WO2008020257A1 - Method and system for fulfilling electronic financial transactions - Google Patents
Method and system for fulfilling electronic financial transactions Download PDFInfo
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- WO2008020257A1 WO2008020257A1 PCT/HU2007/000073 HU2007000073W WO2008020257A1 WO 2008020257 A1 WO2008020257 A1 WO 2008020257A1 HU 2007000073 W HU2007000073 W HU 2007000073W WO 2008020257 A1 WO2008020257 A1 WO 2008020257A1
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- registered user
- transaction
- account
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- 230000015572 biosynthetic process Effects 0.000 abstract 1
- 230000005540 biological transmission Effects 0.000 description 3
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 2
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- 241000278323 Daphne cneorum Species 0.000 description 1
- 230000009471 action Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000009286 beneficial effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000008859 change Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000015654 memory Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000008520 organization Effects 0.000 description 1
- 235000013550 pizza Nutrition 0.000 description 1
Classifications
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
- G06Q20/08—Payment architectures
- G06Q20/12—Payment architectures specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
- G06Q20/02—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
- G06Q20/04—Payment circuits
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
- G06Q20/38—Payment protocols; Details thereof
- G06Q20/385—Payment protocols; Details thereof using an alias or single-use codes
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
- G06Q20/38—Payment protocols; Details thereof
- G06Q20/40—Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
- G06Q20/403—Solvency checks
Definitions
- An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic financial transaction system and method, which are more efficient and more flexible than those known in the art.
- a unique identification code of the account of the first registered user or a user identifier of the first registered user is preferably received in the request.
- the identification code of the account of the registered user may be forwarded to the user in several ways.
- the identification code is typically stored on a portable plastic card, for example, in a magnetic form, or in a memory chip in electronic form, or in the form of a bar code and an associ- ated sequence of numbers, and this card is then forwarded to the user.
- the identification code may also be forwarded to the user in an electronic message, for example in SMS or e-mail message, wherein the user may store the code in an arbitrary form.
- the unique identification code of the account is preferably a sequence of alphanumeric characters, the length of which is large enough so that the system be capable of serving practically any number of user.
Abstract
In the method according to the invention, a transaction center (210) is used for fulfilling electronic financial transactions between registered users, wherein each of the registered users has at least one account (221, 231 ) managed by said transaction center (210), each of the accounts (221, 231 ) being associated with a unique identification code. The method is characterized in that it comprises the steps of receiving, from a first registered user, a request for debiting the account (221 ) of a second registered user, said request containing at least the following pieces of in¬ formation: identification code of the account (231 ) of the second registered user, the requested amount of debit and a piece of information suitable for identifying the account (221 ) of the first registered user; examining whether the financial transaction is allowed to be fulfilled with the account (231 ) of the second registered, and if the transaction is allowed to be fulfilled, assigning a transaction code to the financial transaction; forwarding the transaction code to the second registered user; receiving the transaction code from the first registered user; checking validity of the transaction code received from the first registered user, and if it is valid, debiting the account (231 ) of the second registered user in the requested amount, and crediting the account (221 ) of the first registered user in the same amount; and finally, sending an acknowledgement message relating to the fulfillment of the financial transaction to the first registered user and/or the second registered user. The system according to the invention is used to carry out the method.
Description
Method and system for fulfilling electronic financial transactions
The present invention relates to a method and a system for fulfilling electronic financial transactions.
As the Internet and the mobile telecommunication have widely spread, several various electronic payment systems have been developed. In the electronic payment methods carried out in particular via the Internet, as a public computer network, performing a substantially secure transmission of the personal data or the bank related data of the users was a difficult job. In order to solve this problem, together with various encrypting methods, new systems have been developed in which the user may use, instead of his sensitive or secret data, a unique identification code, i.e. a so called transaction code, to complete a financial transaction in electronic way, wherein the transaction code may be a single-use code or a code with a limited period of validity. Such a system is disclosed, for example, in WO 2005/074366 and WO 03/075192.
In the prior art systems, the transaction code, i.e. the code relating to a particular financial transaction, is to be specifically required by the user from an au- thorized organization, i.e. from a so called transaction center, which is connected to the registered users (e.g. buyers, merchants), as well as to the banks managing their bank accounts. A user is allowed to initiate any financial transaction, i.e. a change in the balance of the accounts, only when possessing the corresponding transaction code. A common feature of the known systems that accounts of the users are managed by the banks, while the transaction center serves only as an intermediate party between the users and the banks. In these electronic payment systems, a buyer is first to contact a merchant in order to obtain information relating to the purchase (e.g. price of the article, identifier of the merchant, etc.), and subsequently he can require a transaction code associated with the particular pur- chase from the transaction center. After receiving the transaction code, the buyer should contact the merchant again in order to buy the desired product on-line, via the Internet or directly at the place of sale of the merchant.
An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic financial transaction system and method, which are more efficient and more flexible than those known in the art.
These and other objects are achieved by providing a method, wherein a transaction center is used for fulfilling electronic financial transactions between registered users. Each of the registered users has at least one account managed by said transaction center, and each of the accounts is associated with a unique identification code. The method comprises the following steps: receiving, from a first registered user, a request for debiting the account of a second registered user, said request containing at least the following pieces of information: identification code of the account of the second registered user, the requested amount of debit and a piece of information suitable for identifying the account of the first registered user; checking whether the financial transaction can be fulfilled with the account of the second registered user, and if the transaction is allowed to be fulfilled, assigning a transaction code to the financial transaction; forwarding the transaction code to the second registered user; receiving the transaction code from the first registered user; checking validity of the transaction code received from the first registered user, and if it is valid, debiting the account of the second registered user in the requested amount, while crediting the account of the first registered user in the same amount; and finally, sending an acknowledgement message relating to the fulfillment of the financial transaction to the first registered user and/or the second registered user.
As said piece of information suitable for identifying the account of the first registered user, a unique identification code of the account of the first registered user or a user identifier of the first registered user is preferably received in the request.
When checking whether the financial transaction is allowed to be fulfilled with the account of the second registered, it is preferably examined whether said account has enough cover for debiting. As a further step, it may also be examined whether the financial transaction is allowed to be fulfilled according to some limiting conditions previously set by the second user with respect to his own account.
In case the transaction is not allowed to be fulfilled on the account of the second registered user, or the transaction code received from the first registered user is not valid, a corresponding message is preferably sent to the first registered user and/or the second registered user. The request of the first registered user may be received through the internet.
The transaction code is forwarded to the second registered user in an SMS message, but it may also be forwarded in e-mail.
In a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, the transaction codes are reused, and when receiving the transaction code from the first registered user, an additional piece of information suitable for the unambiguous identification of the financial transaction is also received. This additional piece of information may include, for example, a unique identification code of the account of the second registered user or a unique identifier generated by the first registered user and assigned to the transaction.
The above objects are further achieved by providing system for fulfilling electronic financial transactions between registered users, said system comprising a transaction center managing the accounts of registered users, each account being associated with a unique identification code, and communication interconnec- tions established between the transaction center and the registered users. The transaction center comprises means for receiving, from a first registered user, a request for debiting the account of a second registered user; means for checking whether the request received from the first registered user is allowed to be fulfilled; means for assigning a transaction code to the financial transaction if the request of the first registered user is allowed to be fulfilled; means for forwarding the transaction code to the second registered user; means for receiving, from the first registered user, the transaction code previously sent to the second registered user; means for checking validity of the transaction code received from the first registered user; and means for debiting the account of the second registered user in the amount specified in the request and for crediting the account of the first registered user in the amount specified in the request if the transaction code received from the first registered user is valid.
- A -
It is preferred that the communication interconnection between the transaction center and the first registered user, as well as the communication interconnection between the first registered user and the second registered user is the Internet. The communication interconnection between the transaction center and the second registered user is preferably a mobile telephone network and in this case, the transaction code is forwarded in an SMS message. However, the communication interconnection between the transaction center and the second registered user may be the Internet as well, and in this case, the transaction code is prefera- bly forwarded in an e-mail message.
In a preferred embodiment of the system according to the invention, the unique identification code of the account of the second registered user is stored on a portable card in the form of a bar code or in magnetic form or in electronic form.
One of the advantages of the method according to the present invention is that it requires a reduced number of message exchanges relative to known methods for electronic financial transactions. Furthermore, the method may be carried out by using the communications infrastructure (e.g. internet, mobile telecommunication systems) that are already available almost everywhere today. Accordingly, the electronic financial transaction carried out by the method according to the pre- sent invention is more reliable, faster, more secure and more convenient for the users.
The invention will be now described in detail with reference to the drawings, wherein:
- Fig. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating steps of the method according to the invention; and
- Fig. 2 is schematic block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the system according to the invention.
Fig. 1 illustrates the steps of the method for fulfilling electronic financial transactions, according to the present invention. The financial transaction between registered users is fulfilled by using a transaction center. When carrying out the method, it is assumed that each user has at least one account managed by the transaction center, and each account has a unique identification code. An account
is established whenever a user is registered, and the unique identification code assigned to the account is forwarded to the user after the successful registration - but before carrying out the method according to the invention.
The transaction center may be operated by a financial institute, such as a bank, or any other institute meeting the requirements fixed by law.
The registration may be completed in any conventional way, like personally in a customer service office, or by filling out a form and mailing it by post, or online, via the Internet, by a registration on the home page of the institute that operates the transaction center. In the transaction center, recorded data of the users are treated by applying the respective laws of data protection.
After the successful registration, the identification code of the account of the registered user may be forwarded to the user in several ways. The identification code is typically stored on a portable plastic card, for example, in a magnetic form, or in a memory chip in electronic form, or in the form of a bar code and an associ- ated sequence of numbers, and this card is then forwarded to the user. However, the identification code may also be forwarded to the user in an electronic message, for example in SMS or e-mail message, wherein the user may store the code in an arbitrary form. The unique identification code of the account is preferably a sequence of alphanumeric characters, the length of which is large enough so that the system be capable of serving practically any number of user.
In the first step S100 of the electronic financial transaction, a request for debiting the account of a second registered user is received from a first registered user. The request contains at least the identification code of the account of the second registered user, the requested amount of debit and a piece of information that can be used to identify the account of the first registered user. This latter information may be a unique identification code of the account of the first registered user or, if the first registered user has only one account, a user identifier belonging to the first registered user in the system. The request, however, may contain further pieces of information relating to the financial transaction, such as a product identifier of the product to be purchased, the date and the time of the purchase, the place of the purchase, etc., in case of shopping with electronic payment. Addi-
tionally, the request may contain a unique identifier associated with the particular transaction, said unique identifier being generated by the first registered user.
The first registered user obtains the identification code of the account of the second registered user directly from the second registered user before the trans- action. For example, if the identification code of the account is printed on a card in the form of a bar code, the first registered user will obtain the identification code by reading it by a bar code reader. Alternatively, when the identification code of the account is stored on a magnetic card, the first registered user may read said identification code by using a POS terminal. In step S110 it is checked whether the account of the second registered user can be debited. The primary aim of this check is to determine whether the account of the second registered user has a cover enough for withdrawing the requested amount.
In an alternative embodiment of the method according to the invention, fur- ther conditions relating to the use of the account of the second registered user are also checked in step S110. If it is allowed for the user to predefine various limitations with respect to his account, it may be also checked in step S110 if the limiting conditions are fulfilled. Such a limitation may be, for example, that a user is allowed to spend a given amount from his account only on products of specific types, or only at specific merchants.
If it is established in step S110 that the transaction cannot be fulfilled with the account of the second registered user because there is no enough cover in it or any other optional condition of use is not fulfilled, a message relating to the refusal of the request is sent to the first registered user and/or the second registered user in step S120, and thereby the transaction terminates. In a particular case, although the account of the second registered user has a balance higher than the requested amount of debit, the transaction will be refused if it is not allowed to spend from the account on a product of the particular type.
If it is established in step S110 that the account of the second registered user can be debited, a transaction code is assigned to the financial transaction in step S 130.
The transaction code may be a single use code, but it also may be a reusable code that can be reused in other transactions simultaneously or at a later time. For the sake of higher security, validity of the transaction code is preferably limited in time, that is a transaction code not used within its validity period be- comes invalid. The transaction code is preferably generated by using a secret algorithm in such a way that the transaction code belonging to a particular transaction cannot be generated by a nasty user.
In a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, a particular transaction code may be distributed to multiple users at the same time. In case of using identical transaction codes simultaneously, the transaction code should always be sent to the transaction center together with additional information that is suitable for unambiguously identifying the particular transaction. This additional information may be, for example, a unique identifier of the account of the second registered user or a transaction identifier generated by the first regis- tered user. This embodiment of the method according to the invention is particularly advantageous because it is not necessary to generate a different transaction code for each transaction, thus the operation of the system becomes easier and the size of the transaction code may also be smaller relative to the transactions codes used in the art. For this purpose, the use of as few as six digits is enough. The use of the shorter code results in more convenience and higher security for the users as well.
In step S140, the transaction code is forwarded to the second registered user, preferably in electronic form. In a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, the transaction code is forwarded in an SMS to the mobile phone of the second registered user. In another preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, the transaction code is forwarded to the computer of the second registered user via the internet in an e-mail message.
So that the transaction be fulfilled successfully, the second registered user has to provide the first registered user with the transaction code. The second reg- istered user forwards the transaction code preferably in electronic form, for example via the internet by sending an e-mail or by using the web page of the first registered user, or in SMS. After the second registered user has made the transaction
code available for the first registered user, the transaction code is received from the first registered user in step S150. If necessary, e.g. when reuse of the transaction codes is allowed, additional data required to unambiguously identify the transaction are also received. These additional data may include, for example, a unique identification code of the account of the second registered user or another unique identifier associated with the transaction, said identifier being generated by the first registered user.
In Step S160, validity of the transaction code received from the first registered user is checked. If it is established in step S160 that the transaction code is invalid because, for example, it does not belong to the particular financial transaction or its validity period has already expired, a corresponding message is sent, in step S170, to the first registered user and/or the second registered user, and thereby the transaction terminates unsuccessfully. If in step S160, it is established that the transaction code is valid, the account of the second registered user is debited in the requested amount in step S180, whereas the account of the first registered user is credited in the same amount, and subsequently, an acknowledgement message concerning the successful fulfillment of the financial transaction is sent to the first registered user and/or the second registered user. The acknowledgement message is preferably sent electronically, for example in an SMS or e-mail message.
In order to improve security of the method according to the invention, it is preferred that the messages are transmitted in an encrypted form. The secure message sending is also supported by that the messages are allowed to be re- ceived or transmitted only from pre-registered sources, only to pre-registered destinations and only through pre-registered data transmission channels (e.g. a server with registered IP address, registered mobile subscriber number, etc.). Consequently, the communication may be done through public networks as well, which is beneficial due the fact that the current widespread public communication networks like the internet, the GSM networks, etc. allow a relatively high degree of encryption at a considerably low price. Security of the system can be further improved by limiting validity of the transaction code in time, as mentioned above.
The system for carrying out the method according to the invention comprises a transaction center managing the accounts of registered users, each account being associated with a unique identification code, and communication interconnections established between the transaction center and the registered us- ers. The transaction center involves hardware and software tools that make it suitable for carrying out the method according to the invention. Accordingly, the transaction center comprises means for receiving, from at least one first registered user, a request for debiting the account of a second registered user, means for checking whether the request or the first registered user is allowed to be fulfilled, means for assigning a transaction code to the financial transaction if the request of the first registered user is allowed to be fulfilled, means for forwarding the transaction code to the second registered user, means for receiving, from the first registered user, the transaction code previously sent to the second registered user, means for checking validity of the transaction code received from the first regis- tered user, and means for debiting the account of the second registered user in the amount specified in the request, and crediting the account of the first registered user in the amount specified in the request if the transaction code received from the first registered user is valid. The transaction center is preferably implemented in the form of a computer involving at least the above mentioned means. The means for transmitting and receiving the messages, such as the request, the message containing the transaction code, error indication messages or acknowledgement messages, are typically communication interfaces, whereas the means for checking the content of the aforementioned messages and modifying the balance of the accounts are implemented by a suitably programmed processor. Obvi- ously, the transactions center is further provided with all of the computing components (e.g. memories, data bases, input and output devices, etc.) that are usually necessary to operate such systems.
Some alternative embodiments of the system according to the invention will now be described through a specific case of application, with reference to Fig. 2. The system 200 shown in Fig. 2 is used for electronic payment applied for online shopping performed via the Internet. The system 200 comprises a transaction center 210, a merchant 220 using the internet for online merchandising, a buyer 230,
a bank 240 and communication interconnections 215, 225, 235, 245. For the sake of simplicity, only two registered user are illustrated in Fig. 2, wherein the merchant 220 plays the role of the first registered user, whereas the buyer 230 plays the role of the second registered user. After an initial registration procedure, both of the buyer 230 and the merchant 220 possess an account 231 and 221 , respectively, said accounts being associated with a unique identifier. Both of the buyer 230 and the merchant 220 may have more than one account at the same time. The unique identification code associated with the accounts 221 , 231 may be, for example, a numeric sequence of 18 digits, which is printed on a plastic card together with a corresponding bar code according to the EAN International standard. It is obvious, however, that this identification code may be stored on a magnetic card or a smart card, or in any other form, as well.
After the buyer 230 has selected the product (or service) to be purchased on the web page of the merchant 220, when specifying the mode of payment, the buyer 230 should select paying from an account kept by the transaction center, and then he should provide the merchant with the identification code, from the associated account 231 of which he wishes to withdraw the amount of the purchase price. Preferably, the buyer 230 should enter the identification code of the account 231 into the web page of the merchant 220, or he may send it even in SMS to a mobile subscriber number specified by the merchant 220.
Next, the merchant 220 forwards the identification code of his own account 221 , the identification code of the account 231 of the buyer 230 and the amount to be paid by the buyer 230 in the form of a request message through, for example, the internet or a non-public data transmission system to the transaction center 210, which checks whether the account 231 of the buyer 230 has enough cover for fulfilling the payment transaction, or whether the purchase of the particular product is not prohibited by any limiting condition set by the buyer 230. If the account 231 of the buyer 230 has no enough cover or the account 231 is not allowed to be used for paying for the desired product, the merchant 220 and the buyer 230 will be notified by the transaction center 210 in SMS or e-mail, for example. If the account 231 of the buyer 230 can be debited in the amount of purchase price of
the product to be purchased, the transaction code assigned to the transaction will be forwarded from the transaction center 210 to the buyer 230. The transaction code is preferably forwarded to the buyer 230 in the form of an SMS message, but it may be forwarded via the internet, in the form of an e-mail message as well. In this embodiment, the transaction code is a reusable code.
The buyer 230 has to enter the transaction code into the web page of the merchant 220, and this is the way in which he provides the merchant 220 with the transaction code. Similarly to the identification code of the account 231 , the transaction code may also be forwarded from the buyer 230 to a mobile subscriber number specified by the merchant 220 in the form of an SMS.
The merchant 220 should forward the transaction code together with an additional piece of information adapted for unambiguously identifying the transaction, such as the unique identification code of the account 231 of the buyer 230, to the transaction center 210, which checks validity of the transaction code. In case the transaction code is not valid for some reason, a corresponding message is sent from the transaction center 210 to the merchant 220 and/or the buyer 230 in an SMS or via e-mail, and thereby the process terminates without payment. In such a situation, the buyer 230 may initiate a payment through the transaction center 210 again, or he may waive the purchase. If the transaction code received from the merchant 220 is valid, the transaction center 210 will take measures to respectively modify the balances of the accounts 221 , 231 , and it will automatically send a notification, preferably in SMS, to the merchant 220 and the buyer 230 to indicate the successful fulfillment of the transaction. After receiving the notification message, the merchant 220 may make arrangements for delivery of the ordered product or to offer the ordered service.
In case the unique identifier of the account 231 of the buyer 230 is stored on the above mentioned card in the form of a bar code, it is also possible for the buyer 230 to order and to pay for a product, such as a cinema ticket, at home via the internet, and subsequently, to obtain the purchased product at the site of the merchant 220, e.g. in a cinema, by using an automated terminal comprising a bar code reader for reading the unique identifier from his card, followed by an immediate delivery of the purchased product, e.g. the cinema ticket, to him. By using such
an automated terminal, the buyer 230 does not have to stand in a queue at the merchant 220, neither for being served, nor at the cashier's desk, thus the process of purchase may be significantly accelerated.
In the above described embodiment of the system according to the inven- tion, the bank 240 has the sole responsibility of keeping the bank account of the institute operating the transaction center 210. The registered users (e.g. buyers, merchants) may fill up their accounts managed by the transaction center 210 with funds, or if they wish to withdraw funds from the system, they may instruct the institute operating the transaction center 210 occasionally or regularly to transfer the desired amount through the bank 240 to the bank account specified by them.
In an alternative embodiment of the system according to the invention, the funds accumulated on the account of the merchant 220 are regularly transferred by the transaction center 210 through the bank 240 to the merchant 220, i.e. to a bank account specified by the merchant 220. The system and the method according to the invention has been described through a particular example of application by means of various embodiments. The present invention, however, is not limited to the embodiments described above. Therefore not only payment transactions may be managed between the registered users, but any other financial transactions as well, like transferring in a crediting case, encashing made by a service provider, paying an official fee, etc. It is also obvious for a person skilled in the art that instead of transferring through the aforementioned bank, the accounts managed by the transaction center may also be filled up with funds in any other known way like paying with cheque or by paying cash at the counter of the operating institute. The system according to the system is particularly suitable for the electronic, cashless payment for audio and/or video files down-loadable from the internet, products that can be ordered via the internet and delivered door-to-door (e.g. flowers, pizza, books, etc.), ads, lottery services, parking fees, motorway stickers, cinema and theater tickets, railway and flight tickets, etc.
Claims
1. A method of fulfilling electronic financial transactions between registered users by using a transaction center (210), wherein each of the registered users has at least one account (221 , 231 ) managed by said transaction center (210), and each of the accounts (221 , 231 ) is associated with a unique identification code, characterized in that the method comprises the steps of
- receiving, from a first registered user, a request for debiting the account (221 ) of a second registered user, said request containing at least the following pieces of information: identification code of the account (231 ) of the second registered user, the requested amount of debit and a piece of information suitable for identifying the account (221 ) of the first registered user;
- checking whether the financial transaction is allowed to be fulfilled with the account (231 ) of the second registered user, and if the transaction is allowed to be fulfilled, assigning a transaction code to the financial transaction;
- forwarding the transaction code to the second registered user;
- receiving the transaction code from the first registered user;
- checking validity of the transaction code received from the first registered user, and if it is valid, debiting the account (231 ) of the second registered user in the re- quested amount, and crediting the account (221 ) of the first registered user in the same amount; and
- sending an acknowledgement message relating to the fulfillment of the financial transaction to the first registered user and/or the second registered user.
2. The method of claim 1 , characterized in that a unique identification code of the account (221 ) of the first registered user or a user identifier of the first registered user is received in the request as said piece of information suitable for identifying the account (221 ) of the first registered user.
3. The method of claim 1 or 2, characterized in that in the step of checking whether the financial transaction is allowed to be fulfilled with the account (231 ) of the second registered, it is examined whether said account (231 ) has enough cover for debiting.
4. The method of claim 3, characterized in that the method further comprises a step of examining whether the financial transaction is allowed to be fulfilled according to limiting conditions previously set by the second user with respect to his own account (231 ).
5. The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that if the transaction is not allowed to be fulfilled in the account (231 ) of the second registered user, a corresponding message is sent to the first registered user and/or the second registered user.
6. The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that if the transaction code received from the first registered user is not valid, a corresponding message is sent to the first registered user and/or the second registered user.
7. The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the request of the first registered user is received through the internet.
8. The method of any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the transaction code is forwarded to the second registered user in an SMS message.
9. The method of any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the transaction code is forwarded to the second registered user in an e-mail message.
10. The method of any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the transaction codes are reused, and when receiving a transaction code from the first registered user, an additional piece of information suitable for the unambiguous identification of the financial transaction is also received.
11. The method of claim 10, characterized in that as said additional piece of information suitable for the unambiguous identification of the financial transaction, a unique identification code of the account (231 ) of the second registered user or a unique identifier generated by the first registered user and assigned to the transac- tion is received.
12. System for fulfilling electronic financial transactions between registered users, said system comprising a transaction center (210) managing the accounts (221 , 231 ) of registered users, each account (221 , 231 ) being associated with a unique identification code, and communication interconnections (215, 225, 235, 245) established between the transaction center (210) and the registered users, characterized in that said transaction center (210) comprises:
- means for receiving, from a first registered user, a request for debiting the account (231 ) of a second registered user; - means for checking whether the request received from the first registered user is allowed to be fulfilled;
- means for assigning a transaction code to the financial transaction if the request of the first registered user is allowed to be fulfilled;
- means for forwarding the transaction code to the second registered user; - means for receiving, from the first registered user, the transaction code previously sent to the second registered user;
- means for checking validity of the transaction code received from the first registered user; and
- means for debiting the account (231 ) of the second registered user in the amount specified in the request and for crediting the account (221 ) of the first registered user in the amount specified in the request if the transaction code received from the first registered user is valid.
13. The system of claim 12, characterized in that the communication interconnec- tion (225) between the transaction center (210) and the first registered user is the
Internet.
14. The system of claim 12 or 13, characterized in that the communication interconnection (235) between the transaction center (210) and the second registered user is a mobile telephone network and the transaction code is forwarded in an SMS message.
15. The system of claim 12 or 13, characterized in that the communication interconnection (235) between the transaction center (210) and the second registered user is the Internet and the transaction code is forwarded in an e-mail message.
16. The system of any one of claims 12 to 15, characterized in that the communication interconnection (215) between the first registered user and the second registered user is the Internet.
17. The system of any one of claims 12 to 16, characterized in that said unique identification code of the account (231 ) of the second registered user is stored on a portable card in the form of a bar code or in magnetic form or in electronic form.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| HU0600652A HUP0600652A2 (en) | 2006-08-16 | 2006-08-16 | Method and system for electronic financial transactions |
| HUP0600652 | 2006-08-16 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| WO2008020257A1 true WO2008020257A1 (en) | 2008-02-21 |
Family
ID=89986974
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/HU2007/000073 WO2008020257A1 (en) | 2006-08-16 | 2007-08-15 | Method and system for fulfilling electronic financial transactions |
Country Status (2)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| HU (1) | HUP0600652A2 (en) |
| WO (1) | WO2008020257A1 (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2011141062A1 (en) * | 2010-05-12 | 2011-11-17 | Novelty Group Limited | Payment system, procedure for producing at least one code pair for authorizing a debit operation, and method for carrying out a payment operation |
Citations (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US5883810A (en) * | 1997-09-24 | 1999-03-16 | Microsoft Corporation | Electronic online commerce card with transactionproxy number for online transactions |
| US20010025271A1 (en) * | 1999-12-14 | 2001-09-27 | Allen Douglas G. | Commercial transaction system and method for protecting the security and privacy of buyers transacting business over a communication network |
| US20040054624A1 (en) * | 2002-09-13 | 2004-03-18 | Qi Guan | Procedure for the completion of an electronic payment |
| WO2006049585A1 (en) * | 2004-11-05 | 2006-05-11 | Mobile Money International Sdn Bhd | Payment system |
-
2006
- 2006-08-16 HU HU0600652A patent/HUP0600652A2/en unknown
-
2007
- 2007-08-15 WO PCT/HU2007/000073 patent/WO2008020257A1/en active Application Filing
Patent Citations (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US5883810A (en) * | 1997-09-24 | 1999-03-16 | Microsoft Corporation | Electronic online commerce card with transactionproxy number for online transactions |
| US20010025271A1 (en) * | 1999-12-14 | 2001-09-27 | Allen Douglas G. | Commercial transaction system and method for protecting the security and privacy of buyers transacting business over a communication network |
| US20040054624A1 (en) * | 2002-09-13 | 2004-03-18 | Qi Guan | Procedure for the completion of an electronic payment |
| WO2006049585A1 (en) * | 2004-11-05 | 2006-05-11 | Mobile Money International Sdn Bhd | Payment system |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2011141062A1 (en) * | 2010-05-12 | 2011-11-17 | Novelty Group Limited | Payment system, procedure for producing at least one code pair for authorizing a debit operation, and method for carrying out a payment operation |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| HU0600652D0 (en) | 2006-10-28 |
| HUP0600652A2 (en) | 2008-04-28 |
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