Verification of portable consumer devices

1. A method comprising:

(a) receiving, at a server, a request for a device verification value for a portable consumer device associated with a user, the request originating from a personal communication device associated with the user;

(b) obtaining, from the received request, a phone number or network address of the personal communication device from which the received request was originated;

(c) obtaining, from a database of account records that are at least searchable by phone number or network address, an account record that contains the obtained phone number or network address by searching the database by the obtained phone number or network address, the account record associating one or more consumer accounts of portable consumer devices with the obtained phone number or network address;

(d) selecting a consumer account from the obtained account record;

(e) obtaining a datum indicative of a device verification value for the selected consumer account; and

(f) sending the obtained datum to at least one of a phone number or network address of a personal communication device associated with the selected consumer account.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtained account record stores one or more account numbers of one or more consumer accounts, each consumer account corresponding to a portable consumer device;

wherein the method further comprises obtaining an incomplete account number from the received request; and

wherein selecting a consumer account of the portable consumer device comprises comparing the obtained incomplete account number to the one or more account numbers stored in the obtained account record to find a match between the incomplete account number and a portion of one of the stored account numbers.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtained account record stores a unique identification code and one or more code phrases of one or more consumer accounts, each consumer account corresponding to a portable consumer device;

wherein the method further comprises obtaining a unique identification code and a code phrase from the received request;

wherein the method further comprises comparing the unique identification code obtained from the received request with the unique identification code stored in the obtained account record for a match;

wherein selecting a consumer account of the portable consumer device comprises comparing the obtained code phrase to the one or more code phrases stored in the obtained account record to find a match between the obtained code phrase and a stored code phrase.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending a datum indicative of the device verification value for the selected consumer account and an indication of the selected consumer account to an entity different from the personal communication device associated with the selected consumer account.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the datum indicative of the device verification value further comprises transmitting an indication of a time period in which the device verification value can be used for a transaction.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the datum indicative of a device verification value comprises generating the datum from an algorithm.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the datum indicative of the device verification value comprises obtaining the datum from a data storage device.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the datum indicative of the device verification value comprises transmitting said datum to a phone number of the personal communications device.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the datum indicative of the device verification value comprises transmitting said datum to a network address of the personal communications device via a communications facility of the server, the communications facility being coupled to a communications network.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining a datum representative of a device verification value comprises: selecting a process of generating the device verification value based upon the selected consumer account.

11. A computer program product embodied on a computer-readable medium, the product comprising:

code that directs a data processor to receive a request for a device verification value for a portable consumer device associated with a user, the request originating from a personal communication device associated with the user;

code that directs the data processor to obtain, from the received request, a phone number or network address of the personal communication device from which the received request was originated;

code that directs the data processor to obtain, from a database of account records that are at least searchable by phone number or network address, an account record that contains the obtained phone number or network address by searching the database by the obtained phone number or network address, the account record associating one or more consumer accounts of portable consumer devices with the obtained phone number or network address;

code that directs the data processor to select a consumer account from the obtained account record;

code that directs the data processor to obtain a datum indicative of a device verification value for the selected consumer account; and

code that directs the data processor to send the obtained datum to at least one of a phone number or network address of a personal communication device associated with the selected consumer account.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the obtained account record stores one or more account numbers of one or more consumer accounts, each consumer account corresponding to a portable consumer device;

wherein the computer program product further comprises code that directs the data processor to obtain an incomplete account number from the received request; and

wherein the code that directs the data processor to select a consumer account of the portable consumer device comprises code that directs the data processor to compare the obtained incomplete account number to the one or more account numbers stored in the obtained account record to find a match between the incomplete account number and a portion of one of the stored account numbers.

13. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the obtained account record stores one or more code phrases of one or more consumer accounts, each consumer account corresponding to a portable consumer device;

wherein the computer program product further comprises code that directs the data processor to obtain a code phrase from the received request; and

wherein the code that directs the data processor to select a consumer account of the portable consumer device comprises code that directs the data processor to compare the obtained code phrase to the one or more code phrases stored in the obtained account record to find a match between the obtained code phrase and a stored code phrase.

14. The computer program product of claim 11 , further comprising code that directs the data processor to send a datum indicative of the device verification value for the selected consumer account and an indication of the selected consumer account to an entity different from the personal communication device associated with the selected consumer account.

15. The computer program product of claim 11 , further comprising code that directs the data processor to send an indication of a time period in which the device verification value can be used for a transaction.

16. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the obtained account record stores one or more method data fields of one or more consumer accounts, each method data field indicating an algorithm to be used to generate a device verification value;

wherein the code that directs the data processor to obtain a datum indicative of a device verification value for the selected consumer account comprises code that directs the data processor to obtain an indication of an algorithm from a method data field of the obtained account record and to execute the algorithm for which the indication was obtained.

17. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the obtained account record stores one or more data fields of one or more consumer accounts, each data field holding at least one datum indicative of a device verification value;

wherein the code that directs the data processor to obtain a datum indicative of a device verification value for the selected consumer account comprises code that directs the data processor to obtain a datum indicative of a device verification value from a data field of the obtained account record.

18. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the code that directs the data processor to obtain a datum indicative of a device verification value for the selected consumer account comprises code that directs the data processor to determine the identity of the issuing bank from the selected consumer account, to send an electronic message to the issuing bank to request a datum indicative of a device verification value, and to receive a datum indicative of a device verification value from the issuing bank.

19. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the obtained account record stores at least one of a phone number or network address of a personal communication device associated with the selected consumer account; and

wherein the code that directs the data processor to send the obtained datum comprises code that directs the data processor to obtain the at least one of a phone number or network address from the obtained account record.

20. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the request is received in the form of a computer-readable data message sent from a short message server gateway, and wherein the computer program product further comprises code that directs the data processor to obtain the network address of the gateway from the received data message, to access a database that stores the network addresses of trusted short message server gateways to determine if the obtained network address is found in the accessed database.