Method and apparatus enabling improved protection of consumer information in electronic transactions
View Patent ↗According to a commercial method of the present invention, a merchant forwards transaction data to a consumer. If the consumer accepts the transaction, a payment command is forwarded to a service provider. The service provider selectively applies authentication before approving payment. Once payment is approved, the service provider forwards a payment instruction, including consumer account information, to a payment service. The payment service forwards payment to the merchant and a payment confirmation is returned to the service provider and, through the service provider, to the consumer. The service provider stores information about each transaction performed by each subscriber. Consumer identity is protected because it is only exchanged between the service provider and the payment service, and is not made available to the merchant. In addition, the storage of the transaction information by various devices facilitates the return process and adds marketing capability to the service provider.
1. A payment confirmation service provider system for facilitating transactions between merchants and consumers, the payment confirmation service provider system comprising:
at least one receiver configured to receive communications from consumer devices;
at least one transmitter configured to transmit communications to merchant systems; and
a computer system comprising at least one processor coupled to the at least one receiver and the at least one transmitter and configured to:
associate respective consumers with respective consumer devices;
receive transaction information from a particular consumer device, the transaction information identifying at least one particular transaction between a particular consumer and a particular merchant, and comprising an authorization by the particular consumer to pay the particular merchant for the particular transaction; and
transmit to a particular merchant system associated with the particular merchant information confirming that the particular consumer has authorized payment for the at least one particular transaction.
2. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one receiver is part of a communication interface to a communication network interconnecting the consumer devices to the payment confirmation service provider system.
3. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 2 , wherein the communication interface is configured for at least one of Short Message Service and Multimedia Message Service.
4. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to associate the respective consumers with the respective consumer devices by authenticating the respective consumers.
5. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to authenticate the consumers using at least one of a challenge and a personal identification number.
6. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine an appropriate level of authentication for a transaction based on transaction information.
7. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine an appropriate level of authentication for the transaction based on at least one of the value of the transaction, a location of the transaction and a frequency of transactions.
8. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine an appropriate level of authentication for the transaction based on distances between recent transactions.
9. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the transaction information comprising a respective transaction identifier for each transaction.
10. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the transaction information comprising a transacted item identifier for each transaction.
11. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the transaction information comprising a merchant identifier and a value of the transaction for each transaction.
12. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the transaction information comprising at least one payment option.
13. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the transaction information indicating a respective payment service for each payment option.
14. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the transaction information comprising a respective merchant identifier for each payment service.
15. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the transaction information comprising a time stamp for each transaction.
16. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the transaction information comprising at least one of an implicit authenticator and an explicit authenticator for each transaction.
17. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit to the particular merchant system associated with the particular merchant information indicating that the particular consumer has authorized payment comprising a transaction identifier.
18. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 17 , wherein the information indicating that the particular consumer has authorized payment comprises a time stamp.
19. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send payment confirmation information to the particular consumer device.
20. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to store transaction information associated with particular consumers and to provide access to respective stored transaction information to respective consumers.
21. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 20 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to analyze the respective stored transaction information.
22. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit the transaction information to at least one payment service provider.
23. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 22 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit the transaction information comprising a transaction identifier, a merchant identifier, a consumer identifier, and a transaction value.
24. The payment confirmation service provider system of claim 22 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
receive a response from the payment service provider indicating that a higher level of consumer authentication is required for a particular transaction associated with a particular consumer; and
execute a higher level of authentication with the particular consumer for the particular transaction.