Dorn, Jeffrey, Rafey, Rick, Shiotani, Keiji, Gibbs, Simon
• Primary Examiner(s): Le; Thien M
• Application Number:
  US11/285,095
• Publication Number:
  US 20070114274A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,352 Days
• Field of Search: 235/380, 235/492, 235/494, 235/375, 235/382, 235/382.5
• US Class Current: 235/494
• 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 20/385 using an alias or single-use codes

Abstract

A system, apparatus and method for utilizing one-time, or temporary, “credit” card information for executing purchase transactions with a smart card or similar electronic data card device. The card is activated in an activation process with the issuer prior to receiving and utilizing temporary card information (numbers). Retrieval and submission of temporary card information is performed in an automatic process executed by application programming, such as within a web browser. By way of example, a user surfing the web commences a purchase transaction wherein their smart card communicates with the issuer of the smart card to retrieve one-time or temporary use card data which is submitted through the network for processing within the transaction. In one embodiment the programming is executed within a web browser which marks card data fields within transaction forms and automatically fills these fields with temporary card information received from the issuer.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

an electronic data card configured for providing connectivity and the storage of account information including one or more rewritable temporary card numbers;

said electronic data card configured for being accessed by an electronic data card application program executable on a computer;

said electronic data card configured for receiving, through said electronic data card application program, at least one temporary card number from an issuing institution, or card issuer, of the electronic data card; and

said electronic data card configured for automatically communicating said received temporary card number for submission of a purchase transaction through an electronic purchase transaction infrastructure.

2. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said electronic data card is a functional component of a system, said system comprising:

said computer;

said electronic data card application executable on said computer; and

a card reader/writer connected to said computer and configured for reading and writing to said electronic data card;

wherein said computer is configured with Internet connectivity for executing purchase transactions on web sites at the direction of a user of said computer browsing any world wide web portion.

3. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said electronic data card is a functional component of a system, said system comprising:

said computer;

said electronic data card application executable on said computer; and

a card reader/writer connected to said computer and configured for reading and writing to said electronic data card;

wherein said computer is configured to be coupled to the transaction infrastructure for submitting transactions from a merchant for execution by the card issuer.

4. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said electronic data card is configured for being activated by the issuing institution or card issuer to authorize receipt of a temporary card number generated by the issuing institution or card issuer.

5. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said electronic data card is configured for receiving temporary card information in response to selection of an auto-fill mode for the execution of a transaction.

6. An apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein said auto-fill mode is automatically executed in response to detecting that card number fields for said transaction are available into which said temporary card number can be inserted.

7. An apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein said auto-fill mode is executable in response to user selection of an auto-fill mode.

8. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said electronic data card is selected from the group of electronic devices consisting essentially of smart cards, digital wallets, cellular phones, personal digital assistants, and FLASH drives.

9. A system, comprising:

an electronic data card configured for providing connectivity and the storage of account information including one or more rewritable temporary card numbers;

a computer;

an electronic data card application program executable on said computer; and

a card reader/writer connected to said computer and configured for reading and writing to said electronic data card;

said electronic data card configured for being accessed by said electronic data card application program;

said electronic data card configured for receiving, through said electronic data card application program, at least one temporary card number from an issuing institution, or card issuer, of the electronic data card; and

said electronic data card configured for automatically communicating said received temporary card number in response to submission of a purchase transaction through an electronic purchase transaction infrastructure.

10. A system as recited in claim 9, wherein said computer is configured with Internet connectivity for executing purchase transactions on web sites at the direction of a user of said computer browsing any world wide web portion.

11. A system as recited in claim 9, wherein said computer is configured to be coupled to the transaction infrastructure for submitting transactions from a merchant for execution by the card issuer.

12. A system as recited in claim 9, wherein said electronic data card is configured for being activated by the issuing institution or card issuer to authorize receipt of a temporary card number generated by the issuing institution or card issuer.

13. A system as recited in claim 9, wherein said electronic data card is configured for receiving temporary card information in response to selection of an auto-fill mode for the execution of a transaction.

14. A system as recited in claim 13, wherein said auto-fill mode is automatically executed in response to detecting that card number fields for said transaction are available into which said temporary card number can be inserted.

15. A system as recited in claim 13, wherein said auto-fill mode is executable in response to user selection of an auto-fill mode.

16. A system as recited in claim 9, wherein said electronic data card is selected from the group of electronic devices consisting essentially of smart cards, digital wallets, cellular phones, personal digital assistants, and FLASH drives.

17. A method, comprising:

providing an electronic data card configured for providing connectivity and the storage of account information including one or more rewritable temporary card numbers;

said electronic data card configured for being accessed by an electronic data card application program executable on a computer;

said electronic data card configured for receiving, through said electronic data card application program, at least one temporary card number from an issuing institution, or card issuer, of the electronic data card; and

said electronic data card configured for automatically communicating said received temporary card number in response to submission of a purchase transaction through an electronic purchase transaction infrastructure.

18. A method as recited in claim 17, further comprising:

providing said computer;

providing said electronic data card application executable on said computer; and

providing a card reader/writer connected to said computer and configured for reading and writing to said electronic data card.

19. A method as recited in claim 18, wherein said computer is configured with Internet connectivity for executing purchase transactions on web sites at the direction of a user of said computer browsing any world wide web portion.

20. A method as recited in claim 18, wherein said computer is configured to be coupled to the transaction infrastructure for submitting transactions from a merchant for execution by the card issuer.

21. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein said electronic data card is configured for being activated by the issuing institution or card issuer to authorize receipt of a temporary card number generated by the issuing institution or card issuer.

22. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein said electronic data card is configured for receiving temporary card information in response to selection of an auto-fill mode for the execution of a transaction.

23. A method as recited in claim 22, wherein said auto-fill mode is automatically executed in response to detecting that card number fields for said transaction are available into which said temporary card number can be inserted.

24. A method as recited in claim 22, wherein said auto-fill mode is executable in response to user selection of an auto-fill mode.

25. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein said electronic data card is selected from the group of electronic devices consisting essentially of smart cards, digital wallets, cellular phones, personal digital assistants, and FLASH drives.

26. A system for executing transactions with an electronic transaction card using temporary card information, comprising:

a computer;

said computer configured for communicating over an electronic network;

said computer configured for reading and writing data from an electronic data card having memory configured for storing transaction account information; and

transaction execution programming executable on said computer for carrying out the operations of;

(i) establishing communication with an issuer of said electronic data card;

(ii) requesting receipt of temporary card information in response to the sending of a command to the card issuer;

(iii) retrieving temporary card information from said issuer in response to said command;

(iv) storing said temporary card information received from said issuing institution on said electronic transaction card, or said computer, or a combination of said computer and said electronic transaction card;

(v) detecting the presence of transaction field, or fields, adapted for receiving a card number;

(vi) automatically filling in said field with said temporary card information from said issuer in response to user selection of an auto-fill mode, or the execution of auto-fill mode as a default setting, or the execution of auto-fill mode in response to a non-web-based merchant transaction; and

(vii) submitting said temporary card information within a set of information sent for executing a purchase transaction;

wherein said temporary card information is configured to be valid for executing said purchase transaction for a limited number of transactions, over a limited amount of time, or a combination of limited time and transaction execution.

27. A method of executing transactions with an electronic transaction card using automatic temporary card information, comprising:

reading an electronic transaction card, said electronic transaction card having memory configured for storing transaction card information from a computer, said computer configured for submitting purchase transactions over an electronic network;

establishing communication over an electronic network between said computer and an issuer of the electronic data card, said computer further configured for reading from said electronic transaction card;

sending a command to retrieve temporary card information from the issuer;

storing said temporary card information on said electronic transaction card, or said computer, or a combination of said computer and said electronic transaction card;

detecting the presence of at least one transaction field adapted for receiving card information for executing the transaction;

automatically filling in said transaction field with said temporary card information from the issuer in response to user selection of an auto-fill mode, or the execution of auto-fill mode as a default setting, or the execution of auto-fill mode in response to a non-web-based merchant transaction; and

submitting said temporary card information within a set of information sent for executing a purchase transaction;

wherein said temporary card number is configured to be valid for executing said purchase transaction for a limited number of transactions, over a limited amount of time, or a combination of limited time and transaction execution.

28. An apparatus for executing a transaction with an electronic transaction card using automatic temporary account information, comprising:

an electronic data card application executable on a computer and configured for accessing an electronic data card in response to establishing connectivity between said electronic data card and said computer;

means for enabling the electronic data card to receive a temporary card number for use by the electronic data card application in executing a purchase transaction;

means for retrieving at least one temporary card number for the electronic data card application from an issuing institution, or card issuer, of the electronic data card; and

means for automatically communicating said retrieved temporary card number from the electronic data card application in response to submission of a purchase transaction through an electronic transaction infrastructure.