U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,518, U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,419 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,280, all issued to Rosen, outline the use of a system for facilitating open electronic commerce. Specifically, the system utilizes tamper- proof electronic units, referred to as trusted agents, in combination with money modules to create a secure transaction environment for both the buyer and seller of electronic merchandise and services. The buyer may pay for electronic merchandise by presenting a credential representing a credit or debit card. This system also allows for a real-time transaction without a third party intervention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,269 issued to Micali outlines a system that relates to cryptographic methods that enable participants in a negotiation to agree on a common price for a given transaction without requiring either participant to reveal certain information about its bargaining position unless a suitable agreement can be reached. This is accomplished through the use of a "blind" or "ideal" negotiation between the two parties .
U.S. Pat. No. 5,757,917 issued to Rose et al . outlines a method for performing secure transactions on open communication networks and, in particular, on the Internet. The transaction is initiated between a user and a remotely located server and utilizes both a transaction identification number and a transaction authorization number. Using this method, it is noted that a user can perform secure transactions in a seamless manner over a secure electronic communications medium that is isolated from the Internet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,241 issued to Stein et al . outlines a payment system for enabling a first Internet user to make a payment to a second Internet user, typically for the purchase of an information product deliverable over the Internet . Security is
maintained by isolating financial and credit information of users' cardholder accounts from the front end portion of the payment system and by isolating the account identifying information from the associated e-mail address.
The system described in the Stein et al . patent addresses the problem of securing cardholders' accounts by simply separating the information from the Internet account used to request the information product. This system is not able to accommodate other types of non-information products and can be improved by not utilizing a cardholders' account at all. That is what is really needed, a method for making broad transactions without the use of a consumer's credit card account .
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a method of purchasing and selling on the internet solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The invention is mainly a method of purchasing and paying for goods and services on the Internet. The method includes the step of first shopping and selecting goods and services from a merchant's store front, catalog or on a Web site over the Internet.
The consumer would then receive a financial account identifier, delivery instructions, a purchase identifier and purchase price from the merchant in exchange for the selected goods and services . The consumer's financial resources are then directed to the financial institution and financial account of the merchant. An arrival message is then sent to the merchant, confirming the transaction. The merchant may also monitor the activities of the method. A
method of establishing a financial account identifier is also provided.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a block diagram of the steps for the method of purchasing and paying for goods and services on the Internet, according to the present invention. Fig. 2 is an overview of the traditional process of purchasing and paying for goods and services.
Fig. 3 is an overview of the method of purchasing and paying for goods and services on the Internet, according to the present invention.
Fig. 4 is an example of a deposit only transaction financial account identifier.
Fig. 5 is an example of direct deposit payment icons.
Fig. 6 is a block diagram of the steps for the method of establishing a financial account identifier. Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings .
BEST ODE(S) FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The present invention is a method of a consumer purchasing and paying for goods and services provided by a merchant on the Internet 10, as depicted in Fig. 1.
The method 10 comprises the steps of shopping and selecting goods and services from a merchant's store front, catalog and Web site 20, receiving a financial account identifier from the merchant, as well as a purchase price, delivery instructions and a purchase identifier of the goods and services 30, after an authentication process, requesting financial resources be directed to the merchant's financial institution
and a financial account 40, processing the financial resources into the merchant's financial account 50 and sending a message to the merchant that the financial resources have been received in the merchant's financial account 60.
Fig. 2 outlines a more traditional method of purchasing and paying for goods and services both on and off of the Internet 70. The method 70 is a consumer simply using a credit card to pay a merchant for goods and services rendered. The merchant typically verifies the consumer's credit card number with the consumer's financial institution and receives payment for the goods and services rendered.
Such a transaction can also be done over the Internet with a credit card number. However, many consumer's do not feel comfortable blindly giving their credit card number over the Internet . Addressing such a problem is the basis for this invention, which enables a user to buy goods and services over the Internet without the use of a credit card number.
The first step 20 of the method 10 involves a consumer to shop and select goods and services from a merchant's store front, catalog or on a merchant's Web site 20. In return for a selected set of goods and services 24, the consumer receives a financial account identifier 22, a purchase price 28 for the goods and services and a purchase identifier 26. Shopping and selecting goods and services on the Internet are well- known in the art and can be done with a personal computer being tied into the Internet and knowledge of the uniform resource locator (URL) of the Web site.
The financial account identifier 22 is a key point of novelty of the overall method 10. The financial account identifier 22 is a deposit only transaction account. This type of account is similar to a savings account used in an individual account. The financial
account identifier 22 supports only deposits, as shown in Fig. 4, and does not support withdrawals. For the sake of simplicity, the financial account identifier 22 is a user friendly identifier that is the name of the merchant at the name of the financial institution of the merchant. Examples of several financial account identifiers 22 are also shown in Fig. 4.
In the second step 30 of the method 10, the financial account identifier 22, delivery instructions, the purchase price 28 and purchase identifier 26 are received by the consumer in exchange for the goods and services 24 received by the consumer. The purchase price 28 can simply be a number that coincides with the actual price of the goods and services rendered by the merchant. The purchase identifier 26 is often times an order number or some representation of an internally controlled inventory code. Note that the financial account identifier 22 can be monitored at anytime by the merchant, as the financial account identifier 22 is processed through each step of the method 10.
The third step 40 of the method 10 involves the consumer requesting that some of his financial resources be directed to the merchant's financial institution. The amount of financial resources should coincide with the purchase price 28 of the goods and services provided by the merchant. A processor 45 is provided at the consumer's financial institution to direct financial resources from the consumer's account. These financial resources can be monitored by the merchant once they are released. The consumer's resources 47 include checking accounts, saving accounts, lines of credit, credit cards, debit cards and highly liquid assets. Technology that is used to process these resources is well-known in the art and includes the use of high speed financial computers and databases .
Fig. 5 illustrates direct deposit icons 80 that are used to execute the actual directing of financial resources. Once the icons 80 have been chosen, the consumer is taken to their respective Web sites, together with the financial account identifier 22, delivery instructions, the purchase identifier 26 and the price 28 of the goods and services 24 involved in the transaction. Typically, a consumer will also identify themselves to their financial institution and verify their identity with a code, password or personal identification number (PIN) as part of the transaction.
Available balance information is also provided so the consumer can keep track of his various financial resources 47. If sufficient funds are available, the consumer will receive a positive message that can serve as a receipt for the transaction. If there are insufficient funds, the consumer would only receive a negative message and the transaction would not be executed.
The fourth step 50 of the method 10 involves processing the resources from the financial institution and resources of the consumer and transferring those resources into the financial institution and account of the merchant 57 in addition to delivery instructions. This can be done over the Internet and also involves a processor 55 at the financial institution of the merchant. Like the processor at the consumer's financial institution 45, the processor at the merchant's financial institution 55 also uses high speed computers and databases, that are well-known in the art, to direct financial resources into the merchant's account 57. Note that the financial account identifier 22, delivery instructions, purchase price 28 and purchase identifier 26 are also transmitted to the merchant's account 57.
The fifth and final step 60 of the method 10 is to send an arrival message back to the merchant, informing him that a deposit was made into his account. This information also includes which purchase identifier 26 and price 28 of the goods and services provided are involved with the respective deposit. The merchant may monitor the arrivals of the payment by logging on to the Web site of their financial institution. The payment arrival message can also be transmitted on the Internet to the merchant, where the deposit can be added to the financial and accounting records of the merchant.
Fig. 6 outlines the steps of a method 90 for establishing a financial account identifier 22 used by consumers purchasing and paying for goods and services from merchants on the Internet. The method 90 comprises the steps of the consumer opening a financial account with a financial institution of his choice 100, the consumer and the financial institution agreeing on rules of operating the financial account 110, the consumer choosing a user friendly identifier for the financial account, the financial institution choosing an operationally friendly identifier for the financial account 120, the consumer displaying a combination of an account identifier and an identifier of the financial institution (forming the financial account identifier 22) , being used by the merchant and the financial institution soliciting its consumers to utilize the financial account identifier 22 as a payment method 130. The financial institution must also market the financial account identifier 22 as being a preferred method of doing business over traditional methods of purchasing and paying for goods and services. It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, but
encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims .