System and method for securing a credit account
First Claim
1. A computer system for approving a commercial transaction between a user with account information and a merchant, said computer system comprising:
- a processing unit for processing data and code; and
memory for storing said data and said code, said data and said code together includinga merchant communications module operative to facilitate a connection with said merchant for receiving a transaction approval request (TAR),activation data accessible to an account-holder, said activation data indicative of the activation status of an account associated with said account-holder and with said account information,an interactive activation module operative to establish a connection with said account-holder, to receive instructions from said account-holder to modify said activation data, and to modify said activation data according to said instructions received from said account-holder, andan authorization module responsive to said TAR and operative to deny said TAR if said account associated with said account-holder is deactivated; and
whereinprior to said user initiating said transaction with said merchant, said interactive activation module establishes a first connection with said account-holder, receives activation instructions from said account-holder to activate said account, and modifies said activation data to activate said account, said account being previously deactivated, thereby facilitating approval of said TAR;
subsequent to receipt of said TAR, said interactive activation module establishes a second connection with said account-holder, receives deactivation instructions from said account-holder to deactivate said account, and modifies said activation data to deactivate said account such that subsequent TARs will be denied; and
in the absence of said deactivation instructions, said account remains activated such that subsequent TARs may be approved.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method is disclosed for verifying a commercial transaction between a card-holder, a merchant, and a credit card company. The card-holder makes a purchase with the merchant using a full credit card number. The merchant submits a transaction approval request for approval with the credit card company. The credit card company executes conventional credit approval of the transaction approval request, as well as verifies the transaction approval request with the card-holder. An approval is sent to the merchant only after the transaction approval request is both conventionally approved by the credit card company and verified by the card-holder. The card-holder, or the credit card company, may initiate verification of the transaction approval request. The transaction approval request can also be automatically verified if one or many pre-verification criteria is/are satisfied by data contained in the transaction approval request. The pre-verification criteria can be initially determined and/or modified by the card-holder. As another security feature, the card-holder may selectively activate and deactivate their credit card/account as desired. The credit card itself includes indicia of security measures.
240 Citations
39 Claims
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1. A computer system for approving a commercial transaction between a user with account information and a merchant, said computer system comprising:
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a processing unit for processing data and code; and memory for storing said data and said code, said data and said code together including a merchant communications module operative to facilitate a connection with said merchant for receiving a transaction approval request (TAR), activation data accessible to an account-holder, said activation data indicative of the activation status of an account associated with said account-holder and with said account information, an interactive activation module operative to establish a connection with said account-holder, to receive instructions from said account-holder to modify said activation data, and to modify said activation data according to said instructions received from said account-holder, and an authorization module responsive to said TAR and operative to deny said TAR if said account associated with said account-holder is deactivated; and
whereinprior to said user initiating said transaction with said merchant, said interactive activation module establishes a first connection with said account-holder, receives activation instructions from said account-holder to activate said account, and modifies said activation data to activate said account, said account being previously deactivated, thereby facilitating approval of said TAR; subsequent to receipt of said TAR, said interactive activation module establishes a second connection with said account-holder, receives deactivation instructions from said account-holder to deactivate said account, and modifies said activation data to deactivate said account such that subsequent TARs will be denied; and in the absence of said deactivation instructions, said account remains activated such that subsequent TARs may be approved. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. In a computer system, a method for facilitating commercial transactions between a user with account information and a merchant, said method comprising:
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establishing a first connection with said account-holder responsive to receiving a first connection request from said account-holder; receiving, via said first connection, activation instructions from said account-holder to temporarily activate an account associated with said account-holder and said account information, said account being previously deactivated; modifying activation data associated with said account to activate said account in response to receiving said activation instructions; receiving a transaction approval request (TAR) from said merchant, said TAR indicative of a commercial transaction between said user and said merchant; establishing a second connection with said account-holder responsive to receiving a second connection request from said account-holder; receiving deactivation instructions from said account-holder to again deactivate said account, said deactivation instructions being received via said second connection and subsequent to said TAR and said activation instructions; modifying said activation data to deactivate said account in response to receiving said deactivation instructions; determining whether said account was deactivated at a time associated with said TAR; and denying said TAR if said account was deactivated at said time associated with said TAR. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A non-transitory, electronically-readable storage medium having code embodied therein for causing an electronic device to perform a method of facilitating commercial transactions between a user with account information and a merchant, said method comprising the steps of:
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establishing a first connection with said account-holder responsive to receiving a first connection request from said account-holder; receiving, via said first connection, activation instructions from said account-holder to temporarily activate an account associated with said account-holder and said account information, said account being previously deactivated; modifying activation data associated with said account to activate said account in response to receiving said activation instructions; receiving a transaction approval request (TAR) from said merchant, said TAR indicative of a commercial transaction between said user and said merchant; establishing a second connection with said account-holder responsive to receiving a second connection request from said account-holder; receiving deactivation instructions from said account-holder to again deactivate said account, said deactivation instructions being received via said second connection and subsequent to said TAR and said activation instructions; modifying said activation data to deactivate said account in response to receiving said deactivation instructions; determining whether said account was deactivated at a time associated with said TAR; and denying said TAR if said account was deactivated at said time associated with said TAR. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A computer system for approving a commercial transaction between a user with account information and a merchant, said computer system comprising:
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a processing unit for processing data and code; and memory for storing said data and said code, said data and said code together including means for facilitating a connection with said merchant and for receiving a transaction approval request (TAR), activation data accessible to an account-holder and indicative of the activation status of an account associated with said account-holder, means for communicating with said account-holder and for receiving instructions from said account-holder to modify said activation data; means for modifying said activation data responsive to said instructions received from said account-holder, and means, responsive to said TAR, for denying said TAR if said is deactivated; and
whereinprior to said user initiating said transaction with said merchant, said means for communicating is operative to establish a first connection with said account-holder and receive activation instructions from said account-holder to activate said account; responsive to said activation instructions, said means for modifying is operative to modify said activation data to activate said account thereby facilitating approval of said TAR, said account being previously deactivated; subsequent to receipt of said TAR, said means for communicating is operative to establish a second connection with said account-holder and receive deactivation instructions from said account-holder to deactivate said account; responsive to said deactivation instructions, said means for modifying is operative to modify said activation data to deactivate said account such that subsequent TARs will be denied; and in the absence of said deactivation instructions, said account remains activated such that said subsequent TARs may be approved.
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Specification