Electronic purchasing method and apparatus for performing the same
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for authorizing a transaction, comprising:
- receiving, at a computer, an authorization request message from a merchant, said authorization request message including information identifying said transaction and a payment account number identifying a payment account at an issuer;
determining, by said computer, that said payment account number is a limited use account number identifying a financial account at said issuer and selected from a set of limited use account numbers associated with a buyer;
identifying, by said computer, a pre-authorization record associated with said limited use account number; and
transmitting, from said computer, an authorization response message to said merchant, said authorization response message based on a result of a comparison of said preauthorization record with said transaction information and used to authorize said transaction.
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Abstract
A computer-assisted method includes hardware, software and telecommunications components that cooperatively achieve the technical effect of an improved electronic purchasing transaction system. In various embodiments of the invention, at least one master account is established for a client. A pool of limited use account identifiers or secondary account identifiers, that are separate and distinct from the master account, is associated with the master account by a purchasing system or account management system. Each of the limited use account identifiers may be used by the client to purchase items from merchants.
146 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for authorizing a transaction, comprising:
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receiving, at a computer, an authorization request message from a merchant, said authorization request message including information identifying said transaction and a payment account number identifying a payment account at an issuer; determining, by said computer, that said payment account number is a limited use account number identifying a financial account at said issuer and selected from a set of limited use account numbers associated with a buyer; identifying, by said computer, a pre-authorization record associated with said limited use account number; and transmitting, from said computer, an authorization response message to said merchant, said authorization response message based on a result of a comparison of said preauthorization record with said transaction information and used to authorize said transaction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 20)
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6. A method, comprising:
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receiving, at a computer, a settlement record from a merchant, said settlement record including settlement information associated with a partial transaction involving said merchant, a limited use account identifier, and a customer, said settlement information including a settlement amount and said limited use account identifier selected from a pool of limited use account identifiers associated with said customer; identifying, by said computer, an initial pre-authorization amount in a pre-authorization record associated with said limited use account identifier; comparing, by said computer, a partial transaction amount associated with said partial transaction with said initial pre-authorization amount to determine that said partial transaction is associated with a partial shipment; and
,creating, by said computer, an updated pre-authorization amount sufficient to complete an additional shipment as part of a full transaction. - View Dependent Claims (7, 9, 10, 11)
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8. The method of 7, wherein said updated pre-authorized amount sufficient to complete said shipment is a difference between said partial transaction amount associated with said partial transaction and said initial preauthorization amount.
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12. A method, comprising:
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submitting, by a computer, a request for a payment account identifier to an account management system, said request including purchase information identifying an item to obtain from a merchant; receiving, by said computer and in response to said submitting, a payment account identifier allocated by said account management system for use in said transaction, said payment account identifier being a limited use account number selected from a pool of limited use account numbers; presenting, by said computer, said payment account identifier to said merchant for payment in said transaction; and receiving, at said computer, settlement information confirming completion of said transaction, said settlement information including a transaction date, a transaction amount, and said purchase information.
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13. A method, comprising:
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associating, by a computer, a plurality of financial account identifiers with a client, each of said financial account identifiers identifying separate financial accounts at an issuer and selected from a pool of limited use financial account identifiers associated with said client; receiving, at said computer, transaction information identifying a proposed transaction, said transaction information including information identifying an item to obtain, and an amount of said proposed transaction; selecting, by said computer, one of said plurality of financial account identifiers for use in purchasing said item, said selection based on an identity of said client and an availability of one of said plurality of financial account identifiers; associating, by said computer, said selected financial account identifier with said transaction information; and forwarding, by said computer, said selected financial account identifier to said client for use in conducting said proposed transaction. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21)
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22. A tangible computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions which are executed on a computer, said plurality of instructions comprising:
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instructions to receive an authorization request message from a merchant, said authorization request message including information identifying said transaction and a payment account number identifying a payment account at an issuer; instructions to determine that said payment account number is a limited use account number identifying a financial account at said issuer and selected from a set of limited use account numbers associated with a buyer; instructions to identify a pre-authorization record associated with said limited use account number; and instructions to transmit an authorization response message to said merchant, said authorization response message based on a result of a comparison of said pre-authorization record with said transaction information and used to authorize said transaction. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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Specification