Electronic balance checking and credit approval system for use in conducting electronic transactions
First Claim
1. A balance checking transaction system for use by a consumer, a transaction processing entity, a vendor, and one or more trust account chartered banks in conducting an electronic transaction over a communication network, said system comprising:
- a) a first consumer account held by the transaction processing entity on behalf of the consumer;
b) a consumer specific token, held by the consumer, comprising a token data set that identifies said first consumer account;
c) an input device that receives said token data set from the consumer specific token and transmits said token data set along with an input device datum over the communication network;
d) authentication hardware and software code capable of execution by the hardware, situated substantially remotely of said input device, that receives said token data set over the communication network and verities said token data set and said input device datum against at least one database containing a plurality of archived data sets and input device data, so as to retrieve an account balance datum that is currently associated with said first consumer account, with said authentication hardware and software code thereafter transmitting said account balance datum over the communication network on a substantially instantaneous basis; and
e) an output device, situated substantially locally to said input device, that receives said account balance datum over the communication network and provides said account balance datum to the consumer on said substantially instantaneous basis;
f) a point-of-sale subsystem, operated by the vendor, that electronically interfaces with said authentication hardware and software code over the communication network, so as to enable the electronic transaction to be conducted substantially concurrent with provision of said account balance datum to the consumer as aforesaid;
g) a transaction account held by a first one of the banks on behalf of the transaction processing entity, with said first one of the banks, responsive to a decrement request of the transaction processing entity, transferring an amount of funds from said transaction account to the vendor in respect of the electronic transaction;
h) a checksum database having a plurality of archived checksum values stored therein, with each respective one of said archived checksum values having at least one related archived payment history value that is likewise stored in said checksum database; and
i) a transaction authentication subsystem for electronically generating, and sending to said point-of-sale subsystem, a preliminary approval signal on a substantially instantaneous basis that does not require communication with a credit extending entity at the time of generating said preliminary approval signal when said account checksum value matches a corresponding one of said archived checksum values, provided that its said related archived payment history value complies with one or more predetermined approval criteria;
wherein, when said preliminary approval signal is received by said point-of-sale subsystem, said point-of-sale subsystem provides preliminary approval of the electronic transaction on a substantially instantaneous basis and substantially before receiving a final result signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic balance checking and credit approval system includes consumer transaction accounts, tokens, input devices, authentication hardware and software code capable of execution by the hardware, and output devices. The consumer transaction account is held in trust on behalf of a consumer by a credit extending company. The token is specific to and held by the consumer, and includes a consumer account identifier that is associated with the consumer transaction account. The input device receives the consumer account identifier concurrent with a consumer-initiated request for account balance information. The authentication hardware and software code verifies the consumer-initiated request and the consumer account identifier and authorizes access to the consumer transaction account. The consumer interface apparatus provides the consumer with a real-time account balance datum that is currently associated with the consumer transaction account. The system also includes a system and method for securely and quickly approving credit card transactions by comparing generated checksums with stored historical transaction results.
44 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A balance checking transaction system for use by a consumer, a transaction processing entity, a vendor, and one or more trust account chartered banks in conducting an electronic transaction over a communication network, said system comprising:
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a) a first consumer account held by the transaction processing entity on behalf of the consumer; b) a consumer specific token, held by the consumer, comprising a token data set that identifies said first consumer account; c) an input device that receives said token data set from the consumer specific token and transmits said token data set along with an input device datum over the communication network; d) authentication hardware and software code capable of execution by the hardware, situated substantially remotely of said input device, that receives said token data set over the communication network and verities said token data set and said input device datum against at least one database containing a plurality of archived data sets and input device data, so as to retrieve an account balance datum that is currently associated with said first consumer account, with said authentication hardware and software code thereafter transmitting said account balance datum over the communication network on a substantially instantaneous basis; and e) an output device, situated substantially locally to said input device, that receives said account balance datum over the communication network and provides said account balance datum to the consumer on said substantially instantaneous basis; f) a point-of-sale subsystem, operated by the vendor, that electronically interfaces with said authentication hardware and software code over the communication network, so as to enable the electronic transaction to be conducted substantially concurrent with provision of said account balance datum to the consumer as aforesaid; g) a transaction account held by a first one of the banks on behalf of the transaction processing entity, with said first one of the banks, responsive to a decrement request of the transaction processing entity, transferring an amount of funds from said transaction account to the vendor in respect of the electronic transaction; h) a checksum database having a plurality of archived checksum values stored therein, with each respective one of said archived checksum values having at least one related archived payment history value that is likewise stored in said checksum database; and i) a transaction authentication subsystem for electronically generating, and sending to said point-of-sale subsystem, a preliminary approval signal on a substantially instantaneous basis that does not require communication with a credit extending entity at the time of generating said preliminary approval signal when said account checksum value matches a corresponding one of said archived checksum values, provided that its said related archived payment history value complies with one or more predetermined approval criteria; wherein, when said preliminary approval signal is received by said point-of-sale subsystem, said point-of-sale subsystem provides preliminary approval of the electronic transaction on a substantially instantaneous basis and substantially before receiving a final result signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification