WO2004075086A1

WO2004075086A1 - Method for providing finance service using phone number and account balance

Info

Publication number: WO2004075086A1
Application number: PCT/KR2004/000254
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wang Soo Ryu
Original assignee: Wang Soo Ryu
Priority date: 2003-02-18
Filing date: 2004-02-10
Publication date: 2004-09-02

Abstract

A method of providing a financial service using a phone number and an account balance to a user by registering a phone number of a user's terminal, installing a financial transaction exclusive program in the user's terminal, and inputting the phone number of the user's terminal and an approved key to a corresponding program, which is achieved by receiving the approved key, an account number of a counterpart to receive a fund to be transferred, an amount of a fund, and a balance of a corresponding account, from the user's terminal, to obtain the phone number of the user's terminal, performing approval by using the phone number of the user's terminal, the received approved key, and the account balance, which are obtained in the first step, transmitting a request for confirmation of a name of the counterpart and an amount to be transferred to the use's terminal, performing a fund to the account of the counterpart if a response to the request for confirmation is received from the user, and transmitting a corresponding transaction content to the user's terminal to update a transaction record of the exclusive program.

Description

METHOD FOR PROVIDING FINANCE SERVICE USING PHONE NUMBER AND ACCOUNT BALANCE

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method of providing a financial service using a phone number and an account balance, and to a computer readable recording medium where a program to embody the method is recorded, and more particular, to a method of providing a financial service using a phone number and an account balance to provide a financial service such as an account transfer, a balance check, a funds transfer, an automatic transfer, and an approved key management by registering the phone number of a user as an account number and using a user's wired/wireless terminal as a passbook, and to a computer readable recording medium where a program to embody the method is recorded.

Background Art

In general, approving financial transactions using phone banking or ATMs

(automatic teller machines) is performed by using an account number an and an approved key. However, the account number is very easily disclosed and the approved key is used by stealth through wiretapping or peeping, so that illegal transactions frequently occur. Also, when one receives a counterpart's account number for transactions such as funds transfer, he/she needs to be careful to avoid any possible confusion which makes him/her nervous.

To solve these problems, a linked account or a virtual account using a phone number has been used. However, since these methods lack compatibility for each operating host, propagation of use of the methods has been not deterred.

Disclosure of the Invention

To solve the above and other problems, the present invention provides a method of providing a financial service using a phone number and an account balance which facilitates recognition of the account number and reinforces security in financial transactions by registering the phone number of a user as an account number for financial transactions, using the terminal as a transaction recording apparatus, and making the transactions approved including the balance.

Also, the present invention provides a computer readable recording medium to embody functions to facilitate recognition of the account number and reinforce security in financial transactions by registering the phone number of a user as an account number for financial transactions, using the terminal as a transaction recording apparatus, and making the transactions approved including the balance.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a method of providing a financial service using a phone number and an account balance to a user by registering a phone number of a user's terminal, installing a financial transaction exclusive program in the user's terminal, and inputting the phone number of the user's terminal and an approved key to a corresponding program, the method comprising, receiving the approved key, an account number of a counterpart to receive a fund to be transferred, an amount of a fund, and a balance of a corresponding account, from the user's terminal, to obtain the phone number of the user's terminal (a first step), performing approval by using the phone number of the user's terminal, the received approved key, and the account balance, which are obtained in the first step (a second step), transmitting a request for confirmation of a name of the counterpart and an amount to be transferred to the use's terminal (a third step), performing a fund to the account of the counterpart if a response to the request for confirmation is received from the user (a fourth step), and transmitting a corresponding transaction content to the user's terminal to update a transaction record of the exclusive program (a fifth step).

According to another aspect of the present invention, a computer readable recording medium containing a program to provide a method of providing a financial service using a phone number and an account balance to a user by registering a phone number of a user's terminal, installing a financial transaction exclusive program in the user's terminal, and inputting the phone number of the user's terminal and an approved key to a corresponding program, in a system having a microprocessor, wherein the program embodies functions which comprise a first function of receiving the approved key, an account number of a counterpart to receive a fund to be transferred, an amount of a fund, and a balance of a corresponding account, from the user's terminal, to obtain the phone number of the user's terminal, a second function of performing approval by using the phone number of the user's terminal, the received approved key, and the account balance, which are obtained in the first step, a third function of transmitting a request for confirmation of a name of the counterpart and an amount to be transferred to the use's terminal, a fourth function of performing a fund to the account of the counterpart if a response to the request for confirmation is received from the user; and a fifth function of transmitting a corresponding transaction content to the user's terminal to update a transaction record of the exclusive program. In the present invention, since the phone number of the wired/wireless terminal of the present invention is registered as an account number, a memory device of the wired/wireless terminal such as a telephone is used as a transaction recording apparatus instead of a passbook, and the transaction is approved including the confirmation of the account balance via wired/wireless communication, the account number can be easily recognized and security can be reinforced.

Also, a possibility of illicit drawing can be lowered by obtaining an instant approval from the owner when a funds transfer is requested in an automated transfer transaction.

Also, when the user uses an automated apparatus of a financial organization by using a wireless terminal, since the phone number of the user, a transaction approved key, an account balance, and an amount to be drawn are transmitted altogether to the automated apparatus in an infrared ray communication method, an operation time of the automated apparatus is reduced so that efficiency of the apparatus and security are improved. The above-described purpose, features, and merits will be more clear through the following detailed description. In the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same constituent elements having the same functions.

Brief Description of the Drawings FIG. 1 is a view illustrating the structure of a system for providing a financial service according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining a method of registering an account of a user's wired/wireless terminal to provide a financial service according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart for explaining a method of providing a financial service using a phone number and an account balance according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining a method of providing a financial service using a phone number and an account balance according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating the structure of a system for providing a financial service according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in

FIG. 1 , a system for providing a financial service according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes user's wired/wireless terminals 110 and 120, an automated apparatus 130, and a financial company's server 140.

The automated apparatus 130 is used in financial transactions instead of an actual bank and may include an automatic teller machine (ATM).

The financial company's server 140 manages information about the service subscription of a user and the registration of an account and provides financial transactions.

The wired terminal 110 may include a display portion for displaying the contents of financial transactions to the user and may be a wired telephone which is a terminal capable of receiving a financial transaction exclusive program. In case of the wired telephone, the exclusive program for the present invention can be downloaded from the automated apparatus 130.

The wireless terminal 120 is a terminal capable of transceiving data wirelessly and may be a cellular phone or a personal digital assistant PDA. For the wireless terminal, the exclusive program for the present invention can be downloaded through a wireless network, for example, the wireless Internet such as WAP or JAVA.

Also, the wireless terminal 120 may includes an infrared-ray communication port fit to the infrared-ray communication standards (IrDA standards). The financial transaction of the present invention can be performed in an Infrared Transmission method using the wireless terminal 120. Since the IrDA standards are well known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted herein. To use the user's wired/wireless terminals 110 and 120 as a passbook, the number of a telephone needs to be registered. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the processes of registering an account with respect to the wired terminal 110 and the wireless terminal 120 are described below.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining a method of registering an account of a user's wired/wireless terminal to provide a financial service according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. To receive a financial service of the present invention, a user needs to register an account described with reference to FIG. 2.

The account for the wired terminal 1 10 according to the present invention may be characteristically registered by connecting to the automated apparatus 130 while the account for the wireless terminal 120 is registered according to the present invention may be registered by connecting to a wireless network.

As shown in the drawing, the account of the wired/wireless terminals 110 and 120 are registered as follows. When a user's request for opening of an account (S201) is received, the phone number of the wired or wireless terminal 1 10 or 120 is registered as an account number (S202).

Next, instead of issuing a passbook, an account transaction exclusive program is transmitted to the user's wired/wireless terminal and installed (S203). An input of a phone number and an approved key, for example, a password, to a corresponding program, is guided (S204). When the account transaction exclusive program is installed in the user's wired/wireless terminal as shown in FIG. 2, the corresponding wired/wireless terminal is used as a passbook. When a financial transaction occurs, the occurrence of the financial transaction is transmitted to the corresponding wired/wireless terminal. Thus, the financial transaction is updated and displayed on a display window so that the user can check it.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart for explaining a method of providing a financial service using a phone number and an account balance according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which a case of performing a funds transfer is shown.

As shown in the drawing, in the method of providing a financial service according to the present invention, when a user chooses a menu to use a financial service according to the present invention by using the financial transaction exclusive program of the wired/wireless terminals 110 and 120 and transmits the previously input and stored approved key, the approved key can be received (S301). Although a case of funds transfer is described in FIG. 3, the present invention can be applied to a case of selecting other services, for example, an account transfer.

To this end, when the user inputs an approved key by executing the exclusive program in the wired/wireless terminals 110 and 120, the corresponding program can display menus such as an account transfer, a balance check, a funds transfer, an automatic transfer, and an approved key management and the user can select a fund transfer menu. However, the indication of the user's intention may not be transmitted to the financial company's server 140 and can be performed within the corresponding program.

When the user inputs an account number of a receiver and an amount of a fund to be transferred, the account number of a receiver and the amount of a fund to be transferred are received (S302). The exclusive program transmits the balance of the corresponding account and the financial company's server 140 can obtain the phone number of the wired/wireless terminal.

In S301 and S302, the automated apparatus 130 receives the above items being transmitted at once by using an Infrared-ray port of the wireless terminal 120 and can transmit them to the financial company's server 140.

The financial company's server 140 compares the previously stored phone number and approved key of the user's terminal and the present balance of a corresponding account, with the obtained phone number of the user's terminal, the approved key received in S301 , and the received account balance (S303). If all the items are the same (S304), the financial company's server 140 request the user to confirm the name of the receiver and the amount of funds to be transferred (S305). If the items do not match according to the results of the comparison in S303 (S304), an error message is transmitted to the user (S306) and the program is terminated.

When the user completes the confirmation of the receiver and the amount of funds to be transferred (S307), the financial company's server 140 performs transfer of the funds to the account of the receiver (S308). The contents of the transaction is transmitted to the wired/wireless terminals 110 and 120 so that the exclusive program of the corresponding terminal can update transaction records and the user can check the same (S309).

If the user opposes the receiver's name or the funds to be transfer (S307), a correct receiver's name or funds to be transfer is received again (S310) and S307 through S309 are executed.

Although FIG. 3 shows the "funds transfer" of the financial transactions, when the user chooses the "account transfer" among the business transactions such as a balance check, a funds transfer, an account transfer, deposit/drawing, an automatic transfer, and an approved key management, which is provided by the present invention, the name of a transaction counterpart may be the user himself.

The user may request an automated transfer through the exclusive program downloaded for the present invention and receive the result of the automated transfer from the financial company's server 140 whenever the financial company's server 140 performs the automated transfer to a receiving organization (not shown). The above process is described in detail with reference to FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining a method of providing a financial service using a phone number and an account balance according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which a user requests an automated transfer and receives a result of the automated transfer.

As shown in the drawing, the user requests an automated transfer by executing the exclusive program and the financial company's server 140 receives the request (S401). As described previously, when the user's terminal is wired, the wired terminal is connected to the automated apparatus 130. The wired terminal 110 transfers the request to the automated apparatus 130 so that the financial company's server 140 can receive the request via a network. When the user's terminal is wireless, the user transmits a request for an automated transfer to the automated apparatus 130 in an infrared-ray communication method. The financial company's server 140 can receive the request from the automated apparatus 130 through a network. Also, if the user's terminal is wireless, the request can be transmitted to the financial company's server 140 directly through a wireless network.

The request of an automated transfer can be made directly with the receiving organization, not the financial company's server 140. in this case, the financial company's server 140 must ask a confirmation on the automated transfer request to the user.

Then, the financial company's server 140 informs the receiving organization that the automated transfer is registered (S402). When the receiving organization requests an automated transfer to the financial company's server 140 (S403), the financial company's server 140 checks the balance of the account (S504) and requests the user to check the content of the request via the user's wired/wireless terminals 110 and 120 (S405). If the balance of the account is less than the requested amount for the automated transfer, such information can be sent to the wired/wireless terminals 110 and 120.

When the use confirms the content of the request (S407), the financial company's server 140 transfers a fund to the receiving organization (S408) and transmits the content of the transaction to the wired/wireless terminals 110 and 120 so that the exclusive program of the corresponding terminal updates transaction records and the user checks the update (S409).

The present invention provides a method which can replace a conventional face-to-face transaction. If a phone center makes a franchise contract with a bank regarding the financial business and the automated apparatus 130 is installed in the phone center, the user can easily open an account using a phone number and install the financial transaction exclusive program.

The phone center having the automated apparatus 130 can receive a fee incurring along the account opening and program installation from the bank. Also, the fee incurring along the user of the automated apparatus 130 can be received from the δ bank.

Also, the menu of a financial transaction mode of the financial transaction exclusive program provided according to the present invention may be configured to include a balance check, a funds transfer, an account transfer, deposit/drawing, an automatic transfer, and an approved key management. When the user chooses the "balance check", the content of the final transaction and the balance are transmitted and the next transaction can be displayed in order of the previous transactions. Also, when the user chooses the "approved key management", a changed approved key can be received and registered.

Industrial Applicability

As described above, according to the present invention, the financial transaction exclusive program is included in the wired/wireless terminal so that all transactions are instantly recognized and an illicit transaction can be prevented. Also, since a wired terminal installed at a fixed place such as a store or a desk of a financial manager can instantly recognize a transaction transferred by a customer, if the wireless terminal of the customer and the wired terminal of the store are used, an affect of being a useful payment method replacing a direct pay/prepaid card transaction can be obtained. Also, since the phone number of the wired/wireless terminal of the present invention is registered as an account number, the account number is easy for a sender to recognize so that a compatibility with a general account is obtained and a possibility of an incorrect transfer is very low. Since the balance is included in the terminal by the approval of a transaction by the party concerned, a high security can be secured. Furthermore, when in the present invention an automated apparatus is installed by making a franchise contract with a phone center and a fee is paid for a face-to-face transaction such as account opening, since an additional cost for opening a branch is not needed, a typical model for an Internet bank is available.

The above-described method according to the present invention can be embodied in a program and stored in a computer readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a RAM, a ROM, a floppy disk, a hard disk, and a magneto-optical disk. While this invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method of providing a financial service using a phone number and an account balance to a user by registering a phone number of a user's terminal, installing a financial transaction exclusive program in the user's terminal, and inputting the phone number of the user's terminal and an approved key to a corresponding program, the method comprising: receiving the approved key, an account number of a counterpart to receive a fund to be transferred, an amount of a fund, and a balance of a corresponding account, from the user's terminal, to obtain the phone number of the user's terminal (a first step); performing approval by using the phone number of the user's terminal, the received approved key, and the account balance, which are obtained in the first step (a second step); transmitting a request for confirmation of a name of the counterpart and an amount to be transferred to the use's terminal (a third step); performing a fund to the account of the counterpart if a response to the request for confirmation is received from the user (a fourth step); and transmitting a corresponding transaction content to the user's terminal to update a transaction record of the exclusive program (a fifth step).

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a sixth step of transmitting an error message if the approval of the second step fails.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a sixth step of, if a response to the user confirmation request is note received, requesting retransmission of the name of the counterpart and the amount to be transferred and receive the retransmitted the name of the counterpart and the amount to be transferred to repeat the third and fourth steps.

4. The method as claimed in any of claims 1 through 3, wherein the approval of the second step is performed only if the phone number of the user's terminal, the approved key, and the current balance of a corresponding account, which are preset by π the user, and the phone number of the user's terminal, the received approved key, and the account balance, which are obtained in the first step, are the same.

5. The method as claimed in any of claims 1 through 3, wherein the receiving and obtaining actions in the first step are achieved as an automated apparatus utilizes an infrared ray communication method.

6. A computer readable recording medium containing a program to provide a method of providing a financial service using a phone number and an account balance to a user by registering a phone number of a user's terminal, installing a financial transaction exclusive program in the user's terminal, and inputting the phone number of the user's terminal and an approved key to a corresponding program, in a system having a microprocessor, wherein the program embodies functions which comprise: a first function of receiving the approved key, an account number of a counterpart to receive a fund to be transferred, an amount of a fund, and a balance of a corresponding account, from the user's terminal, to obtain the phone number of the user's terminal; a second function of performing approval by using the phone number of the user's terminal, the received approved key, and the account balance, which are obtained in the first step; a third function of transmitting a request for confirmation of a name of the counterpart and an amount to be transferred to the use's terminal; a fourth function of performing a fund to the account of the counterpart if a response to the request for confirmation is received from the user; and a fifth function of transmitting a corresponding transaction content to the user's terminal to update a transaction record of the exclusive program.