Method and apparatus for effecting payment

• US 8,001,047 B2
• Filed: 06/15/2005
• Issued: 08/16/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Benhov GmbH, LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Paradox Technical Solutions LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Wright, Benjamin L., Peckover, Douglas L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Subramanian; Narayanswamy
• Assistant Examiner(s): Robinson; Kito R
• Application Number:
  US11/153,224
• Publication Number:
  US 20060026098A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,253 Days
• Field of Search: 705/41, 705/35
• US Class Current: 705/41
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/105 involving programming of a portable memory device, e.g. IC cards, "electronic purses"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

One aspect of the invention relates to a technique for effecting payment, and involves: presenting a portable device; and causing the portable device to output a pseudo payment code.

Claims

1. A smart card, comprising:

a processor;

memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory is configured to store a plurality of entries, at least two of which include pseudo payment information for a user'"'"'s account with a financial institution;

wherein the smart card is configured to perform, in response to receiving a stimulus from a card reader during a commercial transaction, operations comprising;

receiving information about the commercial transaction;

selecting one, but not all, of the at least two entries of the plurality of entries, wherein the entry is selected, by the processor, based on the received information about the commercial transaction; and

outputting the pseudo payment information included in the selected one entry by providing the included pseudo payment information to the card reader without outputting other pseudo payment information included in non-selected entries;

wherein the pseudo payment information output by the smart card is usable by an entity to facilitate the entity to receive payment for the commercial transaction without allowing the entity to identify the user or the account; and

wherein the smart card is configured to select a different entry of the at least two entries and to provide pseudo payment information included in the selected different entry in response to receiving a stimulus corresponding to a different commercial transaction.

2. The smart card of claim 1,

wherein the pseudo payment information included in the plurality of entries correspond to a single credit card or a single debit card, issued by the financial institution to the user;

and

wherein said selecting one of the at least two entries is based on information about the commercial transaction other than an amount of the commercial transaction.

3. The smart card of claim 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of entries comprises a pseudo card number and a pseudo expiration date.

4. The smart card of claim 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of entries comprises fictitious identity information for the user.

5. The smart card of claim 1, wherein the smart card is configured to provide pseudo payment information from different ones of the plurality of entries during separate commercial transactions based at least in part on the separate commercial transactions respectively being with various different entities, wherein the pseudo payment information from each provided entry is usable at the financial institution to receive payment therefrom without revealing actual identity information of the user or actual identification information of the account to the various different entities.

6. The smart card of claim 1, wherein the smart card includes one or more contacts, and wherein the stimulus includes direct, physical contact between the one or more contacts and the card reader, and wherein the pseudo payment information included in at least one of the plurality of entries corresponds to a credit or debit card issued by the financial institution to the user.

7. The smart card of claim 1, wherein the stimulus received from the card reader causes power to be supplied to the smart card, and wherein the pseudo payment information is usable by the entity to receive payment from the financial institution.

8. The smart card of claim 1, wherein the pseudo payment information output by the smart card is usable by the entity to facilitate receiving payment for the commercial transaction without revealing at least one of the legal name of the user;

an actual address of the user;

the social security number of the user;

or contact information of the user.

9. The smart card of claim 1, wherein the pseudo payment information output by the smart card is usable by the entity to facilitate receiving payment for the commercial transaction without revealing an account number or a card expiration date associated with the account.

10. The smart card of claim 1, wherein the smart card is configured to perform the selecting the one of the at least two entries based at least in part on randomly or pseudo-randomly selecting entries from the plurality of entries.

11. The smart card of claim 10, wherein the selecting the one of the at least two entries includes selecting from entries not previously selected until all entries have been selected at least once.

12. The smart card of claim 1, wherein the smart card is configured to perform the selecting the one of the at least two entries based at least in part on received information about a time of day of the commercial transaction.

13. The smart card of claim 12, wherein different groups of the plurality of entries are available for selection by the processor for output at respective portions of the day.

14. The smart card of claim 1, wherein the smart card is configured to perform the selecting the one of the at least two entries based at least in part on received information about a product that is part of the commercial transaction.

15. A method, comprising:

in response to a stimulus received from a card reader during a first commercial transaction, a smart card;

receiving, from the card reader, information about the first commercial transaction;

selecting a first pseudo payment entry from a plurality of pseudo payment entries stored in a memory of the smart card, wherein the first pseudo payment entry is selected based on the received information about the first commercial transaction, and wherein the plurality of pseudo payment entries includes the first pseudo payment entry and one or more non-selected pseudo payment entries; and

providing the selected first pseudo payment entry by outputting the selected first pseudo payment entry to the card reader without outputting the non-selected pseudo payment entries, wherein the selected first pseudo payment entry is usable by an entity to facilitate receiving payment, from a user'"'"'s account with a financial institution, for the first commercial transaction without allowing the entity to identify the user or the account; and

in response to a subsequent stimulus during a second commercial transaction, the smart card;

selecting a second pseudo payment entry from the plurality of pseudo payment entries, wherein the second pseudo payment entry is selected based on information about the second commercial transaction; and

providing the selected second pseudo payment entry by outputting the selected second pseudo payment entry without outputting pseudo payment entries other than the selected second pseudo payment entry, wherein the second pseudo payment entry is different from the first pseudo payment entry and is usable to facilitate receiving payment for the second commercial transaction.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the subsequent stimulus is received by the smart card from the card reader during the second commercial transaction.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

in response to determining that a third commercial transaction is with the entity, providing the first pseudo payment entry as output from the smart card to facilitate receipt of payment by the entity for the third commercial transaction.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the subsequent stimulus is received by the smart card from a different card reader during the second commercial transaction.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein said selecting the first pseudo payment entry is further based at least in part on a random or pseudo-random technique.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein said selecting includes providing entries of the plurality of the pseudo payment entries not previously provided until all entries have been provided at least once.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein said selecting first pseudo payment entry is based at least in part on information about a time of day of the first commercial transaction.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein different groups of the plurality of pseudo payment entries are available for being provided by the smart card during different portions of the day.

23. The method of claim 15, wherein said selecting the first pseudo payment entry is based at least in part on received information about an identity associated with the card reader.

24. The method of claim 15, wherein said selecting the first pseudo payment entry is based at least in part on received information about a product that is part of the first commercial transaction.

25. The method of claim 15, further comprising updating the smart card from using a first technique for providing entries from the plurality of pseudo payment entries to using a second technique for providing entries from the plurality of pseudo payment entries.

26. A method, comprising:

storing a plurality of payment entries on a smart card, wherein each payment entry includes pseudo payment information corresponding to a user'"'"'s account with a financial institution;

storing a program on the smart card, wherein the program is executable, using the processor, to cause the smart card to;

receive information relating to details of a transaction with a merchant;

select pseudo payment information included in one, but not all, of the plurality of payment entries, wherein pseudo payment information is selected based on the received information;

provide the selected pseudo payment information by outputting the selected pseudo payment information to a card reader without outputting pseudo payment information other than the selected pseudo payment information, wherein the provided pseudo payment information facilitates the merchant receiving payment for the transaction without providing information to the merchant that is usable by the merchant to identify the user or the account;

during subsequent transactions, select different pseudo payment information from different entries of the plurality of payment entries, wherein selecting different pseudo payment information is based at least in part on information relating to details of the subsequent transactions; and

provide the selected different pseudo payment information by outputting the selected different pseudo payment information to the card reader or one or more other card readers without outputting pseudo payment information other than the selected different pseudo payment information.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the program is updatable.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the program is executable to cause the smart card to select the pseudo payment information based at least in part on received information relating to a time of day of the transaction.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein the program is executable to cause the smart card to select the pseudo payment information based at least in part on received information relating to a product that is part of the transaction.

30. A smart card comprising:

a processor; and

a tangible computer-readable medium having stored thereon, computer-executable instructions that in response to execution by the smart card, using the processor, cause the smart card to;

select, in response to receiving a stimulus during a commercial transaction, one but not all of a plurality of pseudo payment entries stored on the smart card, wherein said selecting is based at least in part on information relating to details of the commercial transaction, wherein the selected pseudo payment entry includes information corresponding to a user account with a financial institution;

provide the selected pseudo payment entry by outputting the selected pseudo payment entry to a device reader without outputting non-selected pseudo payment entries during the commercial transaction, wherein the provided pseudo payment entry is usable by an entity to provide to the financial institution to receive payment for the commercial transaction without revealing to the entity actual identity information of the user account;

select a different pseudo payment entry of the plurality of pseudo payment entries based at least in part on information relating to details of a different commercial transaction;

provide the selected different pseudo payment entry by outputting the selected different pseudo payment entry without outputting other pseudo payment entries during the different commercial transaction.

31. The smart card of claim 30, wherein the instructions are executable to cause the smart card to select one of the plurality of pseudo payment entries based at least in part on information relating to a time of the commercial transaction.

32. The smart card of claim 30, wherein the instructions are executable to cause the smart card to select one of the plurality of pseudo payment entries based at least in part on information relating to a product that is part of the commercial transaction.

33. The smart card of claim 30, wherein the program instructions are updatable to implement different techniques for selecting pseudo payment entries.

34. A portable device, comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory stores program instructions executable by the portable device, using the processor, to cause the portable device to;

select, in response to receiving a stimulus from a card reader during a first commercial transaction, one but not all of a plurality of payment entries from the portable device, wherein said selecting is based at least in part on information that includes details of the first commercial transaction, wherein the plurality of payment entries respectively comprise pseudo payment information corresponding to a user account;

output first pseudo payment information included in the selected payment entry by providing the first pseudo payment information without providing other pseudo payment information included in non-selected ones of the plurality of payment entries, wherein the first pseudo payment information is usable by a merchant to receive payment for the first commercial transaction without the merchant receiving actual identification information for the user account; and

select a different payment entry of the plurality of pseudo payment entries based at least in part on information that includes details of a second commercial transaction; and

output second pseudo payment information included in the selected different payment entry by providing the second pseudo payment entry without providing other pseudo payment information.

35. A portable device, comprising:

first means for storing a plurality of entries that include pseudo payment information for a user'"'"'s account with a financial institution; and

second means for;

selecting one, but not all, of the plurality of entries in response to receiving a stimulus from a card reader during a first commercial transaction, wherein the selecting is based at least in part on information relating to the first commercial transaction;

outputting the pseudo payment information included in the selected one of the plurality of entries by providing the included pseudo payment information without providing other pseudo payment information included in non-selected entries of the plurality of entries, wherein the output pseudo payment information is usable by an entity to facilitate receiving payment for the first commercial transaction without identifying the user or the account to the entity;

selecting a different payment entry of the plurality of pseudo payment entries based at least in part on information that includes details of a second commercial transaction; and

outputting second pseudo payment information included in the selected different payment entry by providing the second pseudo payment entry without providing other pseudo payment information.

36. A smart card, comprising:

memory storing a plurality of entries that each include pseudo payment information for a user'"'"'s account with a financial institution;

wherein the smart card is configured to;

select, in response to receiving a stimulus from a card reader and receiving information relating to a commercial transaction, one but not all of the plurality of entries; and

output the included pseudo payment information of the selected entry of the plurality of entries by providing the included pseudo payment information to the card reader without providing other pseudo payment information included in non-selected other entries of the plurality of entries;

wherein the pseudo payment information output by the smart card corresponds to a single credit or debit card issued by the financial institution to the user;

wherein the single credit card or debit card is usable by an entity to facilitate the entity receiving payment for the commercial transaction without allowing the entity to identify the user or the account; and

wherein the smart card is configured to select a different entry of the plurality of entries and to output pseudo payment information included in the selected different entry in response to receiving a stimulus corresponding to a different commercial transaction.