Anonymous on-line cash management system
DCFirst Claim
1. A method for a customer to anonymously purchase goods or services from an on-line merchant, said method comprising the steps of:
- a customer depositing an amount of cash with an account seller, the account seller being independent of said customer such that the identity of said customer remains anonymous;
the account seller electronically notifying a central computer server of the amount of cash received from the customer;
the central computer server transferring an amount of electronic currency corresponding to the amount that the account seller received from the customer from a bank account of the account seller to a central bank account having one or more account numbers;
the central computer server generating, storing and issuing to the account seller one or more anonymous and randomly-generated serial numbers corresponding to said one or more account numbers;
the account seller providing the serial number information to the customer;
the customer submitting at least one serial number to the on-line merchant to purchase goods or services, said on-line merchant being unable to identify said customer during said purchase;
the on-line merchant, upon receipt of said at least one serial number submitted by said customer, transmitting said at least one serial number to the central computer server for authentication;
the central computer server authenticating said at least one serial number; and
the central computer server transferring an amount of said electronic currency corresponding to said at least one serial number to an account of said on-line merchant.
1 Assignment
Litigations
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for a customer to anonymously purchase goods or services from an on-line merchant, including the steps of depositing currency in the form of cash with a depository, the depository issuing to the customer one or more randomly-generated serial numbers, the customer submitting at least one serial number to the on-line merchant and the depository transferring an amount of said currency corresponding to said at least one serial number to an account of said on-line merchant. Since the customer uses cash for payment and the serial numbers are randomly-generated, the customer'"'"'s identity remains anonymous.
72 Citations
12 Claims
-
1. A method for a customer to anonymously purchase goods or services from an on-line merchant, said method comprising the steps of:
-
a customer depositing an amount of cash with an account seller, the account seller being independent of said customer such that the identity of said customer remains anonymous; the account seller electronically notifying a central computer server of the amount of cash received from the customer; the central computer server transferring an amount of electronic currency corresponding to the amount that the account seller received from the customer from a bank account of the account seller to a central bank account having one or more account numbers; the central computer server generating, storing and issuing to the account seller one or more anonymous and randomly-generated serial numbers corresponding to said one or more account numbers; the account seller providing the serial number information to the customer; the customer submitting at least one serial number to the on-line merchant to purchase goods or services, said on-line merchant being unable to identify said customer during said purchase; the on-line merchant, upon receipt of said at least one serial number submitted by said customer, transmitting said at least one serial number to the central computer server for authentication; the central computer server authenticating said at least one serial number; and the central computer server transferring an amount of said electronic currency corresponding to said at least one serial number to an account of said on-line merchant. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A system for anonymously transferring funds electronically between a customer and an on-line merchant comprising:
-
an account seller capable of receiving cash from a customer; a central computer server capable of receiving notification from the account seller of the amount of cash received from the customer, transferring an amount of electronic currency corresponding to the amount that the account seller received from the customer from a bank account of the account seller to a central bank account, generating one or more random account numbers corresponding to said central bank account, storing said one or more account numbers, transmitting said one or more account numbers to said account seller, and authenticating said one or more account numbers when presented by an on-line merchant; and a computer network capable of communicating between said account seller, said central computer server, said bank account of the account seller and said central bank. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
-
Specification