Business-to-business commerce using financial transaction numbers

• US 10,592,901 B2
• Filed: 06/04/2002
• Issued: 03/17/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Orbis Patents Limited (Orbis Technology)
• Original Assignee: Orbis Patents Limited (Orbis Technology)
• Inventors: Flitcroft, Daniel Ian, O'Donnell, Graham, Langford, Conor, Carroll, James
• Primary Examiner(s): Akintola, Olabode
• Assistant Examiner(s): Campbell, Kellie L
• Application Number:
  US10/160,190
• Publication Number:
  US 20030018567A1
• Time in Patent Office: 6,496 Days
• Field of Search: 705 38- 44, 705 35
• 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 20/108 Remote banking, e.g. home banking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/385 using an alias or single-use codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

Controlled Payment Numbers (CPNs) which issue as a unique payment number for each transaction uniquely identify the transaction for matching the purchase and payment information. The issuance of the CPN is controlled by business rules which are designed to and effectively restrict the use of the CPN, such that if a user exceeds his authorization, a CPN is not issued. The business rules are set up according to a hierarchy of users. Further, a declining balance CPN is also provided.

Claims

1. A method of conducting commerce using controlled payment numbers (CPNs), comprising the steps of:

issuing, by a processor of a computer processing device, a control payment number (CPN) end-user software application for installation on a user device;

receiving, by the processor of the computer processing device, from the user device, via the CPN end-user software application installed on and launched thereon, a user request for issuance of a CPN, the request including user-defined restrictions on use in a financial transaction for a purchase of goods and/or services and user-defined purchase information, wherein at least part of said user-defined purchase information describes a future purchase of goods and/or services that is not required for the financial transaction;

generating, by the processor, in response to the request received via the CPN end-user software application launched on the user device, a unique CPN that (i) constitutes a financial transaction payment instrument, (ii) is limited in use in the financial transaction to the user-defined restrictions on use included in the request, and (iii) constitutes a unique identifier for both the financial transaction and the user-defined purchase information;

creating, in a database connected to the computer processing device, an accounting record for the user-defined purchase information that is (i) identified by the CPN and (ii) links the unique CPN with the user-defined purchase information without requiring merchant involvement;

activating, by the computer processing device, the CPN on a basis of activation details stored at the computer processing device;

communicating, by the computer processing device, with a payment account issuer and receiving an authorization request forwarded by the payment account issuer from a merchant whereat a transaction for goods and/or services is initiated with the unique CPN, said authorization request including the unique CPN and transaction information pertaining to the transaction;

based on the unique CPN included in the authorization request, identifying, in the database, the accounting record associated therewith;

in response to determining that the transaction complies with the user-defined restrictions on use for the CPN, identifying, by the computer processing device, a real payment account number that is stored in association with the CPN;

rebuilding, by the computer processing device, the authorization request with the CPN replaced with the real payment account number;

transmitting, from the computer processing device, the rebuilt authorization request to the payment account issuer, wherein the payment account issuer authorizes the transaction against the real payment account and forwards an authorization notification to the merchant; and

modifying the accounting record for the user-defined purchase information to reflect the purchase of goods and/or services and the transaction information, such that the purchase of goods and/or services and the transaction information are linked to the user-defined purchase information and uniquely identified by the CPN.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user-defined restrictions on use include at least one of a quantity, description, transaction limit, merchant, merchant category, product, product type, time period during which a transaction may be conducted, start date after which a transaction may be conducted, end date before which a transaction may be conducted, and number of uses.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the user-defined purchase information includes at least one of a user-defined reference number for a transaction to be conducted with the CPN, a general ledger code or codes to which at least one product to be purchased with the CPN is allocated, a purchase order for at least one product to be purchased with the CPN, a description of at least one product to be purchased with the CPN, a product code or codes of at least one product to be purchased with the CPN, and a tax for at least one product to be purchased with the CPN.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a different CPN is issued for each request including the user-defined purchase information, such that the user-defined purchase information can be unambiguously matched with the transaction conducted with the issued CPN.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the issued CPN is a declining balance CPN.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the request including the user-defined restrictions on use includes receiving a selection of the user-defined restrictions on use from a predetermined list.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the predetermined list is determined by a user'"'"'s position based on a definable hierarchy of users.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a defined hierarchy of users;

defining sets of possible CPN authorizations for each of the users according to the defined hierarchy; and

checking a CPN request by a user against an appropriate set of possible CPN authorizations, and issuing a CPN if the CPN request is within the set of possible CPN authorizations.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising issuing a statement to the user including the linked transaction information, the user-defined purchase information, and the CPN from an issuer of the CPN.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the statement is issued by at least one of mail, e-mail and a computer-readable document.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the CPN, which is linked to and identifies the user-defined purchase information is updatable to include modifications to the user-defined purchase information linked to the CPN.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the CPN is issued in a format of a credit card number.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the CPN is issued to the user by bearing indicia of the CPN on a financial transaction card and issuing the financial transaction card to the user.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the CPN is issued to the user by displaying the CPN on a web site so as to be transferred onto a web site of a merchant to purchase a product.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the the user-defined restrictions on use of the CPN exceed restrictions imposed on the account number of the user.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the user-defined purchase information is linked to the CPN throughout a transaction conducted with the CPN, and a settlement subsequent to a completion of the transaction.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the steps of receiving the request for issuance of the CPN, generating the CPN, creating an accounting record identified by the CPN, receiving the authorization request, transmitting the authorization notification to the merchant, identifying the accounting record and modifying the accounting record is executed by a computer processing device of the computer processing system having a computer program recorded on a computer-readable recording medium that causes the computer processing device to implement the step.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

posting the transaction against the real account number of the user, and notifying the user of the posted transaction; and

receiving a payment approval message for the posted transaction, if the user approves of the posted transaction, and routing the payment approval message to the issuing bank.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having a computer program stored thereon that causes a computer to facilitate commerce using controlled payment numbers (CPNs), the computer program, when executed by the computer, causes the computer to carry out operations comprising:

issuing a control payment number (CPN) end-user software application for installation on a user device;

receiving, from the user device, via the CPN end-user software application installed and launched thereon, a user request for issuance of a CPN, the request including user-defined restrictions on use in a financial transaction and user-defined purchase information, wherein at least part of said user-defined purchase information describes a future purchase of goods and/or services that is not required for the financial transaction;

generating, in response to the request received via the CPN end-user software application launched on the user device, a unique CPN that (i) constitutes a financial transaction payment instrument, (ii) is limited in use in the financial transaction to the user-defined restrictions on use included in the request, and (ii) constitutes a unique identifier for both the financial transaction and the user-defined purchase information;

creating an accounting record for the user-defined purchase information that is (i) identified by the CPN and (ii) that links the unique CPN with the user-defined purchase information without requiring merchant involvement;

activating the CPN on a basis of activation details stored at the computer processing device;

communicating with a payment account issuer and receiving an authorization request, forwarded by the payment account issuer, from a merchant whereat a transaction for goods and/or services is initiated with the unique CPN, said authorization request including the unique CPN and transaction information pertaining to the transaction;

based on the unique CPN included in the authorization request, identifying the accounting record associated therewith;

in response to determining that the transaction complies with the user-defined restrictions on use for the CPN, identifying a real payment account number that is stored in association with the CPN;

rebuilding the authorization request with the CPN replaced with the real payment account number;

transmitting the rebuilt authorization request to the payment account issuer, wherein the payment account issuer authorizes the transaction against the real payment account and forwards an authorization notification to the merchant; and

modifying the accounting record for the user-defined purchase information to reflect the purchase of goods and/or services and the transaction information, such that the purchase of goods and/or services and the transaction information are linked to the user-defined purchase information and uniquely identified by the CPN.