WO2001035276A1

WO2001035276A1 - System and method for secure anonymous online commercial transactions

Info

Publication number: WO2001035276A1
Application number: PCT/US2000/030832
Authority: WO
Inventors: Henrique Sérgio DE CAMPOS SALLESGREGORI; Thomaz Gregori Neto; José Carlos LISBOA
Original assignee: It'scash Limited
Priority date: 1999-11-10
Filing date: 2000-11-09
Publication date: 2001-05-17
Also published as: AU1479901A; BR0002907A

Abstract

A secure system and method for online commercial transactions involving the transfer of funds in exchange for merchandise or services is disclosed where consumers (40) are given an opportunity to execute anonymous on-line transactions. Consumers anonymously pay for merchandise or services with the same convenience as credit card payments, by providing a public code to a participating merchant and a secret code to the System Vendor (10) at the time of the purchase. The public code and secret code may be, in a preferred embodiment, obtained by the consumer upon purchasing, with traditional currency if desired, a card with a specific denominational value. The card, in the preferred embodiment, functions as the vehicle of conveyance of the public and secret codes, with an activation code associated with the card for providing a mechanism of additional security.

Description

System And Method For Secure Anonymous Online Commercial Transactions

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to the general field of electronic commercial

transactions, and more particularly, to a payment system that allows commercial

transactions to take place securely online between purchasers who may remain

anonymous and merchants.

Background of the Invention

The use of commercial transactions over the Internet (often referred to as

"e-commerce") has grown tremendously over the last few years and is expected to

continue growing for the foreseeable future. As on-line security measures have

improved, consumers have become more comfortable providing credit card as well as

other sensitive personal (e.g., financial) information on-line. None-the-less, there are

still a number of reasons consumers may not wish to engage in on-line transactions.

Concerns that, for example, less reputable merchants accepting the credit

card information may misuse the information or simply not deliver the goods promised,

or that sensitive financial information (e.g., a credit card number) may be "intercepted"

by third parties during transmission leave many consumers wary of engaging in online

transactions where the potential for fraud still exists. On other hand, in most instances,

the use of a credit card for on-line transactions allows both the merchant and the credit

card company to identify the purchaser and the purchase. In these cases, a consumer

may simply wish to conduct a transaction anonymously or, perhaps the consumer does

not want a certain transaction to appear on his or her credit card statement.

Additionally, many consumers, for a variety of reasons, do not have

credit cards. Some consumers have no credit or bad credit and are unable to obtain credit cards, while others, minors in particular (who constitute a significant pool of

potential consumers), often do not have credit cards by virtue of their age. This pool of

consumers without credit cards are thereby precluded from benefiting from on-line

transactions.

Presently, most merchants do not accept other available types of

electronic payment. Since these present alternative electronic payment systems are not

widely accepted, they do not offer an acceptable alternative to credit cards.

Additionally, most electronic payment systems do not provide complete anonymity,

since the providers of these services will know the identity of the user, even if the

merchants participating in these payment methods do not. Further, present electronic

payment systems often involve high transaction costs that are usually borne by the

purchaser.

For most practical purposes, there are presently no alternatives to the use

of credit (or debit) cards for online transactions. Although a few merchants do accept

personal checks or other forms of payment by mail, such transactions are inconvenient

and provide additional risks to both parties (e.g., if payment is not received by the

merchant or a check is not adequately funded) adding delays in order processing and

risk of financial loss to what would otherwise be nearly instantaneous and essentially

"risk free" consummation of a transaction.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention relates to a secure system and method for online

commercial transactions involving the transfer of funds in exchange for merchandise or

services. Under the present invention, consumers are given an opportunity to execute

anonymous on-line transactions. To this end, consumers anonymously pay for merchandise or services with the same convenience as credit card payments, by

providing a public code to a participating merchant and a secret code to the System

Vendor at the time of the purchase. The public code and secret code may be, in a

preferred embodiment, obtained by the consumer upon purchasing, with traditional

currency if desired, a card with a specific denominational value. The card, in the

preferred embodiment, functions as the vehicle of conveyance of the public and secret

codes, with an activation code associated with the card for providing a mechanism of

additional security.

An object of the invention is to provide an electronic payment system

that allows consumers to remain anonymous.

Another object of the invention is to provide an electronic payment

system that eliminates or reduces the credit risk of an online transaction.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an electronic payment

system that eliminates or reduces the security risk of an online transaction.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an electronic payment

system that offers a convenient way for consumers without credit cards to make online

purchases.

A further object of the invention is to provide cards having a public code

and a secret code, wherein both codes are associated with an account having a balance

that may be transferred to another card having a different public code and secret code.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will

become more apparent in light of the following detailed description of exemplary

embodiments thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, where: Figures 1 A and IB show the front and back respectively of an

illustrative example of the IT'SCASH™ transaction card of the preferred embodiment

of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a diagram of a network connection between a consumer,

distributor, merchants, and system vendor according to the preferred embodiment of the

present invention.

Figure 3 is a system level flowchart implemented in the network of

Figure 2 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figures 4A and 4B is a detailed flowchart of the system level flowchart

of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is an illustrative implementation of a user-system in the present

invention.

Figure 6 is an illustrative preferred implementation of the System

Management Computer in the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an on-line

transaction card, the front and back of which are illustrated in Figures 1A and IB

respectively, is utilized as the vehicle of distribution of the public and secret (or

"private") codes of the present invention (as will be discussed in more detail below)

where the secret code remains non-disclosed during the distribution process. In this

embodiment, the physical card is implemented as the IT'SCASH™ card available from

the assignee of the present invention. Most conveniently, the physical card offers the

tangible experience of exchange that resembles the familiar experience of exchanging

actual currency. While implemented in this preferred embodiment by means of a physical transaction "card", the present invention can be implemented in alternative

embodiments using alternative vehicles of conveyance of account data (as will be

discussed infra) to a consumer forgoing the use of an actual physical card, an example

of such alternative vehicles is discussed with respect to Figure 2.

As shown in Figure 1A/B, the physical on-line transaction card 1,

according to this embodiment, will bear a public code 10 and a secret code 12 on the

back of the card (Fig. IB). The public code corresponds to an account number as will

be described with respect to Figures 3 and 4. The secret code is similar to a PIN

(Personal Identification Number) and is conveyed to the purchasing Consumer in a

hidden format, for example, under a removable coating such as a scratch-away coating.

Each public code 10 will have a unique corresponding secret code 12. (The public code

and its corresponding secret code are also referred to herein as a "code pair".) Although

not critical to the invention, in this embodiment, the card is conveniently manufactured

as illustrated in Figure 1 A in incremental face value amounts 14 corresponding to values

of standard currency bills shown on the face of the card (e.g., $20, $50, $100, etc.).

An activation code (not shown) is utilized as a fraud prevention feature

and is intended for use by the retail Distributor of the card. As will be described in

detail, the Licensed Distributor will, over a secure link to the System Vendor, send the

public code, the corresponding activation code and distributor identifying information to

the System Vendor. The activation code can be individual to a particular card (i.e., and

therefor the corresponding public code or account) or the activation code can be for a

batch or series of cards (corresponding to several or a series of public codes or

accounts). The card, in alternative embodiments, bear the activation code, or a part of it,

in which case it would preferably be in a non-human readable format (e.g., a bar code format) because if the activation code is simply reproduced on the card face in easily

readable human format, its effectiveness in fraud prevention would be significantly

reduced.

In Figure 2 is illustrated a network implementation of the invention

system according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. In a preliminary

set up stage, System Vendor 10 will establish a network of Licensed Distributors 20 and

Authorized Merchants 30 who, along with a Consumer 40, will form the system

environment. Criteria for authorizing or licensing are established by the System

Vendor. While no minimum criteria is necessary (with respect to authorization and

licensing) to practice the present invention, a System Vendor will normally establish

criteria with an eye to the finances and/or reputation of a particular Merchant or

Distributor, the types of products a Merchant vends, or a System Vendor can choose

alliances which are totally subjectively based. Once these entities are chosen, the

network implementation is as follows.

In this implementation, a secure communications link 15 is established

between System Vendor 10 and Distributor 20 and secure link 25 between System

Vendor 10 and Merchant 30. Consumer 40 is connected to Merchant 30 by a link 35,

and to System Vendor 10 by a secure link 55, both, for example, over the Internet. If

desired, in an alternative embodiment, a secure or non-secure link (via Internet access)

50 to System Vendor 10 can be offered to Consumer 40 as a customer support device to

allow Consumer 40 to, e.g., check account balances, provide recourse in the event of

problems with card operation or to report difficulties or problems encountered with

participating Distributors or Merchants. There is no requirement, however, that such

customer service link 50 be provided in order to practice the invention. For example, in alternative embodiments, Consumer 40 is not provided with such a communication link

50 to System Vendor 10, but merely a Customer Service Telephone Access Number can

be provided (e.g., a toll free "800 number).

Link 45 between Consumer 40 and Distributor 20 is not electronically

implemented in the preferred embodiment but is rather a "manual" link similar to any

retail store purchase by a consumer- Consumer 40 obtains a transaction card 80 from

Distributor 20 by simply going to a Distributor and paying with currency to acquire the

card. While in the preferred embodiment the link 45 between Consumer 40 and

Distributor 20 is a "traditional merchant-consumer" one, various configurations as can

be devised by those skilled in the art consistent with the teachings of the present

invention in alternative embodiments where, for example, a Consumer 40 can purchase

on-line transaction accounts directly from System Vendor 10 via secure Internet

connection 50. This type of configuration would be useful, for example, to allow a

credit card bearing Consumer to purchase e.g., 10 public code accounts (each of which

would be represented as a transaction card purchase) with the System Vendor sending

10 public code/secret code pairs back to the purchasing Consumer for distribution or use

at the purchasing consumer's discretion. The purchasing Consumer could then, for

example, give a public/secret code pair to a non-credit card bearing consumer as a "gift

certificate" type transaction. While forgoing their anonymity with the System Vendor

for the code pair purchase, the purchasing Consumer could none-the-less use the

public/secret code pair himself in lieu of a credit card to perform anonymous

transactions on line according to the teachings of the present invention.

Alternatively, an electronic communications link 15 between Distributor

20 and System Vendor 10 is not required in all embodiments of the present invention. All such necessary communications can be performed via conventional methods

(telephone for example.)

Illustrated in Figure 3 is a system level flowchart implemented on the

network of Figure 2 which flowchart sets out phases of the present invention according

to the preferred embodiment.

The several phases of the system of the preferred embodiment of the

present invention include: Phase 100- Account Generation , Phase 200- Card

Manufacture, Phase 300- Card Distribution, Phase 400- Card Acquisition, Phase 500-

Transaction, Phase 600- Clearance, and Phase 700- Delivery.

In Phase 100, the Account Generation Phase, System Vendor 10 creates

a unique "account" which are utilized as the transaction vehicle in the present invention.

The account is identified by a public code which is essentially an account number. In the

preferred embodiment, an online transaction card is generated for that account number

and a secret code is generated to correspond to each particular public code or account.

The card which will accordingly be manufactured (see Phase 200) and

issued will bear the code pair (i.e., the public code and corresponding secret code).

System Vendor 10 also determines the individual or series activation code for an

individual card or a series of cards, respectively, and thus for the corresponding

respective accounts.

In Phase 200, the Card Manufacture Phase, the online transaction card is

manufactured by Card Manufacturer 60 (Figure 2) (which can alternatively be the

System Vendor) for each individual account generated in Phase 100 according to

specifications established by System Vendor 10. In Phase 300, the Card Distribution Phase, the transaction card is

distributed by System Vendor 10 to Licensed Distributors 20 for retail sale to individual

Consumers 40. As described above, the Distributor 20 and System Vendor 10 will

typically have an established communication channel between them, which can easily

be implemented via the Internet, for activation purposes and for financial reconciliation.

In Phase 400, Card Acquisition, the transaction card is purchased by the

Consumer 40. In the preferred embodiment, there is no association between a particular

card account and any particular Consumer 40 who may purchase that card as the

purchase is made in currency. This acquisition process is similar to that which occurs in

the purchase of telephone calling cards with the consumer remains anonymous for all

stages of a given transaction. The Distributor 20 must reconcile (financially) with

System Vendor 10 for the total value of cards sold. (Note that equally for the alternative

embodiment described above where the transaction card account (i.e., a code pair) may

be purchased (or "opened") with a credit card, the use of the card will still remain an

anonymous transaction as to the actual on-line user of the code pair.)

In Phase 500, Transaction, Consumer 40 will access the desired

Authorized Merchants 30 via an Internet connection and close the desired transaction in

a secured area established by the Merchant 30. Consumer 40 (electronically) provides

the public code to the Merchant 30. Merchant 30 in turn forwards the Consumer 40

provided information (i.e., the public code) along with Merchant data including the

amount of a given transaction and data that identifies the Merchant 30 to System

Vendor 10 over a secure link to the System Vendor. Consumer 40 will then provide

the secret code to the System vendor 10, directly or by means of a software

component installed on the merchant secure web server. In Clearance Phase 600, financial reconciliation between an Authorized

Merchant 30 and the System Vendor 10 occurs. System Vendor 10 verifies validity of

Merchant information (i.e., participation), authenticity of data, validity of the code

pair and balance in the code pair account. System Vendor 10 will transfer requested

amounts from Consumer's 40 account with System Vendor 10 to the Merchant's 30

account with System Vendor 10, notifying the Merchant 30 through a secure process

with an authorization or validation code for that transaction. Prior to such transfer,

transaction fees are deducted by System Vendor 10 from the Consumer's account

and/or from Merchant's amount due similarly as is done by conventional credit card

services for credit card annuity and purchase discounts.

If the transaction which has been closed is an "irreversible" transaction

(i.e., no refunds allowed or a final sale) then System Vendor 10 will transfer funds

from the Merchant's account with System Vendor to any account designated by

Merchant (e.g., the Merchant's commercial banking account). If, on the other hand,

the transaction is "reversible" (i.e., it has not matured to the level of irreversible), the

System Vendor will hold the funds in the Merchant's account until the transaction

becomes irreversible before transferring funds to the account designated by Merchant.

In Phase 700, Delivery of Goods, the Merchant will arrange to deliver

the purchased goods in appropriate fashion- either over the Internet or by shipping

avenues.

Referring now to Figures 4A/4B, the phases of the preferred embodiment

enumerated in Figure 3, are illustrated in detail. The flowchart depicted represents a

detailed implementation of the online commercial transaction system according to the

preferred embodiment of the present invention. Different functions are assigned to Consumer 40, Authorized Merchant 30, Licensed Distributor 20, Card Manufacturer 60

and System Vendor/Clearinghouse 10 for the various phases as shown.

In Account Generation Phase 100, System Vendor/Clearinghouse 10

generates 102 account numbers (i.e., public codes) and corresponding secret codes.

Transaction cards are assigned to or associated with 104 the code pairs (public and

secret) and activation codes.

In phase 200, transaction cards are manufactured 202 accordingly as

specified by System Vendor with public and secret codes that correspond to each

account. Preferably, the manufacture of cards is out-sourced to a Card manufacturer 60,

however, manufacture can be performed by System Vendor 10 as well. In the preferred

embodiment of the invention, the secret codes are covered by an opaque removable

layer (e.g., a scratch-off layer) which is to be removed by the Consumer after purchase

and prior to use to reveal the secret code.

In phase 300, System Vendor 10 distributes 302 the cards to Licensed

Distributors 20. Distributor 20 requests card activation 304 from the System Vendor 10

by transmitting the public code and the activation code along with data identifying the

Distributor. Upon verification of the information received, System Vendor 10 will

activate 306 the corresponding card or cards.

In Card Acquisition phase 400, Consumer 40 acquires 402 a transaction

card by paying to the Licensed Distributor 20 the face value amount on the card.

Payment may be made in cash or by other payment method. Upon receipt of payment,

Licensed Distributor 20 deposits 404 the payment equivalent amount into the account

associated with the card by sending the payment amount to the System Vendor 10 less commission. Once Consumer 40 has physical possession of the card. Consumer 40

removes 406 the opaque protective layer, revealing the secret code printed on the card.

With reference now to Figure 4B, in Transaction phase 500, after

deciding on a particular transaction with an Authorized Merchant 30, Consumer 40

closes the desired transaction by transmitting 502 the public code associated with the

card to the Authorized Merchant 30.

Authorized Merchant 30 forwards 504 (directly or through the Consumer

40), in a secure form, transaction information to System Vendor 10 which includes the

public code along with the amount to be deducted from the account associated with the

card. The Consumer 40, then provides 508 the secret code to the System Vendor 10 via

secure link 55, and thereby authorizes Merchant 30 to deduct a certain amount from the

card account. System Vendor 10 compares the public and secret codes and validates

510 the transaction, creating a validation code (which can be a numeric code or a simple

yes/no approval or rejection) if both codes are associated with an account having a

balance greater than the amount to be deducted. (Multiple cards can be used by similar

process where the purchase price exceeds the face value of a given card.) System

Vendor 10 returns 512 validation code to Authorized Merchant 30.

In Clearance phase 600, System Vendor 10 transfers 610 credit to the

Merchant's account when a transaction has become "irreversible" by deducting the

authorized amount from the account associated with the code pair and crediting the

account of the Authorized Merchant 30 with the authorized amount minus a transaction

fee. The Authorized Merchant 30 and the System Vendor 10 will have an agreed upon

protocol for determining when a transaction is deemed "irreversible". For example, the

System Vendor can agree with a particular Authorized Merchant that transactions will be deemed "irreversible" after 30 days while the System Vendor can agree with another

Merchant that the transaction is deemed irreversible immediately. The irreversibility

criteria can be established, for example, by the type of goods or service provided by the

Merchant depending upon when delivery of the goods or service is effected to the client.

System Vendor 10 effects payment 612 to Authorized Merchant 30 of irreversible

transaction funds either periodically at predetermined time intervals or when an

Authorized Merchant's account reaches a predetermined level. Pending irreversibility of

a transaction, money is held by System Vendor on account for the particular Authorized

Merchant.

Alternatively, an Authorized Merchant can (electronically) notify the

System Vendor of a transaction becoming irreversible, thus allowing the System Vendor

to release funds upon notification.

In Delivery phase 700, after having received 512 the validation code

from the System Vendor 10, Authorized Merchant 30 delivers 702 the goods or,

alternatively, provides the service, being purchased by Consumer 40. Consumer 40

receives 704 the goods delivered 702 by Authorized Merchant 30.

With reference to Figure 5, there is shown a block diagram of user

system 530. The end-user communicates with other connected members of the data

network illustrated in Figure 2 via end-user computer 550. In the preferred

embodiment, end-user computer 550 is implemented as a conventional personal

computer having: a CPU 560, input device 588 (e.g. a keyboard and/or mouse), input

output capabilities 580 (including components known in the art to effect connection of

and to peripheral devices including modem 581, input device (most commonly a

keyboard) 588 and video monitor 585), memory 570 (including RAM 571, ROM 572 and data storage device 573) and bus 540. Data storage device 573 may be

implemented as, for example, a hard drive as is known and/or a floppy or CD-ROM

drive for reading from/writing to removable media (e.g., a floppy disk or CD-ROM).

End-user computer 550 communicates with the other members of the system network

via communications link 590 through modem 581. It will be understood that

communications link 590 can represent the respective communications links 15, 25,

35 50 and 55 illustrated in Figure 2. While shown as being implemented via modem

581, in alternative embodiments, other communication devices such as a network card

or direct Internet connection as are known can be utilized to enable direct

communications as will be understood.

While implementation for any of the systems of the individual

members of the system network of the preferred embodiment (System Vendor 10,

Licensed Distributor 20, Authorized Merchant 30 and Consumer 40) can be

implemented using the user system of Figure 5, it will be understood by those skilled

in the art that hardware requirements may vary and each member may implement

variations of the illustrative user system of Figure 5 as required to meet their

individual requirements. For example, while the System Vendor system may in fact

be implemented as in the illustrative embodiment of Figure 5, an implementation such

as illustrated in Figure 6 may be preferable.

Figure 6 depicts a preferable embodiment of the System Management

Computer 650 which would be deployed by System Vendor 10. This System manages

communications with System Vendor 10 by Licensed Distributor 20, Authorized

Merchant 30 and Consumer 40 via communications link 690 (the respective

communications links 15, 25, 50 (Figure 2)). System Management Computer 650 can be implemented as a conventional mainframe computer, workstation, or personal

computer depending upon the throughput requirements (which will likely be measured

simply by the volume of transactions expected to be handled by the system). System

Management Computer 650 includes CPU 660, communications port 681, secure

processor 695, code generator 697, RAM 671, ROM 672, data bus 640, and data

storage device 670. For high volume transaction processing a more powerful

microprocessor with a 32-bit data bus such as the Intel Pentium® series processors or

a RISK architecture microprocessor with a 64-bit data bus may be used as CPU 660.

Data storage device 670 may be, e.g., an array of hard disk drives, a conventional hard

drive as is known and/or a floppy or CD-ROM drive for reading from/writing to

removable media (e.g., a floppy disk or CD-ROM) and is used to store the various

databases used to implement the present invention, such as an Account database 673

(for tracking the code pairs, activation codes and account balances); Merchant

database 674 which contains Merchant related data (e.g., Merchant accounts including

Merchant identification information); and Distributor database 675 (e.g., card log for

tracking card distribution). It will be understood by those skilled in the art that each

of the individual databases may be relational to one another, or that all of them may

be combined into a single database. Code generator 697 is used for generating public,

secret and activation codes. Secure processor 695 is used for secure communications

between System Vendor 10 and Authorized Merchant 30.

It will further be understood by those skilled in the art that alternative

system architectures, for example, which use portable devices such as the Palm

Pilot®, can be equally implemented in application of the principles and features of the

present invention. The foregoing description was presented to enable any person skilled

in the art to make and use the invention. Descriptions of specific applications are

provided only as examples. Variations and/or modifications to the preferred

embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general

principals defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications

without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the present

invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be

accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for conducting anonymous on-line transactions comprising the steps of: generation by a system vendor of a code pair, including a public code and a secret code, corresponding to a user account held with the system vendor; allocation of the code pair to a consumer, the proceeds of which allocation are used to fund the user account; and effecting an anonymous on-line transaction between the consumer and a merchant where the public code is communicated from the consumer to the merchant and the secret code from the consumer to the system vendor.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of: communication by the merchant of the public code and the charge amount of the anonymous on-line transaction to the system vendor for reconciliation against the corresponding user account; communication by the consumer of the secret code to the system vendor; verification by the system vendor of sufficient balance in the user account to cover the charge amount; confirmation by the system vendor to the merchant of the sufficient balance; transfer by the system vendor of the charge amount to a merchant account held with the system vendor; and disposition by the system vendor of the charge amount as determined by the merchant.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of allocation of the code pair to a consumer includes: generation by the system vendor of a transaction card for each code pair, said transaction card bearing the code pair; and distribution of the transaction card to the consumer.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the step of distribution of the transaction card to the consumer is performed by an intermediary.

5. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of: generating at least one activation code associated with said code pair; and activating said code pair by communicating said activation code to said system vendor.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein said confirmation is via a validation code communicated by said system vendor to said merchant.

7. The method of claim 2 wherein said disposition is to an external account specified by the merchant.

8. The method of claim 2 wherein, prior to the step of disposition by the system vendor of the charge amount as determined by the merchant, the merchant notifies the system vendor that the on-line transaction has become irreversible.

9. A system for conducting anonymous on-line transactions between a consumer, a merchant and a system vendor, the system comprising: means for generating a code pair, including a public code and a secret code, corresponding to a user account held with the system vendor; means for allocating the code pair to the consumer, the proceeds of which allocation are used to fund the user account; and means for effecting an anonymous on-line transaction between the consumer and the merchant where said public code is communicated from the consumer to the merchant and the secret code from the consumer to the system vendor.

10. The system of claim 9 further comprising: means for communicating the public code and the charge amount of the anonymous on-line transaction by the merchant to the system vendor for reconciliation against the corresponding user account; means for communication of the secret code by the consumer to the system vendor; means for verifying by the system vendor a sufficient balance in the user account to cover the charge amount; means for confirming by the system vendor to the merchant of the sufficient balance; means for transferring by the system vendor of the charge amount to a merchant account held with the system vendor; and means for disposing by the system vendor of the charge amount as determined by the merchant.

11. The system of claim 10 further comprising means for notifying the system vendor that the on-line transaction has become irreversible.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein the means for allocating the code pair to a consumer includes: means for generating by the system vendor a transaction card for each code pair, said transaction card bearing the code pair; and means for distributing the transaction card to the consumer.

13 The system of claim 12 herein the means for distributing the transaction card to the consumer is an intermediary.

14. The system of claim 9 further including: means for generating at least one activation code associated with said code pair; and means for activating said code pair by communicating said activation code or codes to said system vendor.

15. The system of claim 9 wherein the means for communication of the secret code by the consumer to the system vendor is by means of a secure link.

16. The system of claim 15 further including second means for communication by the consumer to the system vendor.