SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION
Systems and methods are to provide information to facilitate online transactions via mobile communications. In one aspect, a system includes a data storage facility to store and associate personal information of a user with a telephone number of the user, and an interchange coupled with the data storage facility. The interchange includes a common format processor and a plurality of converters to interface with a plurality of different controllers of mobile communications. The converters are configured to communicate with the common format processor in a common format and to communicate with the controllers in different formats. The interchange uses the converters to communicate with the mobile phone of a user to approve the providing of the personal information from the data storage facility to a website.
1 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
presenting, by at least one server computer, a website with a field for entering a phone number of a user;
receiving at the server computer a web request including an amount and the phone number of the user entered by the user in relation to a transaction of the user at the web site;
identifying a user account on a data storage facility coupled to the server computer, based on the phone number entered by the user; and
charging the account based on the amount received in the web request.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
communicating with a mobile phone of the user at the phone number of the user to obtain approval for the charging of the account based on the amount.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the communicating comprises:
transmitting a message to the mobile phone at the phone number; and
receiving a reply to the message back from the mobile phone.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the message and reply are transmitted via short message service (SMS).
5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the communicating comprises:
transmitting a first code to the mobile phone at the phone number;
providing a web page in response to the web request; and
receiving a second code in the web page in the server computer;
wherein the first code is matched with the second code to determine whether to approve the providing of the user information to the third party website.
6 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the communicating comprises:
providing from the server computer a first code in a web page in response to the web request; and
receiving a second code from the mobile phone;
wherein the first code is matched with the second code to determine whether to approve the providing of the user information to the third party website.
7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving at the server a first personal identification number (PIN);
wherein the first PIN is matched with a second PIN associated with the phone number in the data storage facility to determine whether to approve the charging of the account.
8 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
making a payment to a third party website in accordance with the web request, using funds associated with the account.
9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
collecting the funds via at least one premium message originated from or terminated at the mobile phone at the phone number.
10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying user information stored in the account; and
transmitting the user information to the third party website.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the user information includes an address of the user at the third party website.