Payment system and methods

1. A method for a system having a plurality of persons; a plurality of payment tokens issued under authority of an entity; a retail site configured with a first signal, the first signal being common to the plurality of payment tokens; a routing system for receiving a signal and generating a network address in response to the received signal, the routing system including a plurality of wide area communication links, the routing system being configured using the first signal, the system further including a second signal on a first payment token in the plurality of payment tokens; and a second system storing an association between the second signal and account information, the entity and an owner of the second system not being affiliated, the entity not being affiliated with a retailer, method comprising the steps, performed at the retail site, of:

receiving the first and second signals from the first payment token;

sending the first and second signals into the routing system, to cause the second system to perform the steps of determining whether the first payment token can effect payment,

responsive to the determining step, conditionally sending a message to cause an institution to send an ACH entry to the Federal Reserve ACH system, to pass the entry to a bank, where an account is issued a debit, to cause a transfer of funds to the owner of the retail site, and

making an entry in an accounting system, to effectively increment an amount owed by the owner of the retail site to the owner of the second system,

wherein the method further includes the step, performed at the retail site, of: conditionally effecting a transaction with a holder of the first payment token, depending on a signal received from the second system.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of payment tokens comprise a plurality of smart phones.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of payment tokens comprise a plurality of cellular devices.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of payment tokens comprise a plurality of wireless devices.

5. The method of claim 1 further including the steps, performed before the steps of claim 1 , of receiving the second signal; receiving account information; storing the association between the second signal and the account information.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the signal received from the second system includes an indication whether the payment token is authorized to effect payment.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the second system is in the United States of America.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the account is a demand account.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the information corresponding to the account includes an account number previously presented to a consumer.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the information corresponding to the account includes an account number previously presented to a consumer user on a paper statement generated by the financial institution managing the account.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the financial institution is a bank or credit union.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the second signal from the first payment token includes receiving the second signal via a point of sale terminal, and the method further includes receiving a third signal from the holder of the first payment token; and sending the third signal out of the point of sale terminal, without applying an encryption key to the third signal.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the third signal includes a PIN typed by the holder of the first payment token.

14. The method of claim 1 further including receiving a number from the holder of the first payment token, wherein sending the second signal includes sending the second signal to cause a debit to a selected one of multiple accounts associated with the holder, the account being selected by the number.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the number is a personal identification number selected by the user, the number having less digits than the account number.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the number is a personal identification number selected by the user, the number having a least 4 digits, and less digits the account number.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein sending the first and second signals into the routing system allows the routing system to access a data structure by using the first signal, to generate a network address, to allow the routing system to send the second signal to the second system.

18. The method of claim 1 further including determining whether to authorize a second transaction depending on an amount of the second transaction, a time of the second transaction, a retailer of the second transaction, an amount of the first transaction, a time of the first transaction, and the retailer of the first transaction.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein determining includes determining whether the party of the first transaction request and the party of the second transaction request are in a common market sector.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein determining includes determining whether the party of the first transaction request and the party of the second transaction request both are selling gasoline.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein determining includes an amount of transaction requests exceeds a threshold per unit time.

22. A method for a system having a plurality of persons; a plurality of payment tokens; a retail site configured with a first signal, the first signal being common to the plurality of payment tokens; a routing system for receiving a signal and generating a network address in response to the received signal, the routing system including a plurality of wide area communication links, the routing system being configured using the first signal, the system further including a second signal on a first payment token in the plurality of payment tokens; and a second system storing an association between the second signal and account information, method comprising the steps, performed at the retail site, of:

receiving the first and second signals from the first payment token;

sending the first and second signals into the routing system, to cause the second system to perform the steps of determining whether the first payment token can effect payment,

responsive to the determining step, conditionally sending a message to cause an institution to send an ACH entry to the Federal Reserve ACH system, to pass the entry to a bank, where an account is issued a debit, to cause a transfer of funds to the owner of the retail site, and

making an entry in an accounting system, to effectively increment an amount owed by the owner of the retail site to the owner of the second system,

wherein the method further includes the step, performed at the retail site, of: conditionally effecting a transaction with a holder of the first payment token, depending on a signal received from the second system.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the plurality of payment tokens are issued under authority of an entity.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the entity is not affiliated with a retailer.

25. The method of claim 22 , wherein the plurality of payment tokens comprise a plurality of cellular devices.

26. The method of claim 22 , wherein the plurality of payment tokens comprise a plurality of wireless devices.

27. A decoupled debit payment method for a holder of a United States checking account with a financial institution to accomplish a purchase at a retail site, wherein the checking account holder has physical possession of a payment token, the payment token not being a card with a magnetic stripe or bar code, comprising steps, performed at the retail site, of:

receiving a first signal and a second signal from the payment token:

sending the first signal and the second signal into a routing system;

depending on a signal received from a second system in which is stored an association between the second signal and account information, conditionally effecting a transaction with the holder of the payment token; whereby the holder of the payment token has accomplished the purchase at the retail site;

wherein the steps are performed by a computer or computers within an automated system.

28. The method of claim 27 , including making an entry in an accounting system, to effectively increment an amount owed by the owner of the retail site to the owner of the second system.