System and method for providing payment services in electronic commerce

• US 7,765,161 B2
• Filed: 05/04/2004
• Issued: 07/27/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: IdenTrust, Inc. (Assa Abloy AB)
• Original Assignee: IdenTrust, Inc. (Assa Abloy AB)
• Inventors: Walch, Markus, Landsmann, Peter Josef Eduard, Wong, Margaret Miu-Ling, McKenney, Mary Keenan, Jetter, William John, Cameron, William Isaac, Baker, Walter III, Storch, Oliver
• Primary Examiner(s): Elisca; Pierre E
• Application Number:
  US10/839,728
• Publication Number:
  US 20060004670A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,275 Days
• Field of Search: 705/64, 705/50, 705/51
• US Class Current: 705/64
• 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 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3829 involving key management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed for providing a plurality of payment services to facilitate electronic commerce. In one embodiment, services are provided within the context of a four-corner trust model comprising a buyer and a seller that engage in an on-line transaction. The buyer is a customer of a first financial institution. The first financial institution acts as a certificate authority for the buyer and issues the seller a hardware token including a private key and a digital certificate signed by the first financial institution. The seller is a customer of a second financial institution. The buyer uses its private key to sign payment instructions that are forwarded to the first or second financial institution for execution. The message may be forwarded to the first financial institution indirectly via the seller and the second financial institution. Payment instruments supported by the present system may include a payment order, a payment obligation, a certified payment obligation, and conditional payments.

Claims

1. A method for providing payment services in electronic commerce within the context of a four-corner trust model, the method comprising the steps of:

a second participant electronically transmitting a payment order instruction to a first participant via a communications network, said payment order instruction having been electronically received over the communications network from a customer of the second participant (COSP), wherein the four-corner trust model comprises the first participant, the second participant and a root entity, said root entity being separately disposed from said first participant and said second participant, and comprising a root certification authority that issues digital certificates to the first participant and the second participant, said payment order instructions comprising;

a buyer'"'"'s portion, completed by a customer of the first participant (COFP), specifying a payment date, digitally signed by a private key of the COFP, and transmitted to the COSP;

a seller'"'"'s portion, completed by the COSP and digitally signed by a private key of said COSP;

a participant'"'"'s portion completed by the second participant and digitally signed by a private key of said second participant; and

instructions to the first participant to execute the payment order instruction on the payment date;

wherein

at least one of the private key of the first participant and the private key of the second participant is used to produce a digital signature required by the root entity as evidence of an entity'"'"'s contractual commitment to the contents of the payment order instructions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the payment order instruction is a payment obligation instruction.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the payment order instruction is a conditional payment order instruction.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the payment order instruction is a conditional payment obligation instruction.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the payment order instruction is a certified payment obligation instruction.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the payment order instruction is a certified conditional payment obligation instruction.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the first customer has executed a legal contract with the first participant defining roles and responsibilities in connection with the payment order instruction.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the second customer has executed a legal contract with the second participant defining roles and responsibilities in connection with the payment order instruction.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the payment order instruction is a payment obligation instruction pertaining to a payment obligation that is sold in a secondary market.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the payment obligation is sold through use of a holder registry service.

19. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of the first customer issuing a payment cancellation instruction digitally signed by the first customer.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the payment cancellation instruction contains a plurality of digital signatures corresponding to individuals in an organization associated with the first customer whose authorizations are required to cancel a payment transaction.

21. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of the first participant storing the payment cancellation instruction for subsequent comparison with the payment order instruction.

11. A method for providing payment services in electronic commerce within the context of a four-corner trust model, the method comprising the steps of:

a financial institution electronically receiving, via a communications network, a digitally signed payment order document, said digitally signed payment order document comprising a payment order instruction message specifying a payment date, said payment order instruction message being digitally signed by a first customer associated with a buyer, using a private key corresponding to a digital certificate of the buyer, and having at least a first portion completed by the buyer; and

the financial institution executing the payment order instruction on the payment date;

wherein

the four-corner trust model comprises the financial institution, the first customer, and a root entity, said root entity being separately disposed from said financial institution and said first customer, and comprising a root certification authority that issues digital certificates to the financial institution and the first customer; and

the private key is used to produce a digital signature required by the root entity as evidence of the buyer'"'"'s contractual commitment to the contents of the payment order document.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the selected payment order document is a payment obligation.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the selected payment order document is a conditional payment order.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the selected payment order document is a conditional payment obligation.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the selected payment order document is a certified payment obligation.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the selected payment order document is a certified conditional payment obligation.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the payment order document is negotiable.

18. A method for providing payment services in electronic commerce within the context of a four-corner trust model, the method comprising the steps of a participant:

electronically receiving from a first customer, via a communications network, a payment order instruction specifying a payment date, said payment order instruction being digitally signed by the first customer with a private key of said first customer, and comprising a buyer'"'"'s portion completed by said first customer wherein the four-corner trust model comprises the participant, the first customer and a root entity, said root entity being separately disposed from said participant and said customer, and comprising a root certification authority that issues digital certificates to first participant and the first customer;

completing a participant portion of the payment order instruction;

digitally signing the payment order instruction with a private key of the participant; and

executing the payment order instruction on the payment date wherein,

the private key is used to produce a digital signature required by the root entity as evidence of the buyer'"'"'s contractual commitment to the contents of the payment order instruction.