EP1004086A2 - Procede et systeme pour mener des transactions commerciales electroniques - Google Patents

Procede et systeme pour mener des transactions commerciales electroniques

Info

Publication number
EP1004086A2
EP1004086A2 EP98938165A EP98938165A EP1004086A2 EP 1004086 A2 EP1004086 A2 EP 1004086A2 EP 98938165 A EP98938165 A EP 98938165A EP 98938165 A EP98938165 A EP 98938165A EP 1004086 A2 EP1004086 A2 EP 1004086A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
merchant
payment
customer
remote
item
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP98938165A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Richard J. Fetik
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Silicon Valley Ebusiness Solutions Inc
Original Assignee
NETADVANTAGE CORP
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by NETADVANTAGE CORP filed Critical NETADVANTAGE CORP
Publication of EP1004086A2 publication Critical patent/EP1004086A2/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/04—Billing or invoicing
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
    • G06Q20/02—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
    • G06Q20/04—Payment circuits
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
    • G06Q20/08—Payment architectures
    • G06Q20/12—Payment architectures specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
    • H04L69/30—Definitions, standards or architectural aspects of layered protocol stacks
    • H04L69/32—Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
    • H04L69/322—Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions
    • H04L69/329—Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Definitions

  • This invention pertains in general to electronic commerce and in particular to a method and system for conducting electronic payment transactions via the Internet.
  • these goods and services are displayed on the merchant's web site and a prospective customer views, selects, and purchases the goods using web browsing software such as NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR ® .
  • the customer usually pays for a product by establishing a secure connection with the merchant's web server and transmitting payment information, such as a credit card number, to the merchant.
  • the merchant uses back-end processing to verify the payment information and receive payment.
  • the merchant may use a secure telephone line or network link to contact the credit card issuer before accepting the customer's order.
  • the merchant and credit card issuer settle payment and the merchant delivers the product or service to the customer.
  • a difficulty with the above-described scenario is that each merchant must implement an inventory and payment database and a payment acceptance and verification system.
  • the merchant must establish and maintain a database tracking sales, delivery, and payment information and product inventories in order to support the electronic commerce system.
  • This database There is significant cost and complexity in maintaining this database, including the difficulty of integrating it with legacy accounting and fulfillment systems and aggravated by the scarcity of truly skilled personnel.
  • the merchant must design web pages to securely accept the order and payment information and implement the functionality to verify ' the payment. These tasks can be extremely difficult if the merchant accepts payment using many different methods, such as credit cards and electronic fund transfers, or accepts payment in more than one currency.
  • having a large number of separate payment acceptance systems on the Internet provides a greater opportunity for fraud and abuse because the flaws of each system can be exploited.
  • the method and system will allow the merchant to easily and verifiably perform inventory, sales, and delivery tracking and transparently support different types of payments and currencies.
  • the above needs are met by a method and system for conducting electronic commerce transactions that allows a merchant to easily sell a mix of physical and intangible items and supports sales, inventory, and delivery tracking and a variety of payment systems by having the merchant establish an account on a commerce server.
  • the commerce server provides the merchant with inventory, accounting, and order management systems.
  • the commerce serv er allows merchants to conduct electronic commerce with other merchants and vendors.
  • the commerce server includes a web server providing web pages to the merchant. By using these web pages, the merchant establishes an account on the commerce server. Then, the merchant provides the commerce server with information about an item sold by the merchant, such as a plane ticket, clothing, a book, a software product, or playing time with an online game. The merchant also provides the commerce server with other attributes of the item from which the customer may select, for example, the quantity or duration of an item. In addition, the merchant supplies payment processing rules defining the payment options that are acceptable to the merchant, such as which currencies and payment systems are allowed and when or how often to bill the customer. The commerce server preferably stores the information received from the merchant in an entry of a database.
  • the database entry categorizes the item as a hard ' good, soft good, or online good depending upon the delivery options available for the item.
  • the commerce server provides the merchant with a "payment button” including a universal resource locator ("URL") that points to the commerce server and includes information allowing the commerce server to identify the database entry with which the payment button is associated.
  • the merchant preferably publishes the payment button on the merchant's web site.
  • the customer selects the payment button when the customer wishes to purchase the associated product.
  • the customer's computer is automatically directed to the web server managed by the commerce server and provided with the item information entered by the merchant.
  • the customer is presented with the payment options allowed by the merchant's payment processing rules.
  • the customer then provides the web server with the payment information necessary to complete the transaction.
  • the commerce server preferably identifies the remote payment system selected by the customer and contacts it to complete the electronic commerce transaction.
  • a module within the commerce server converts calls generated by the commerce server into the format used by the selected payment system. Likewise, the module converts responses received from the payment system into the format used by the commerce server. Then, the commerce server notifies the customer and the merchant of the result of the electronic commerce transaction and, if appropriate, delivers the item using one of the delivery options specified in the database.
  • a method of conducting electronic commerce between a remote customer and a remote merchant in accordance with the present invention includes receiving information identifying an item to be purchased by the customer, receiving payment information specifying a payment method to be used by the customer to purchase the item, conducting a payment transaction with a remote payment system specified by the payment information, and providing the customer and the merchant with the result of the payment transaction.
  • computer program instructions for conducting electronic commerce transactions include instructions for storing item information received from the merchant, instructions for issuing the merchant a reference to the stored item information, instructions for receiving an electronic commerce transaction identifier from the customer containing the reference to the stored item information issued to the merchant, instructions for accepting payment information from the customer, and instructions for conducting the electronic commerce transaction with a remote payment system.
  • FIGURE 1 is a high-level block diagram of an electronic commerce system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIGURE 2 is a high-level block diagram illustrating functional components of a commerce server according to an embodiment of the present invention
  • FIGURE 3 is a high-level block diagram of an entry in a database associated with the commerce server according to an embodiment of the present invention
  • FIGURE 4 is a flow diagram illustrating the interactions between the customer, merchant, commerce server, and payment system when completing a payment transaction according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIGURE 5 illustrates an exemplary screen display of a web page seeking payment information from a customer
  • FIGURE 6 illustrates an exemplary screen display of an order confirmation web page.
  • the "Internet” refers to the global network of interconnected computer systems and the “World Wide Web” (“WWW”) refers to the global hypertext system using the Internet as its transport mechanism.
  • a "universal resource locator” (“URL”) is a reference to a piece of information or a software function on a computer connected to the Internet.
  • a “web server” is a program that accepts requests for information framed according to the HyperText Transport Protocol (“HTTP”).
  • Web pages are the information supplied by the web server in response to the requests.
  • the Common Gateway Interface (“CGI”) is the standard that describes how the web server accesses external programs, usually called “CGI programs” or “CGI scripts,” called by a web page.
  • CGI Common Gateway Interface
  • the present invention is not limited to the Internet and may be used with any digital network supporting electronic commerce.
  • the terms defined above also include the non-Internet-based equivalents for communicating between the various entities described herein.
  • FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram of an electronic commerce system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Illustrated are a customer computer (sometimes referred to as “the customer") 110, a merchant web server (sometimes referred to as “the merchant”) 112, and a commerce server (“CS") 114, all coupled to the Internet 116.
  • the customer computer 110 is a personal computer having, among other things, a processor, memory, storage device, and monitor.
  • the customer computer 110 is coupled to the Internet 116 via a network connection 118.
  • the network connection may be, for example, a modem coupled to an analog telephone line, a digital subscriber line, a cable modem utilizing bandwidth on a cable television coaxial cable, a high speed digital line, or any other communications medium.
  • Web browsing software such as NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR ® preferably executes on the client computer and sends data from the client computer 110 to the merchant web server 112 via the network connection 118 and Internet 116.
  • the customer computer 110 is a palm-top device or personal digital system communicating via radio waves with the Internet 116 or another electronic commerce system.
  • the merchant web server 112 is preferably similar to the customer computer 110 except that it is has the processing power and communications 116 bandwidth to handle multiple simultaneous customer transactions.
  • the merchant 112 sells items, such as merchandise, information, intellectual property, and/or services via a web site hosted on the merchant web server 112.
  • the merchant's 112 web site may, for example, display a catalog of software available for purchase, allow the customer 110 to view flight schedules and purchase a plane ticket, or allow the customer 110 to play an online game, download a book or music, or access a database of information.
  • the terms "customer" and “merchant” depend upon the specific transaction being conducted. In a chain of commerce transactions, the "customer" in a first transaction may be a "merchant" in a second transaction.
  • the customer 110 may buy components of a product from several different vendors or merchants 112 using the electronic commerce system described herein and then, in turn, sell the combined product via the customer's own web site and the CS 114.
  • the merchant's web site displays at least one "payment button.”
  • a payment button is a graphic button, a region of a larger graphic, a text string, or another form of URL link which the customer 110 may "press” by selecting it with a mouse, physical button, or other input device.
  • the payment button may be utilized on a non-Internet-based electronic commerce system.
  • the payment button is considered to be "pressed” whenever a customer 110 expresses a desire to purchase an item.
  • the payment button is pressed by the customer 110 when the customer 110 wishes to purchase and pay for an item displayed for sale on the merchant's web site.
  • every type of item for sale on the merchant's web site has a separate payment button.
  • the 110 customer presses the product's associated payment button. Then, the customer 110 is preferably presented with a ' menu allowing the customer 110 to specify attributes, such as quantity or duration, of the items that the customer 110 wishes to purchase.
  • the merchant web site has only one payment button or has only one payment button for each class of items for sale.
  • the customer 110 is preferably presented with a menu of choices after pressing the payment button. For example, the menu of choices may ask the customer 110 to identify a specific product or an attribute of a product, like color, that the customer 110 wishes to purchase. Every payment button has an associated URL that points to information in the CS 114.
  • a database key that uniquely identifies the merchant 112 and/or item for sale is encoded within the URL.
  • the customer 110 presses the payment button, the customer 110 is redirected to a web page provided by the CS 114 and specific to the merchant 112 and/or item.
  • the CS 114 queries the customer for the quantity or duration of the item that the customer 110 wishes to purchase and payment information.
  • the CS 114 receives the customer's responses and conducts the electronic commerce transaction according to payment processing rules and delivery options specified by the merchant 112.
  • the CS 114 records the transaction in its database and notifies the customer and merchant whether the transaction was successful. Accordingly, the merchant 112 is relieved of the responsibility of conducting the electronic commerce transaction with the customer 110.
  • FIG. 2 is a high-level block diagram illustrating functional components of the CS 114 and also illustrating a remote payment system 222 and a remote merchant 223 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • the CS 114 is preferably similar to the customer 110 and merchant 112 computers, except that the CS 114 has enough processing power and Internet 116 bandwidth to support many simultaneous payment button transactions as described herein.
  • the functionality of the CS 114 described herein may be performed by hardware or software modules within the CS 114.
  • the functionality of the CS 114 is provided by software applications executing on INTEL x86- or SUN MICROSYSTEMS SPARC-compatible hardware under control of MICROSOFT WINDOWS NT or a derivative of the UNIX operating system, such as SOLARIS 2.5.1.
  • the functionality of the CS 114 is provided by a distributed computing system as described below.
  • the remote payment system 222 is preferably a third-party payment gateway or system.
  • the gateway or system is preferably connected to a financial transaction network, which, in ' turn, typically links to computers at banks and other financial institutions for approval and settlement of electronic commerce transactions.
  • Typical gateways or systems may include CYBERCASH, e-CASH, MONDEX, or SET. While only one payment system 222 is illustrated in FIG. 2, the CS 114 may be in communication with many different remote payment systems 222, either through a secure link on the Internet 116 or a dedicated secure link. Each payment system has an applications programming interface ("API"). By using the API, the CS 114 communicates with the payment system 222 and performs secure and verifiable payment transactions.
  • API applications programming interface
  • the remote merchant 223 is preferably a merchant selling items via a web site as described above.
  • the remote merchant 223 may have an account on the CS 114 or the merchant 223 may have an interface for selling items similar to the remote payment system 222.
  • the remote merchant 223 is included in FIG. 2 to illustrate that the customer's 110 electronic commerce transaction performed by the CS 114 may contact a remote payment system 222 and/or a remote merchant 223.
  • the CS 114 includes a payment button transaction engine 210 which is coupled to a database 212 and a web server 214.
  • a firewall 216 preferably sits between the web server 216 and the transaction engine 210. While these functional components are illustrated in FIG. 2 as discrete entities, the CS 114 may be executed on a distributed computer system having a plurality of engines, databases, and web servers working together the perform the functions described herein. For example, one embodiment of the CS 114 uses multiple transaction engines 210 and web servers 214 and a single distributed database 212, thereby providing scalability to the CS 114.
  • the number of web servers 214 and transaction engines 210 depends on the actual system load and the desire to achieve better performance through balancing the transaction load across the system.
  • the payment button transaction engine 210 includes a rules module 218 that controls the interactions and flows of information necessary to complete a payment transaction.
  • the transaction engine 210 preferably includes a Payment Application Programming Interface ("PAPI") module 220 enabling communication between the CS 114 and the remote payment systems 222 and merchants 223.
  • PAPI Payment Application Programming Interface
  • the PAPI module 220 abstracts the different APIs of each payment system 222 and merchant 223 into a single, higher level, PAPI that can interface with each of the payment systems 222 and merchants 223.
  • the transaction engine 210 performs payment transactions with a payment system 222 or merchant 223 by making calls to the PAPI.
  • the PAPI abstraction module 220 translates these calls into the specific API of the payment system 222 or merchant 223 being used for that transaction.
  • the PAPI abstraction module 220 also translates data received from the payment system 222 or merchant 223 into the format utilized by the transaction engine 210. Accordingly, the PAPI abstraction module 220 allows support for new payment systems 222 and merchants 223 to be added to the CS 114 by merely creating a new PAPI to payment system or merchant API mapping in the PAPI abstraction module 220.
  • the payment button store module (“PB store”) 224 in combination with the web server 214, allows a merchant 112 to obtain a payment button.
  • the web server 214 is preferably an industry standard web server such as the NETSCAPE ENTERPRISE SERVER or the
  • the web server 214 provides secure communication with the customer 110 and preferably uses industry standard technologies including HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”), and HTTP to deliver information to the customer 110.
  • HTTP HyperText Markup Language
  • the web server preferably uses industry standard encryption techniques, including secure HTTP ("S-HTTP”) and the secure sockets layer (“SSL”), to ensure that communications with the customer 110 are private.
  • S-HTTP secure HTTP
  • SSL secure sockets layer
  • the firewall 216 allows only authorized communications between the web server 214 and the transaction engine 210 and ensures that a malicious user cannot access or corrupt the transaction engine 210.
  • the PB store 224 allows the merchant to purchase payment buttons and add product descriptions, merchant configurations, and other information to the database 212.
  • the merchant 112 accesses the PB store through a web site on the web server 214.
  • the PB store module 224 captures the merchant 112 actions on the web server 214 and creates the appropriate entries in the database 212.
  • the PB store web site describes the payment button mechanism, the services offered by the payment button vendor, and the costs of the services.
  • the web site preferably has a merchant registration form 226 for registering new merchants, a merchant renewal form 228 for renewing merchant registrations, and a payment button generation form 230 for issuing payment buttons to registered merchants.
  • the forms preferably include CGI programs for performing the functionality described herein.
  • the merchant registration form 226 allows the merchant 112 to input information identifying the merchant 112 and includes a payment button with which the merchant 112 can pay a registration fee. After the fee payment is verified, the merchant 112 is preferably issued a login/password pair and an account with the CS 114 through which the merchant 112 can access the payment button generation form and maintain the merchant's account. Similarly, the merchant renewal form 228 preferably includes a payment button with which the merchant 112 can pay a renewal fee.
  • the payment button generation form 230 allows the merchant 112 to enter item description data, such as item names and descriptions, prices, types, and delivery options, and payment processing rules, such as supported credit cards, payment systems, and currencies.
  • the payment processing rules may rank the payment systems in order of preference, describe when payment is required (e.g., the merchant may require billing after 90 days), and/or describe the quantity or duration of an item available for a certain price.
  • the merchant 112 enters the item description data and payment processing rules by uploading a file to web site having the information in a standardized format.
  • the payment button generation form 230 sends the data to the transaction engine 210, which stores the information in the database 212 at a location specified by a key.
  • the transaction engine 210 passes the key back to the PB store web site, which provides the merchant with a payment button download page displaying the results of the payment button generation transaction. If the transaction was successful, the payment button download page includes the payment button issued to the merchant 112.
  • the payment button has an associated URL that specifies the key. Accordingly, little or no engineering effort is required to maintain each merchant configuration on the CS 114.
  • PB store web sites communicating with the database 212 through the transaction engine 210.
  • the transaction engine 210 creates a field in the database 212 entry specifying the PB store that generated the payment button. Accordingly, payment buttons may be "branded" among different payment button vendors.
  • the database 212 is preferably a robust relational database.
  • a preferred embodiment of the present invention uses the ORACLE 7 database to implement the functionality described herein.
  • the database 212 stores item descriptions, payment processing rules, and other information necessary to complete a payment transaction on behalf of a merchant 112. This merchant information is preferably accessed in the database by using a key assigned to each merchant 112 and/or item for sale.
  • the database 212 is also used as a repository of transaction information including authorization logs, payment status and completion records, and other information required by the merchant 112 and the CS 114.
  • FIG. 3 is a high-level block diagram of functional components within the database 212. Illustrated therein are a database entry 300 including a primary entry 310 linked to at least one of three types of item entries 312, 314, 316.
  • the primary entry 310 is the entry identified by the key provided to the merchant 112. Accordingly, the primary entry 310 is typically accessed either when the merchant 112 provides the key while using the PB store web site or when the customer 110 uses the URL provided by a payment button to purchase the item identified in the database entry 310.
  • the primary entry 310 contains a field 318 storing the payment processing rules for the item as specified by the merchant 112 through the PB store.
  • the primary entry 310 also contains a field 320 holding item type information as specified by the merchant 112.
  • the item type information preferably describes the item attributes input by the merchant 112.
  • the item type information field 320 preferably contains at least one link to another database entry 312, 314, 316 describing delivery options for the item.
  • FIG. 3 illustrates three database entries 312, 314, 316 describing delivery options for hard, soft, and online items.
  • a hard item is typically a manufactured physical product such as clothing, a book, or a machine part. Accordingly, the entry 312 holding delivery options 322 may list various shipping methods and companies available for delivering the hard item to the customer 110.
  • a soft item in contrast, is typically intangible intellectual property such as music, electronic books, or software.
  • the soft item may be a streaming music file that can be played by the customer 110.
  • the entry 314 holding delivery options 324 may list a URL or electronic key that can be provided to the customer to effectuate the purchase.
  • the options 324 may provide instructions for initiating an FTP session to download the purchased soft item to the customer's 110 computer system.
  • An online item is typically access to an online service or other software executing remotely from the customer 110.
  • the online item may be access to an electronic database of information or an online game.
  • the entry 316 holding delivery options 326 preferably includes instructions for allowing the customer 110 to access the online item.
  • the options 326 may provide instructions for initiating a telnet session with an electronic database for a limited duration of time.
  • FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating the interactions between the customer 110, merchant 112, CS 114, database 212 and a payment system 222 when completing a payment transaction according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • time flows from the top of the diagram to the bottom and horizontal lines represent communications between the various entities.
  • FIG. 4 illustrates only major interactions between the entities and does not represent every interaction.
  • FIG. 4 illustrates a simple case of the present invention wherein the merchant's 112 payment processing rules specify that the payment transaction should be processed at the time the customer's 110 order is received.
  • the customer 110 is browsing the merchant's web site and decides to purchase an item by pressing 410 the associated payment button.
  • the merchant's web server 112 redirects 412 the customer's browser to the location on the CS 114 specified by the URL associated with the payment button.
  • the customer's browser fetches 414 the referenced page from the CS 114.
  • the CS 114 parses the URL received from the customer 110 for the database 212 key corresponding to the item that the customer 110 wishes to purchase. Using this key, the CS 114 accesses 416 the database 212 and dynamically generates a web page indicating the attributes and payment options available for the item as defined by the merchant 112. In addition, the CS 114 preferably determines the language utilized by the customer 110 and currencies supported by the merchant 112 and modifies the web page accordingly. This generated web page is sent 418 to the customer 110.
  • FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary screen display 500 of the web page seeking payment information from the customer 110.
  • the customer selects the desired item attributes and payment service, enters any necessary payment information, such as a credit card or account number, and transmits 420 these data to the CS 114.
  • the CS 114 stores 422 the received data in the database 212 and contacts the selected payment system 222.
  • the CS 114 preferably uses the PAPI module 220 to translate transaction calls made by the transaction engine 210 into the API of the selected payment system 222.
  • the CS 114 preferably stores 426 records of all communications with the payment system 222, customer 110, and merchant 112 in the database 212. Therefore, the database 212 can be used to reconstruct transaction histories in order to provide error tracking and accounting services. If the payment system 222 rejects the transaction, the CS 114 publishes a web page to the customer indicating this result and presenting alternative payment methods, if any (this interaction is not shown in FIG. 4).
  • the CS dynamically generates a web page containing payment status information and publishes 428 this information to the customer 110.
  • This page preferably contains a receipt or confirmation number generated by the CS 114.
  • the confirmation number is a unique number encoding transaction, session, and merchant identifications and a time and date stamp.
  • This confirmation number is preferably a key to a database entry holding the transaction information and can be used later by the merchant 112 and customer 110 to confirm payment, to query the CS 114 for payment status information, and to use the CS 114 to query the payment system for account status information.
  • the web page also preferably contains any other information required by the merchant 112 and a link to a confirmation page on the merchant's web site 112.
  • FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary screen display 600 of an order confirmation web page.
  • the CS 114 also notifies 428 the merchant 112 that payment was accepted and provides the same receipt or confirmation number as was provided to the customer 110. In one embodiment, this notification is performed via a secure electronic mail message. Accordingly, both the customer 110 and merchant 112 are notified that the purchase was made.
  • the customer 110 fetches 430 the confirmation web page on the merchant's web site.
  • this web page provides the customer 110 with additional information about the purchase or any other information which the merchant 112 desires to provide.
  • the present invention is a system, method, and computer program instructions for conducting electronic commerce transactions via the Internet or any electronic communication system.
  • the merchant 112 opens an account on the CS 114 and supplies information about items sold by the merchant 112.
  • the CS 114 stores this information in a database 212 entry and issues the merchant 112 a URL containing the key to database entry.
  • the merchant 112 supplies this URL to customers wishing to purchase an item, causing a customer 110 to be connected to the CS 114.
  • the CS 114 collects payment information from the customer 110, conducts the electronic commerce transaction with a remote payment system 222, and notifies the customer 110 and merchant 112 of the result.

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Abstract

Selon cette invention, un procédé et un système pour réaliser des transactions commerciales électroniques permettent d'accepter des informations relatives à un article vendu par un commerçant et de les stocker sur un serveur commercial. Le commerçant définit aussi les règles de traitement des paiements, qui indiquent les modes de paiement acceptés par ce commerçant. Il reçoit en retour une référence identifiant le serveur commercial ainsi que l'article concerné. De préférence, le commerçant publie cette référence sur son site Web, sur la page qui met en vente l'article concerné. Un client qui visite le site du commerçant indique qu'il désire acheter cet article en sélectionnant la référence; par conséquent, on le met en contact avec le serveur commercial pour lui fournir des informations provenant du serveur commercial et relatives à l'article concerné et pour lui proposer une liste d'options de paiement. De préférence, le client sélectionne une option de paiement et fournit au serveur commercial des informations de paiement telles que le numéro de sa carte de crédit, en réponse à quoi le serveur commercial contacte un système de paiement sélectionné et conclut la transaction de commerce électronique. Le serveur commercial informe ensuite le client et le commerçant des résultats de la transaction électronique et livre l'article au client.
EP98938165A 1997-07-29 1998-07-28 Procede et systeme pour mener des transactions commerciales electroniques Withdrawn EP1004086A2 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US5412197P 1997-07-29 1997-07-29
US54121P 1997-07-29
PCT/US1998/015884 WO1999007121A2 (fr) 1997-07-29 1998-07-28 Procede et systeme pour mener des transactions commerciales electroniques

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1004086A2 true EP1004086A2 (fr) 2000-05-31

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EP98938165A Withdrawn EP1004086A2 (fr) 1997-07-29 1998-07-28 Procede et systeme pour mener des transactions commerciales electroniques

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EP (1) EP1004086A2 (fr)
JP (1) JP2001512863A (fr)
CN (1) CN1267380A (fr)
AU (1) AU8675398A (fr)
CA (1) CA2297930A1 (fr)
IL (1) IL134178A0 (fr)
WO (1) WO1999007121A2 (fr)

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CA2297930A1 (fr) 1999-02-11
WO1999007121A3 (fr) 1999-07-08
AU8675398A (en) 1999-02-22
CN1267380A (zh) 2000-09-20
JP2001512863A (ja) 2001-08-28
WO1999007121A9 (fr) 1999-04-29
IL134178A0 (en) 2001-04-30
WO1999007121A2 (fr) 1999-02-11

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