760results about "Credit schemes" patented technology

Documents and other items can be delivered electronically from sender to recipient with a level of trustedness approaching or exceeding that provided by a personal document courier. A trusted electronic go-between can validate, witness and/or archive transactions while, in some cases, actively participating in or directing the transaction. Printed or imaged documents can be marked using handwritten signature images, seal images, electronic fingerprinting, watermarking, and/or steganography. Electronic commercial transactions and transmissions take place in a reliable, "trusted" virtual distribution environment that provides significant efficiency and cost savings benefits to users in addition to providing an extremely high degree of confidence and trustedness. The systems and techniques have many uses including but not limited to secure document delivery, execution of legal documents, and electronic data interchange (EDI).

A method for performing secure transactions, such as credit card purchases, using two or more non-secure networks (such as the Internet and the public telephone system) in such a way that security is insured. A person wishing to initiate a secure transaction sends a message over one of the non-secure networks to a computer. That computer automatically uses the second non-secure network to contact the person back to verify the transaction. The call-back mechanism employs a method to authenticate the identity or authority of the person initiating the transaction. No single wire-tapping or network snooping device sees the entire transaction. No single database contains the entire set of information.

A system and method for operating a reward points accumulation and redemption program wherein a user earns reward points from a plurality of independent reward points issuing entities, with each tracking the user's earned reward points in a user reward point account stored on a multi-function card (such as a frequent flyer account or a credit card loyalty account). The multi-function card is adapted to aggregate some or all of the user's earned reward points from the reward accounts and credit the aggregated points into a single reward exchange account on the multi-function card. The user may then select an item for purchase with the accumulated reward points from the multi-function card. The item is provided to the user in exchange for a subset or all of the reward points from the multi-function card.

A dynamic credit card is provided in which a secure credit card number (e.g., a secret/hidden credit card number) is encoded based on a timing signal (e.g., an internal counter) to provide a dynamic credit card number. This dynamic number may be displayed to a user via a display (e.g., so that online purchases can be made) or written onto a magnetic stripe such that the number may be processed by traditional credit card merchants (e.g., swiped). At a remote facility, the dynamic number may be decoded based on time (and/or a counter/key number/equation) or the facility may have the secure number and perform the same function as the dynamic credit card (e.g., encode using time data as a parameter to the encoding equation) and compare the resultant dynamic number to the dynamic number received. Thus, a dynamic credit card number may change continually or periodically (e.g., every sixty seconds) such that credit card numbers may not be copied by thieves and used at later times. A dynamic verification code may be utilized in addition to, or in lieu of, a dynamic credit card number.

A system and a corresponding method are described for providing a notification of a pending transaction request and obtaining an authorization from a cardholder. The system maintains a database of account records, each of the account records including a phone number of a mobile device assigned to receive authorization request messages for the respective account. When a transaction request is received, the system determines a phone number of a mobile device assigned to receive authorization request messages for the account requesting the transaction by searching the database. The system generates and transmits an authorization request message to the phone number of the mobile device assigned to the account requesting the transaction. In response to the authorization request message, a reply message is returned from the mobile device, which explicitly indicates if a user of the mobile device approves or denies the transaction.

Methods, systems and computer program products are provided for enabling payment of transit system fees using a financial transaction instrument. Entry is permitted onto a transit system by recognition of information included in an identification number stored on a financial transaction instrument. The identification number stored on the financial transaction instrument is associated with a transit system fee registered for each use of the transit system. A plurality of transit system fees associated with the same identification number from use of the financial transaction instrument is aggregated, and payment for the aggregated transit system fees is requested from a transaction account associated with the financial transaction instrument.

Counterfeit financial card fraud is detected based on the premise that the fraudulent activity will reflect itself in clustered groups of suspicious transactions. A system for detecting financial card fraud uses a computer database comprising financial card transaction data reported from a plurality of financial institutions. The transactions are scored by assigning weights to individual transactions to identify suspicious transactions. The geographic region where the transactions took place as well as the time of the transactions are recorded. An event building process then identifies cards involved in suspicious transactions in a same geographic region during a common time period to determine clustered groups of suspicious activity suggesting an organized counterfeit card operation which would otherwise be impossible for the individual financial institutions to detect.

A financial transaction payment processor includes an account access request processor for receiving dynamic swipe data from a payment card through a merchant infrastructure. A fraud detection processor is connected to analyze a dynamic data obtained by the account access request processor that should agree with values pre-loaded in a Crypto-Table by a card manufacturer. A payment authorization processor is connected to receive a message from the fraud detection processor and to then forward a response to the merchant infrastructure.

A dynamic credit card is provided in which a secure credit card number (e.g., a secret/hidden credit card number) is encoded based on a timing signal (e.g., an internal counter) to provide a dynamic credit card number. This dynamic number may be displayed to a user via a display (e.g., so that online purchases can be made) or written onto a magnetic stripe such that the number may be processed by traditional credit card merchants (e.g., swiped). At a remote facility, the dynamic number may be decoded based on time (and/or a counter/key number/equation) or the facility may have the secure number and perform the same function as the dynamic credit card (e.g., encode using time data as a parameter to the encoding equation) and compare the resultant dynamic number to the dynamic number received. Thus, a dynamic credit card number may change continually or periodically (e.g., every sixty seconds) such that credit card numbers may not be copied by thieves and used at later times. A dynamic verification code may be utilized in addition to, or in lieu of, a dynamic credit card number.

A method is provided for conducting an electronic transaction with a payment account number having a certain amount of available funds, using a payment network and a “check site”. The method comprises the following steps: (a) generating a secret key associated with the payment account number; (b) using the secret key to generate a message authentication code (“MAC”) specific to the transaction; (c) generating an authorization request message including the message authentication code; (d) forwarding the authorization request message over the payment network to the check site for verifying the authenticity of the MAC; (e) verifying the message authentication code by the check site using the secret key; (f) responding to the authorization request message over the payment network based on the available funds and the transaction amount.

The invention comprises online methods, systems, and software for improving the processing of payments from financial accounts, particularly credit and debit card payments made from consumers to merchants in online transactions. The preferred embodiment of the invention involves inserting a trusted third party online service into the payment authorization process. The trusted third party authenticates the consumer and authorizes the proposed payment in a single integrated process conducted without the involvement of the merchant. The authentication of the consumer is accomplished over a persistent communication channel established with the consumer before a purchase is made. The authentication is done by verifying that the persistent channel is open when authorization is requested. Use of the third party services allows the consumer to avoid revealing his identity and credit card number to the merchant over a public network such as the Internet, while maintaining control of the transaction during the authorization process.

A secure method of conducting an electronic transaction over a public communications network is provided which utilizes a pseudo-expiration date in the expiration date field of an authorization request. One of the preferred methods comprises:

• • generating a per-card key associated with an account number;
  • generating a message authentication code using the per-card key;
  • converting the message authentication code into a pseudo expiration date;
  • generating an authorization request for the transaction, the request having an expiration date field containing the pseudo expiration date; and
  • verifying the message authentication code based on the pseudo expiration date.
  • Another embodiment of the invention includes a method of conducting an electronic transaction over a public communications network, with a payment account number having an associated pseudo account number, comprising:
  • (a) providing the pseudo account number with a control field indicating one of a plurality of key-generation processes to be used to generate an authentication key;
  • (b) generating an authentication key associated with the pseudo account number using one of the plurality of key-generation processes indicated in the control field of the pseudo account number;
  • (c) using the authentication key to generate a message authentication code specific to the transaction;
  • (d) generating an authorization request message including the message authentication code and the pseudo account number; and
  • (e) verifying the message authentication code using the indicated key-generation process and the authentication key.

A payment device is provided for use in transactions such as credit purchases at a retail store. The device includes a non-volatile memory containing a set of multiple identifiers that are associated with a customer account. The multiple identifiers are also known to an agency that provides the customer account. The device further includes a processor operable to select one identifier out of the set of multiple identifiers for use with any particular transaction involving the device and the customer account. This identifier is then conveyed from the device, typically via a store terminal, to the agency that maintains the account.

A universal authentication token is configured to securely acquire security credentials from other authentication tokens and/or devices. In this manner, a single universal authentication token can store the authentication credentials required to access a variety of resources, services and applications for a user. The universal authentication token includes a user interface, memory for storing a plurality of authentication records for a user, and a secure processor. The secure processor provides the required cryptographic operations to encrypt, decrypt, and/or authenticate data that is sent or received by universal token. For example, secure processor may be used to generate authentication data from seed information stored in memory.

A method for fraud detection leverages an existing financial institution's fraud classification functionality, which produces a first level detection, with a “user-centric” classification functionality, which produces a “second” or more fine-grained detection regarding a potentially fraudulent transaction. After passing through an existing (“institution-centric”) fraud detection technique, a transaction that has been identified as potentially fraudulent is then subject to further analysis and classification at the “user” level, as it is the user is presumed to be the best source of knowledge of the legitimate credit card use. Information about the transaction is shared with the consumer, preferably via one or more near real-time mechanisms, such as SMS, email, or the like. Based on the user's response (or lack thereof, as the case may be), one or more business rules in the institution's fraud detection system can then take an appropriate action (e.g., no action, reverse the transaction if complete, deny the transaction if in-progress, or the like).

Method and apparatus for using at least a portion of a one-time password as a dynamic card verification value (CVV) are disclosed. A credit/debit card is able to generate a dynamic card verification value (CVV). Such a card may also include an indication that the dynamic CVV is to be used as a security code for purchasing or other transactions. A card-based financial transaction can be authorized in accordance with the use of a dynamic CVV by receiving a transaction authorization request for a specific credit/debit card, wherein the transaction authorization request includes a dynamic CVV. The dynamic CVV can be compared to at least a portion of a one-time password generated for the specific credit/debit card, and a transaction authorization can be sent to the merchant or vendor when the dynamic CVV matches all or a portion of the one-time password.

The present invention provides systems, methods and computer program products for authorizing transactions based on, at least in part on, enhanced authorization data. In one embodiment, enhanced authorization data is received in a request for authorization to accept a transaction instrument as payment. Examples of enhanced authorization data include an automatic number identification, an information identifier, an email address, a contact telephone number, a ship-to-name, ship-to-address, an Internet Protocol address, and a seller identification. A risk analysis is performed based, at least in part, on the enhanced authorization data to determine the risk of the request being associated with a fraudulent purchase. The risk may be calculated by comparing the enhanced authorization data with information stored about the transaction instrument or with historical transaction information. Furthermore, the velocity of transactions associated with the enhanced authorization data may be measured in calculating the risk.

A computer-implemented method of using one of a plurality of existing credit card accounts belonging to a consumer includes providing account data to a single service provider for a plurality of existing credit card accounts belonging to the consumer and providing the consumer with a compilation credit card associated with the plurality of existing credit card accounts of the consumer. the method also includes storing predefined preferences of the consumer regarding credit card selectivity, the consumer performing a credit card transaction and selecting one existing credit card account among the plurality of existing credit card accounts to which to charge the credit card transaction based on the stored predefined preferences of the consumer.

A system and method for securing a recurrent billing transaction using a marked proxy code is disclosed. The marked proxy code includes a merchant system marker which is assigned to the merchant and a proxy code assigned to a consumer. An account issuer assigns the proxy code to the consumer and assigns the merchant system marker to one or more merchants. During system operation, a merchant provides an account issuer with a request to establish a recurrent billing account and the account issuer returns to the merchant a marked proxy code including a merchant system marker and the proxy code provided by the merchant. If a merchant requests satisfaction of a transaction, the merchant transaction request includes the marked proxy account number. The account issuer receives the marked account number and validates the merchant system marker and the proxy code prior to validating the merchant's transaction request.

A method is provided for conducting a financial transaction by a purchaser with a merchant having an acquirer bank, over a communications network. The method includes the steps of sending a first authorization request using a pseudo account number associated with a real account number to a service provider which forwards a second authorization request to the issuer using the real account number and preferably a pseudo acquirer code associated with the service provider such that the response to the second request is based on the real account number and sent back to the service provider who preferably forwards a response to the first request preferably to the “real” acquirer. A message authentication code is further provided which includes transaction data, and where the authorization request is formatted as a standard payment card track having one or more fields including a discretionary field in which the message authentication code is placed.

A mobile communication terminal (the mobile station 100), served in a mobile communication network for performing wireless communications, comprises a transmitter-receiver 110, a controller 120, a user interface 130, a data input/output terminal 140, a magnetic writer 150, and a magnetic stripe 160. Control programs stored in a program ROM 122 include a program for controlling the magnetic writer such as writes or deletes various information into/from the magnetic stripe 160. In a credit card ROM 123 are stored information on the attributes of a credit card contract concluded in advance between a user and a credit card company. The magnetic writer 150 writes credit card contract information provided from the controller 120 to the magnetic stripe 160 or deletes the credit card contract information from the magnetic stripe 160.

A credit product issuer markets a credit product to a targeted group of consumers offering incentives to the targeted group if the consumers improves their management of their financial affairs, e.g., reduces a credit score. A consumer receives an application for the credit card and submits the credit card application to the issuer. The credit card issuer accepts the application for the credit card from the consumer and establishes a consumer account and an initial interest rate. The initial interest rate is based on an initial credit score for the consumer and other consumer credit information. The credit card issuer activates the consumer account. The credit score of the consumer is automatically monitored on a periodic basis and the initial interest rate is adjusted to a new interest rate if the credit score of the consumer has changed.

According to one embodiment, the present invention relates to a method and a system for reimbursing credit card transactions for health care services and/or products. An exemplary method and system may involve registering a user for reimbursement wherein the user identifies one or more payment mechanisms and one or more reimbursement methods; identifying a user transaction with the one or more payment mechanisms at a merchant wherein the user transaction comprises one or more purchases; receiving merchant data regarding the user transaction; determining reimbursement eligibility of the one or more purchases of the user transaction based at least in part on the merchant data; and reimbursing the user for eligible purchases via the one or more reimbursement methods.

An authentication system providing a safety authentication process of electronic values with the use of mobile terminals which do not have a tamper-resistant function. The electronic value including encrypted value authentication information (F(VPW)), wherein an authentication information (VPW) corresponding to an electronic value specified by a user is acquired by the hash calculation, is stored in user's mobile terminal. In the user authentication process; authentication apparatus generates a random number R and transmits it to mobile terminal, mobile terminal generates value authentication information (F(VPW′)) from authentication information (VPW′) corresponding to electronic value input by user, further executes a hash calculation on data wherein value authentication information (F(VPW′)) and the random number R are concatenated, generates authentication information (F(VPW′)∥R), transmits it to the authentication apparatus with the electronic value, authentication apparatus decrypts the received electronic value, extracts the value authentication information (F(VPW)) from the electronic value, executes the hash calculation on data wherein value authentication information (F(VPW)) and the random number R are concatenated, generates the authentication information (F(VPW)∥R), and collates the received authentication information (F(VPW′)∥R) with the authentication information (F(VPW)∥R), so that the user is authenticated.

As part of the present invention, there is provided a financial transaction system having a set of transaction facilitating protocols, each of which may be used either in conjunction with a 3D Secure system, environment or protocol, or on a standalone basis, within a conventional credit card processing system or environment, or with any other association standard which may be used in commerce.

The present invention facilitates transactions by providing a limited use PIN that is associated with a primary account and/or PIN number, wherein the limited use PIN is presented to the merchant to initiate a transaction. More particularly, the system involves the process of registering a user (if not already pre-registered) to participate in a transaction system; generating a limited use PIN and issuing this number to the user, where the user presents this number to a merchant to complete a sales transaction; the merchant processing this limited use PIN, where the number is typically presented to the credit issuer to facilitate authorization. Additionally, the limited use PIN may also carry with it certain limitations-on-use conditions, where the transaction is not authorized unless these conditions are met. In generating a limited use PIN, the issuer generates a random number and associates this number with the user's primary charge account.

A computerized method includes analyzing data associated with a credit line during an origination stage for predictive variables for use in a model for first party fraud, and flagging an account during the origination stage when at least one or more predictive origination stage variables cause a model score to exceed a pre-defined fraud likelihood threshold. The computerized method also includes analyzing data associated with one or more previously flagged, post-booked stage credit lines for data elements or transactions to be used as variables in a model to predictive of first party fraud at the customer-level or in one or more of the post-booked stage credit lines.

A dual card, which facilitates payment for goods or services from either a credit account or a stored value account, operates on both an open network and a closed network. The dual card is a payment card that integrates the ability to provide credit privileges and stored value privileges to a cardholder of the dual card. The features, benefits, and advantages of a stored value card are integrated with the credit card aspects of the dual card. The benefits, features, and advantages of a credit card are integrated with a stored value card.

Some embodiments of the present invention provide a system that processes a financial transaction involving a portable device and a transaction server. During operation, the system obtains transaction data associated with the financial transaction that includes a transaction amount, credit card information, and an image of a credit card. The system then sends the transaction data to the transaction server using the portable device. Next, the system verifies a card-present transaction using the transaction data and determines a validity of the transaction data. If the transaction data is valid, the transaction server processes the financial transaction and sends an authorization code confirming the financial transaction to the portable device.

A loyalty program operated in association with a television broadcast network, wherein reward content is provided along with television content (programming and/or advertising) to generate a television broadcast signal that is transmitted to a plurality of viewers. Each viewer may view or hear the reward content via their television receiver (or set top box, personal computer, etc.) along with the associated programming or advertisements, and as a result provide a reward response which may be a visit to a local merchant, a mail-in or call-in response, entered to a web site via the Internet, etc. Reward points, as well as prizes and product discounts may be provided as the reward to the viewer that provides the appropriate reward response. This program can be configured and adapted to provides incentives to viewers to visit certain merchants and sponsors, purchase certain products, view certain programs, and the like, based on the reward parameters employed.