Credit Card Transaction Methods Employing Wireless Terminal Location and Registered Purchasing Locations

1 . A computer-readable storage medium, for use at a credit card transaction server and in connection with a profile database, having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations, for authorizing a credit card transaction, comprising:

receiving information concerning a prospective remote credit card transaction with a credit card and including a credit card number associated with the credit card and a telephone number of a telephone used to initiate the prospective remote credit card transaction;

obtaining first location information corresponding to a first wireless terminal, of a plurality of wireless terminals associated with a registered cardholder of the credit card, the first location information indicating a location of the first wireless terminal;

obtaining second location information corresponding to a second wireless terminal of the plurality of wireless terminals associated with the registered cardholder of the credit card, the second location information indicating a location of the second wireless terminal;

correlating both the first location and the second location, of the first location information and the second location information, respectively, with a registered purchasing location associated with the registered cardholder;

generating authorization information for the prospective remote credit card transaction in response to a result of correlating the first location and the second location and the registered purchasing location; and

retrieving a profile associated with the credit card number from the profile database in response to receiving the information concerning the prospective transaction does not correspond to the telephone number associated with the registered purchasing location.

2 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise rejecting the prospective remote credit card transaction in response to determining that the telephone number of the telephone used to initiate the prospective remote credit card transaction does not correspond to the telephone number associated with the registered purchasing location.

3 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise processing the additional authentication information concerning the prospective remote credit card transaction in response to determining that the telephone number of the telephone used to initiate the prospective remote credit card transaction does not correspond to the telephone number associated with the registered purchasing location.

4 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein:

the authorization code comprises a second authorization code;

the operations further comprises:

sending a first authorization code from the credit card transaction server through the wireless network interface to one of the wireless terminals;

comparing the first authorization code with the second authorization code; and

authorizing the transaction if the first and second authorization codes match.

5 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the operation of determining whether the locations of the plurality of wireless terminals correspond sufficiently to the registered purchasing location comprises determining whether every one of the plurality of wireless terminals is within a predetermined distance of the registered purchasing location.

6 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the operation of determining whether the locations of the plurality of wireless terminals correspond sufficiently to the registered purchasing location comprises determining whether at least two of the plurality of wireless terminals is within a predetermined distance of the registered purchasing location.

7 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein:

the operation of processing the authentication information comprises sending the authorization code to the cardholder during the transaction; and

the operation of processing the authentication information further includes sending the authorization code to a merchant for the merchant to use in confirming that the cardholder possesses the authorization code.

8 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the operation of processing the authentication information comprises retrieving the authorization code from the profile database and sending the authorization code to a merchant for the merchant to use in confirming that the cardholder possesses the authorization code.

9 . A credit card transaction server, for authorizing a credit card transaction, comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable medium being in communication with the processor having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations:

receiving information concerning a prospective remote credit card transaction with a credit card and including a credit card number associated with the credit card and a telephone number of a telephone used to initiate the prospective remote credit card transaction;

obtaining first location information corresponding to a first wireless terminal, of a plurality of wireless terminals associated with a registered cardholder of the credit card, the first location information indicating a location of the first wireless terminal;

obtaining second location information corresponding to a second wireless terminal of the plurality of wireless terminals associated with the registered cardholder of the credit card, the second location information indicating a location of the second wireless terminal;

correlating both the first location and the second location, of the first location information and the second location information, respectively, with a registered purchasing location associated with the registered cardholder;

generating authorization information for the prospective remote credit card transaction in response to a result of correlating the first location and the second location and the registered purchasing location; and

retrieving a profile associated with the credit card number from a profile database in response to receiving the information concerning the prospective transaction does not correspond to the telephone number associated with the registered purchasing location.

10 . The credit card transaction server of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise rejecting the prospective remote credit card transaction in response to determining that the telephone number of the telephone used to initiate the prospective remote credit card transaction does not correspond to the telephone number associated with the registered purchasing location.

11 . The credit card transaction server of claim 9 wherein:

the authorization code comprises a second authorization code;

the operations further comprises:

sending a first authorization code from the credit card transaction server through the wireless network interface to one of the wireless terminals;

comparing the first authorization code with the second authorization code; and

authorizing the transaction if the first and second authorization codes match.

12 . The credit card transaction server of claim 9 , wherein the operation of determining whether the locations of the plurality of wireless terminals correspond sufficiently to the registered purchasing location comprises determining whether every one of the plurality of wireless terminals is within a predetermined distance of the registered purchasing location.

13 . The credit card transaction server of claim 9 , wherein the operation of determining whether the locations of the plurality of wireless terminals correspond sufficiently to the registered purchasing location comprises determining whether at least two of the plurality of wireless terminals is within a predetermined distance of the registered purchasing location.

14 . The credit card transaction server of claim 9 , wherein:

the operation of processing the authentication information comprises sending the authorization code to the cardholder during the transaction; and

the operation of processing the authentication information further includes sending the authorization code to a merchant for the merchant to use in confirming that the cardholder possesses the authorization code.

15 . The credit card transaction server of claim 9 , wherein the operation of processing the authentication information comprises retrieving the authorization code from the profile database and sending the authorization code to a merchant for the merchant to use in confirming that the cardholder possesses the authorization code.

16 . A method, for authorizing a credit card transaction, comprising:

receiving, by a credit card transaction interface, information concerning a prospective remote credit card transaction with a credit card, the information including a credit card number associated with the credit card and a telephone number of a telephone used to initiate the prospective remote credit card transaction;

obtaining, by a wireless network interface, first location information corresponding to a first wireless terminal of a plurality of wireless terminals associated with a registered cardholder of the credit card, the first location information indicating a location of the first wireless terminal;

obtaining, by the wireless network interface, second location information corresponding to a second wireless terminal of the plurality of wireless terminals associated with the registered cardholder of the credit card, the second location information indicating a location of the second wireless terminal;

correlating, by a credit card transaction authorizing processor, both the first location and the second location, of the first location information and the second location information, respectively, with a registered purchasing location associated with the registered cardholder;

generating, by a credit card transaction authorizing processor, authorization information for the prospective remote credit card transaction in response to a result of the correlation of the locations of the plurality of wireless terminals and the registered purchasing location;

generating, by the credit card transaction authorizing processor, authorization information for the prospective remote credit card transaction in response to a result of correlating the first location and the second location and the registered purchasing location;

retrieving, by the credit card transaction authorization processor, a profile associated with the credit card number from a profile database in response to receiving the information concerning the prospective remote credit card transaction, wherein the profile associated with the credit card number comprises a wireless terminal identification number associated with the first wireless terminal of the plurality of wireless terminals, an identification of the registered purchasing location, and an identification of a telephone number associated with the registered purchasing location;

determining, by the credit card transaction authorization processor, whether both (a) the first location, corresponding to the first wireless terminal of the plurality of wireless terminals associated with the registered cardholder, and (b) second location, corresponding to the second wireless terminal of the plurality of wireless terminals associated with the registered cardholder, relate sufficiently to the registered purchasing location;

processing, by the credit card transaction authorization processor, in response to determining that both (a) the first location, corresponding to the first wireless terminal of the plurality of wireless terminals associated with the registered cardholder, and (b) the second location, corresponding to the second wireless terminal of the plurality of wireless terminals associated with the registered cardholder, do not relate sufficiently to the registered purchasing location, additional authentication information concerning the prospective remote credit card transaction, wherein the additional authentication information comprises an authorization code; and

comparing, by the credit card transaction authorization processor, the telephone number of the telephone used to initiate the prospective remote credit card transaction with the telephone number associated with the registered purchasing location.

17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising processing, by the credit card transaction authorization processor, the additional authentication information concerning the prospective remote credit card transaction if the telephone number of the telephone used to initiate the prospective remote credit card transaction does not correspond to the telephone number associated with the registered purchasing location.

18 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising rejecting, by the credit card transaction authorization processor, the prospective remote credit card transaction if the telephone number of the telephone used to initiate the prospective remote credit card transaction does not correspond to the telephone number associated with the registered purchasing location.

19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein:

the authorization code comprises a second authorization code; and

the method further comprises:

sending, by the credit card transaction authorization processor, a first authorization code through the wireless network interface to one of the wireless terminals;

comparing, by the credit card transaction authorization processor, the first authorization code with the second authorization code; and

authorizing, by the credit card transaction authorization processor, the transaction if the first and second authorization codes match.

20 . The method of claim 16 , wherein determining, by the credit card transaction authorization processor, whether the locations of the plurality of wireless terminals do not correspond sufficiently to the registered purchasing location, comprises determining whether every one of the plurality of wireless terminals is within a predetermined distance of the registered purchasing location.