Mobile Payment Interchange Using Phone Number Account Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for facilitating online transactions through mobile communications lack efficient methods to securely associate account information with phone numbers, leading to insecure and inconvenient payment processes.
Innovation Solution
A system that includes a data storage facility to associate user phone numbers with account identifiers, using an interchange to interface with various mobile communication controllers, allowing secure payment processing through a common format processor and converters to handle different communication protocols, enabling secure and convenient transactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If account information is directly shared with merchants for payment processing, then payment processing is simplified, but security and user privacy are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a mobile carrier as an intermediary between the user and the merchant. The carrier collects payment information from the user's mobile device and bills the user's account, while the merchant only receives confirmation that payment was made. This mediator approach allows payment processing to occur without the merchant directly accessing or storing sensitive account information, thus resolving the contradiction between payment simplicity and security.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the payment processing function from the traditional e-commerce system and relocates it to the mobile carrier's billing system. By taking out the payment collection mechanism and placing it within the carrier's existing infrastructure, the system achieves secure payment processing without requiring merchants to handle sensitive financial data directly.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple mobile communication protocols are supported for interoperability, then system adaptability improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal interchange structure that can handle multiple mobile communication protocols (SMS, MMS, email, instant messaging) through a single integrated platform. The interchange acts as a multi-functional gateway that translates between different protocols and formats, allowing the system to maintain adaptability across various communication standards while avoiding the complexity of implementing separate dedicated systems for each protocol.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs parameter transformation techniques where the interchange converts message parameters and formats between different protocols. By changing the representation parameters of communication data (such as message format, encoding, and transmission parameters), the system achieves protocol compatibility without requiring complex structural changes to the overall system architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are provided to facilitate transactions via mobile communications. In one aspect, a system includes a data storage facility and an interchange coupled with the data storage facility that stores data associating a phone number of a user and an account identifier of the user. 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 controllers in different formats and with the common format processor in a common format. The common format processor uses one of the converters to transmit premium messages to the phone number to collect funds via a telecommunication carrier, receives a payment request having the account identifier, identifies the phone number based on the account identifier, and makes a payment on behalf of the user using the collected funds.