Method and apparatus for verifying the legitamacy of a financial instrument
First Claim
1. In a financial system including a financial institution providing financial accounts and issuing a financial instrument for use by a shopper associated with the account, a method of verifying legitimacy of the financial instrument in connection with a business transaction comprising the steps of:
- accepting information about the financial account from the shopper;
sending a communication to the financial institution regarding a payment;
relaying identifier information in a data field of the communication;
requiring the shopper to obtain the identifier information from the institution and derive verification information from the identifier information;
confirming that the shopper knows the verification information; and
continuing with the business transaction if the verification information correctly corresponds to the identifier information, wherein the identifier information is an anagram and the verification information is a word associated with the anagram.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for verifying the legitimacy of a financial instrument used by a shopper is disclosed. A seller accepts details about goods and services to be delivered, and information about a financial instrument to be used in a purchase by a shopper. Identifier information is send to a financial institution issuing the instrument. The legitimate user of the instrument must access the instruments issuer'"'"'s database to obtain the identifier information and derive verification information needed to answer a question posed by the seller. If the shopper can prove possession of the verification information then the goods are shipped or delivered to the shopper and payment is settled. The questions used to prove the shopper has the verification information may come in a variety of forms such as simple math equations, anagrams, or word to symbol matching problems. In each case, the answer may be chosen from a set of displayed results via a computer network thereby eliminating the need for typing by the owner/shopper.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. In a financial system including a financial institution providing financial accounts and issuing a financial instrument for use by a shopper associated with the account, a method of verifying legitimacy of the financial instrument in connection with a business transaction comprising the steps of:
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accepting information about the financial account from the shopper; sending a communication to the financial institution regarding a payment; relaying identifier information in a data field of the communication; requiring the shopper to obtain the identifier information from the institution and derive verification information from the identifier information; confirming that the shopper knows the verification information; and continuing with the business transaction if the verification information correctly corresponds to the identifier information, wherein the identifier information is an anagram and the verification information is a word associated with the anagram. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. In a financial system including a financial institution providing financial accounts and issuing a financial instrument for use by a shopper associated with the account, a method of verifying legitimacy of the financial instrument in connection with a business transaction comprising the steps of:
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accepting information about the financial account from the shopper; sending a communication to the financial institution regarding a payment; requiring the shopper to choose initial information from a given set of information before relaying identifier information in a data field of the communication; requiring the shopper to obtain the identifier information from the institution and derive verification information from the identifier information; confirming that the shopper knows the verification information; and continuing with the business transaction if the verification information correctly corresponds to the identifier information, wherein the initial information is a first number, the identifier information is a second number and the verification information is derived using a mathematical operation that utilizes the first number to solve for the second number.
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10. In a financial system including a financial institution providing financial accounts and issuing a financial instrument for use by a shopper associated with the account, a method of verifying legitimacy of the financial instrument in connection with a business transaction comprising the steps of:
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accepting information about the financial account from the shopper; sending a communication to the financial institution regarding a payment; requiring the shopper to choose initial information from a given set of information before relaying identifier information in a data field of the communication; requiring the shopper to obtain the identifier information from the institution and derive verification information from the identifier information; confirming that the shopper knows the verification information; and continuing with the business transaction if the verification information correctly corresponds to the identifier information, wherein the initial information is a set of alphanumeric characters, the identifier information is another set of alphanumeric characters with one or more alphanumeric characters missing therefrom and the verification information is the one or more alphanumeric characters that need to be added to the identifier information in order to correctly obtain the initial information.
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11. A system for enabling a merchant to verify the legitimacy of a financial instrument issued by a financial institution, associated with a financial account and used by a shopper in connection with a business transaction comprising:
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a store for accepting information about the financial account from the shopper along with information about types and quantities of goods the shopper wishes to purchase; a data field in a communication for relaying identifier information to the financial institution; verification information that can be derived from the identifier information by a shopper; a data manager for confirming that the shopper knows the verification information; and a shipping department for shipping the goods if the shopper knows the verification information, wherein the identifier information is an anagram and the verification information is a word associated with the anagram. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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13. A system for enabling a merchant to verify the legitimacy of a financial instrument issued by a financial institution, associated with a financial account and used by a shopper in connection with a business transaction comprising:
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a store for accepting information about the financial account from the shopper along with information about types and quantities of goods the shopper wishes to purchase; a data field in a communication for relaying identifier information to the financial institution; initial information chosen from a given set of information; verification information that can be derived from the identifier information by a shopper; a data manager for confirming that the shopper knows the verification information; and a shipping department for shipping the goods if the shopper knows the verification information, wherein the initial information is a first number, the identifier information is a second number and the verification information is derived using a mathematical operation that utilizes the first number to solve for the second number. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. A system for enabling a merchant to verify the legitimacy of a financial instrument issued by a financial institution, associated with a financial account and used by a shopper in connection with a business transaction comprising:
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a store for accepting information about the financial account from the shopper along with information about types and quantities of goods the shopper wishes to purchase; initial information chosen from a given set of information; a data field in a communication for relaying identifier information to the financial institution; verification information that can be derived from the identifier information by a shopper; a data manager for confirming that the shopper knows the verification information; and a shipping department for shipping the goods if the shopper knows the verification information, wherein the initial information is a set of alphanumeric characters, the identifier information is another set of alphanumeric characters with one or more alphanumeric characters missing therefrom and the verification information is the one or more alphanumeric characters that need to be added to the identifier information in order to correctly obtain the initial information. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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Specification