FI113725B - Procedure for billing a computer system user - Google Patents

Description

113725

The present invention relates to a method of billing a user of a computer hardware providing a paid service. The present invention further relates to a telecommunication system comprising subscriber equipment and a computer hardware providing paid services for subscriber equipment in the telecommunication system.

The present invention relates to an electronic payment system that enables a payment transaction comparable to a cash payment to be made to a seller of goods or services. The invention relates in particular to payment for services offered in telecommunication networks, such as payment for information retrieval, but the method of the invention may also be applied to payment for other types of services, such as the payment of subscriptions to magazines or the like.

Billing methods based on the identification of the user, for example by means of his credit card number or username, are known in the prior art. Once the user has entered his account ID and the associated password (PIN, Personal Identification Number), the consumer will be offered a fee-based service of his choice, with billing! '*! 25 will be charged to the consumer's account. The disadvantage of these well-known solutions: ··: hassle is that they allow the consumer to · · · · · purchase services only from the computer he or she has; existing username. Therefore, the consumer cannot buy »« · ·; . ·. services from a random computer of your choice, 30 unless he or she previously contacts the operator of that computer, that is, the service provider, to obtain a username. Credit Card Number Based Solutions ·. ': In turn, require the use of sophisticated encryption systems V · to ensure that the credit card number provided by the consumer does not end up being 9 9 2 113725. The problem with such encryption systems is that they are difficult to establish in telecommunication networks.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple and reliable billing method. This object 5 is achieved by a method according to the invention, characterized in that the method provides a user with an account ID and password in a separate account register from said computer hardware, wherein for billing the user: a user account ID and 10 password is sent; at least the billable amount and the account ID and password provided by the user, and a message is expected from the account register that the account register has deducted the billable amount from the account specified by the user, indicating that the user has paid for the paid service.

The term "account registry" as used herein refers to both the computer hardware on which the account register 20 can be maintained and the registry itself, i.e. the database in which the accounts are maintained.

The invention further relates to a communication system in which the method according to the invention can be applied. The communication system according to the invention is characterized in that the system comprises an account register separate from said computer hardware, containing at least an account password for each account identifier and the amount of money available in the account, whereupon the account ;. Means for reducing the amount of money indicated by the 30 billing messages received by the account register from the account included in the billing message if the password contained in the billing message matches the account password and the amount of money available in the account is at least equal to * the amount to be deducted; 113725 3 to receive the account ID and password entered from the subscriber device and send said billing message to the account register to bill the user of the computer hardware services.

5 The invention is based on the idea that by providing an account for a separate fee to a consumer in a predetermined account register whose use only requires the account ID and password to be used, the consumer can continue to pay for services 10 in a very simple manner. ID and password, whereby the service provider can obtain a transaction comparable to cash payment from the user through the account registry operator 15. Thus, for example, in a telecommunications network, a consumer can also purchase services from the computers of service providers for which he does not have a user account. The service provider's computer then sends a billing message to the consumer account register, which checks the 20 account identifiers and passwords provided by the consumer. If there is an account in the account register that has a user ID and password that matches the ID and password provided by the consumer, then the amount charged by the service provider will be deducted from the 25 accounts specified by the service provider, ··· can be refunded to the service provider. The amount of money paid by the consumer is then recorded; for the benefit of the service provider in such a way that the teacher may credit it to the service provider, for example, by k »* 3 0 depositing the amount due to the service provider | * * Directly to his bank account. Therefore, the service provider's computer does not in any way participate in the authentication of the account specified by the user or the user, but rather this action ·. ' · Are fully maintained in the account register.

35 If the accounts in the account register are also made disposable so that no further money can be deposited into the accounts but the accounts are decommissioned when the available amount of money specified at the time of their creation is exhausted, the user will minimize the risk of 5 data leaks and related account misuse costs. That is, if the amount of money available in the account is initially FIM 100, the customer cannot lose any more, even if an outsider gets his / her account ID and password.

10 The major advantages of the method and system of the invention are therefore that the service provider may charge the user even if there is no agreement between the user and the service provider on how the invoices are paid, that the service provider does not need to know the identity of the 15 consumers. service providers by acquiring an account from a single account register, and that the consumer need not have access to any form of payment card or similar hardware-dependent means, but that the consumer knows the account ID and password of one account in the account.

Preferred embodiments of the method and telecommunication system of the invention are disclosed in the appended dependent claims 2 to 6 and 8 to 10. 25 will now be described, by way of example, in more detail; i see the diagrams below.>! Fig. 1 shows a flow chart of a process according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a first preferred embodiment of a V 30 communication system according to the invention, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a second preferred embodiment of a communication system according to the invention.

Figure 1 shows a flow chart of a process according to the invention.

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5 113725 of the first preferred embodiment of the invention. In block A of Figure 1, the operator of the account register establishes a new account in the account register for which he determines the ID, password (PIN) and the amount of money available for the account, for example 100, -. The operator can then print the credit card on paper showing the account ID and password on the credit card. The debit card operator sells to a willing buyer who pays the card the price requested by the operator, for example FIM 100 (unless the operator 10 wants to charge a profit to the user in this transaction). After that, the account card purchaser or anyone who knows the account ID and password can use that account to pay until the total amount of money in the account has been used up or the card expires on the last 15 days. Therefore, the account register does not require any indication as to who is the account holder of a specific account. If the account in question is of a disposable type, it is not possible to save more money in the account, but instead the user has to purchase another Account Card 20, which has a second account ID when the funds in the first account have been used up. Thus, for example, losing a credit card or having an account ID and password taken over by an outsider will result in a financial loss of up to the purchase price of the credit card.

25 If you want to specify larger usage amounts for the accounts in the account register (for example, several ·· * thousands of marks), you can define for these accounts: two separate passwords. In this case, the first password is:. is used to pay bills from the account, and the second password 30 (which must be kept in a secure location by the account holder) is used to change the first password from the account registry.

: For example, when a user has contacted 35 computers offering commercial services through a telecommunication network and wants to pay for the services by using an account register 6 113725 blades, he enters his computer with his account ID and password in block B. to a specific commercial server (computer 5), whereby the server, when connecting, prompts the consumer to enter his account ID and password, and waits until it receives the account ID and password provided by the consumer through a telecommunications connection.

10 In block C, the server sends a billing message to the account register. If the server in question is programmed to have a plurality of possible account registers through which its paid services can be paid, that server will be resolved, for example, based on the 15 account ID entered to which server the billing message in question should be sent.

The billing message sent by the server includes at least the account ID and password provided by the consumer. In addition, the billing message may include, but is not limited to, the produced-20 node for the service the user is paying for and the user's communications address.

If the billing message contains the user's telecommunication address, the account register can substantially complicate the misuse of the account in the account, for example, by providing a certain number (e.g. '*: 5) of billing messages arriving within a specified time (e.g. 5 min) and / or j. If the password is incorrect, the account registry may reject all 30 billing messages, for example for the next hour, that include that same telecommunication address. Thus . . for example, a "hacker" who repeatedly attempts to find the password for a particular account cannot do more than a few "hack attempts" per hour, making it highly unlikely that he will find the correct password.

* i · 7 113725

In block D, the server waits for an acknowledgment from the account register as to whether the payment was successful or failed.

If the payment is unsuccessful, it goes directly from block E to block G, whereupon the server determines that the consumer has not paid the required fee and therefore does not provide the consumer with paid services.

If, on the other hand, a message is received from the account register stating that the payment has been successful, the next step is to proceed to block F, where the consumer is provided with the paid services on the server.

If the service desired by the consumer from the server is classified as a one-time payment, the server can operate so that it only charges a one-time connection through the account register, after which the consumer can use the service of his choice and prepayment for as long as he wishes. The consumer will therefore make a real-time payment for the service they use.

Conversely, if there is a defined time charge for the service desired by the consumer, the server may send the first billing message to the account register immediately after the connection, after which the consumer is entitled to use the paid service for, for example, ten minutes. When the paid time (in this case, ten 25 minutes) has expired, the server sends a new billing message to the account register, which again deducts the amount of the billing message from the consumer's account:. after that the consumer will again have ten; minutes connection time. If you want to make billing based on time-based service30 as real-time as possible, the aforementioned time period can be defined as very short, for example a few seconds. Thus * * 9 • J: Being sent to the account register at very short intervals, V * billing messages are sent, which means that consumer billing is virtually real-time.

8 113725

As described above, the consumer may avail himself of the paid service until the funds available in his account have been exhausted, in which case the server will discontinue the use of the paid service by the consumer.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a first preferred embodiment of a communication system according to the invention. The account register shown in Figure 2 consists of a server, i.e. a computer 2, comprising an interface unit 3 through which it is connected to an INTERNET-10 network 1, for example via a TCP / IP communication link.

The account register further comprises a telephone service unit 4 (VRU, Voice Responce Unit) through which it is connected to a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 5. The connection between the public telephone network 5 and the server 15 2 may be, for example, a connection in accordance with the national R2 signaling specification or alternatively, for example, an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) connection.

The telephone service unit 4 and the interface unit 20 are controlled by the control unit 6, which further communicates with the database 7, where the actual account register, i.e. the accounts, are maintained. For the accounts in Database 7, at least the account ID, the account password (PIN), and the amount of money available in the account are listed in the database. In addition to this, data · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 7 may contain usage restrictions for some accounts, eg telephone numbers called • <| and calls cannot be charged to that account (such as international or mobile phone calls).

; , ·, When the account register operator creates a new account record 'ii.' 30, the database 7 thus has at least the identifier, the password and the amount of money available, for example, FIM 100. In addition, this information is recorded on the printer 8: printable credit card. In addition, the account card records the telephone number through which the call is connected to the telephone service unit 4. The said account card is sold at a pre-agreed price to the willing purchaser of this item. The card purchaser will thus be able to access the account on the account using a visually readable ID and password until the amount of money specified in the account is exhausted.

Alternatively, a new account may be generated in the account register 7 at the initiative of the user. When a user selects such an event through his telephone or computer terminal, the control unit 6 creates a new account 10 in the database, to which it assigns an ID and a password. After that, a message is sent to the user's phone or terminal, which forwards the account ID and password, as well as the amount of money, bank account number and reference number. When the user then, as is known, pays the notified amount to the account indicated through his bank by using the reference number, the account in the account register is activated so that it can be used to pay the invoices. This can be done, for example, by changing the value of the special check bit specified for the account, or alternatively, for example, by keeping the account balance zero until the user has made a bank payment, after which the account balance is incremented proportionally to the amount.

When a person using the DTMF telephone 25 10 wants to make a call to the telephone 11 so that the cost of the call is charged to the account according to the card he / she purchased, he / she will initially • dial the toll-free number of the telephone service unit 4.

; The telephone service unit 4 prompts the user 30 by voice message to key in his account number and passwords that the telephone service unit enters into the control unit 6. The control unit 6. , will check if there is an account in the database with the ID and number corresponding to the 10 account codes and '·' keys entered on the phone, and whether the account still has 35 funds available. If so, the telephone service unit 4 sends a voice message to the voice device 10 113725 informing the consumer of the amount of money at his disposal and instructing him to enter the desired B-subscriber number. The account register 2 then establishes a connection between the telephone subscriber selected by the subscriber 10 and the telephone subscriber, for example the telephone 11. The costs of the call are not charged to the holder of the subscriber 10 but to the account entered by the consumer 10.

If the duration of the call 10 from the phones 10 to the telephone 11 is so long that the amount of money available in the account runs out, the telephone directory service unit 4 of the account register will notify this by voice message, after which it will disconnect after a predetermined time.

According to the invention, the user can further utilize the 15 accounts marked on the credit card he has purchased through his computer terminal 12 to pay for the paid services of his choice. That is, if a user, for example, while browsing the World Wide Web available on the INTERNET 1, discovers that a particular paid Web page has 20 information he wishes to purchase, he may pay for the service he has purchased using a 7 account in the database. The paid service in question may be, for example, reading a certain text or, alternatively, subscribing to a magazine, whereby the consumer may pay the service provider a specified price for reading the text or a subscription fee for subscribing to the magazine.

: Figure 2 shows two separate information, · ·. machine hardware 13 and 16, both of which are communications 30 in connection with the account register 2. Thus, the user can 1 | · Be free to choose which computer hardware he wants to buy services from and pay for the services through the account register: ··: using the account, whether he buys V 'services from a computer hardware 13 or 16.

35 That is, if the consumer selects, for example, a WWW-11 113725 page whose information is found on the server 13, the server 13 initially asks the consumer for his account ID and password. After receiving the ID and password, the server 13 sends a billing message to the account register 2 5 via a communication link 14. The telecommunication connection 14 may be, for example, any connection connection by means of which the billing message can be forwarded directly to the account register interface unit 3. Alternatively, the billing message may be transmitted, for example, via the INTERNET network 10. The billing message will contain at least the account ID and password entered by the user.

When the account register interface unit 3 receives the billing message, it forwards it to the control unit 6. The control unit 6 next checks whether database 15 has an account with the ID and password included in the billing message. If found, the control unit will next check the amount of money available in the account. If the amount of money found in the account exceeds the amount included in the billing message, the control unit 6 deducts the amount of money included in the billing message 20 from the account included in the billing message. Correspondingly, the control unit 6 records the billing transaction in the event log 15. At least the amount to be invoiced is stored in the log, as well as information to determine to whom the amount should be credited. That '! For example, the information may consist of the identifier of a paid service 1 ·; the product ID required for authentication or, alternatively, such as the server providing the paid service; or its operator ID. Thereafter, the control unit 6 sends to the server an acknowledgment of the successful payment '1'. '30 via the communication link 14.

i ► · 'If, however, the account ID or password for the billing message is incorrect, or if the account does not have access to f · ·:: sufficient money to send control unit 2 to server V · via telecommunication message that 35 payment has failed.

f I »* | 12 113725

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of another preferred embodiment of a communication system according to the invention. The embodiment shown in FIG. 3 is very similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, but in the case of FIG. 5, the user purchasing services from the server 13 via her terminal 12 can choose between several optional payment methods.

When the user selects a paid service from the server 13, the server 13 sends an inquiry via the INTERNET network 10 to the user terminal 12 about how he wishes to pay for his service. There are several possible payment methods, two of which are illustrated in Figures 3: - Billing the user by adding the price of the 15 services he or she chooses to his / her telephone bill, prompting the user to provide his / her telephone number and possible password, and - Billing the user to an (prepaid) account , prompting the user to enter their account ID and password.

After receiving from the user the payment selection information and the associated identifiers (telephone number / account number, password), the server 13 sends a billing message to the account register 2 as is known per se, for example via data network 14 or INERNET 1; through. The billing message will then include information about the .1 payment method the user has selected.

; The control unit 31 receives the billing message and; , ·, Records it in a log file 15. The log file 15 can subsequently retrieve the content of incoming billing messages, e.g., how much the server 2 administrator should refund to those who provide paid services, for example through server 13. In this case V * it is advantageous that the billing message sent from the server 13 to the account register 2 contains the billable amount, '»*» * »t * * t • i» 13 113725 account code and password, inter alia: - Product code for the product for which user 12 is paying . For example, this product code can be used to find out to whom the amount 5 charged for the purchase of a product should be refunded in cases where many different service providers offer paid services through the same server 13.

The user address 12 communications address, whereby misuse can be prevented such that, if the server 10 2 repeatedly receives billing messages with the wrong password but the same communication address within a predetermined time period, the account registry may reject all messages containing that communication address for a predetermined time period.

15 - The payment method identifier, whereby account register 2 can determine how it should process the billing message.

After the control unit 31 has recorded the billing message in the log 15, it next checks the payment method identifier 20 of the billing message. If the payment method identifier indicates that the user wishes to pay for the service of his choice through a paid telephone bill, the control unit 31 generates a message which it forwards to the teleoperator indicated by the user-entered telephone number; 25 le, for example, over a telephone network. The message in question ·; then stored in teleoperator system 30 where the .se is taken into account the next time it is transmitted to the user; , don't phone bill. If the control unit 31 receives an acknowledgment, the V teleservice system, upon successful payment attempt, sends the server 13 an acknowledgment of payment success over the data network 14.

If, on the other hand, the control unit 31, on the basis of the ID of the payment indicating I, detects that the user wants V to pay for the service of his choice using the account register ·, 35 in the database 7, it checks the following. i · i in * t »•»> 1 14 113725 the account in database 7 has enough money, and does the password in the billing message match the password for that account. If so, the control unit 31 deducts the amount billed from that account and sends an acknowledgment to the server 13 that the payment was successful through the data network 14.

It is to be understood that the foregoing description and the accompanying figures are merely intended to illustrate the present invention. Various variations and modifications of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the appended claims.

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Claims (15)

15, 113725 A method of billing a user of a telecommunications network, the method comprising the steps of: providing one or more billable services to at least one computer device, each computer hardware being maintained by a service provider, providing the user with an ID and password associated with a prepaid account; from a computer device to a separate account register, said account register being maintained by the account operator, and transmitting the given account ID and password from the user to the selected service provider in response to the service to be purchased, characterized in that the method further comprises: which comprises mediated. account number, password transmitted, and the amount billed for the service you are purchasing, • «« · '* 25 accounts associated with the registry are sent with the | amount received, and; a confirmation message is sent from the account register to the successful service provider's hardware. free of charge. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the invoicer provides paid services in the telecommunication system. 'U A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the service provider provides services independent of the communication system. !:; * 4. The '··' method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the user is provided with the ID and password of the account in the account register connected to the telecommunications network: by creating a new account in the account register; the amount of money available for account 5 by giving the user a new account ID and password for a predetermined fee, which will be charged in a manner known per se, allowing the user who knows the account ID and password to use the account to pay bills. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the user is billed in real time by sending a new billing message to the account register each time the user activates a new paid service. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that, when the user selects a time-based service, repeated billing messages are sent to the account register at predetermined intervals, each billing message being used to bill the user in advance for the time of the next predetermined interval. ; A method according to claim 1, characterized in that when the user selects ai; ·. the debit-based service repeatedly sending new billing messages to the account register / registry at predetermined intervals wherein each billing message is used to pre-bill the user for the next predetermined time interval, said predetermined time intervals being preferably selected so short that almost real-time. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the method uses a customer-related identifier and a prepaid compensation, • 17 113725, so that in order to establish a connection, the caller dials a predetermined telephone number and obtains his own ID and / or password from the telecommunication terminal. , the validity of which, and the associated residual value ve-5, is rifled, after which the caller selects the desired call number. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the billing message further comprises the product code of the service to be purchased. 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: selecting an optional payment method instead of a prepaid account, and transmitting the identification code (s) associated with the selected optional payment method to the service provider selected from the user instead of the ID and password associated with the prepaid account. in response to the service being purchased. A telecommunications system for billing a user, the system comprising: at least one computer hardware (13, 16) maintained by a service provider to provide one or more billable services, and · · | 25 the identifier and the identifier of the subscriber unit (12); , ·, For transmitting the loan from the user to the selected service; / service provider, you will feel - * * «'that the system further comprises: * * an account register (2) consisting of 30 prepaid accounts, each with an ID and a password, • said account register being separate • · · Said computer equipment (13, 16) of the service provider and maintained by said account register t. account operator, and which identifiers and passwords. 35 passwords are provided to the users, and: means (3, 6, 7) for receiving an invoice message from the computer hardware through the telecommunication link of the service provider (11), the invoice message comprising the transmitted ID, the transmitted password and the amount billed for the service to be purchased; for debiting the account associated with the received ID and password for the amount received, and for sending a confirmation message to said computer equipment of the selected service provider in response to a successful charge. The communication system according to claim 11, characterized in that said communication system is part of an IN-TERNET network (1), wherein said computer hardware (13) and an account register (2) consist of servers connected to the INTER-NET network, and the computer apparatus (13) being adapted to send a billing message via the INTERNET network (1) or a similar communication network to the account register (2), and to receive from the account register a confirmation of a payment or failure of the payment attempt via the IN-TERNET network or similar communication network. The communication system according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the account register (2) is further connected to a public telephone network (5), the account register comprising means for billing the cost of a call made from an optional telephone interface (10). from the account in the register (2), if the account ID and password entered from that * telephone interface (10) match the account ID and password in the account register (2) and the amount of money available for that account exceeds the cost of the call . Communication according to claim 11; structure and system, characterized in that The message further comprises the product code of the service to be purchased. 19, 113725 The communication system of claim 11, characterized in that the subscriber device (12) is further arranged to select an optional payment method instead of a prepaid 5 account, and arranged to transmit the identification code and password associated with the selected optional payment method to the service provider selected from the user. service. 1 * i · 11372E 20