GB2370904A - Transaction apparatus using a system for mobile communication - Google Patents

Transaction apparatus using a system for mobile communication Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2370904A
GB2370904A GB0100448A GB0100448A GB2370904A GB 2370904 A GB2370904 A GB 2370904A GB 0100448 A GB0100448 A GB 0100448A GB 0100448 A GB0100448 A GB 0100448A GB 2370904 A GB2370904 A GB 2370904A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
portable
information
card
transaction
user
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Withdrawn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
GB0100448A
Other versions
GB0100448D0 (en
Inventor
Shankar Darbari
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.)
ACE CARD Ltd
Original Assignee
ACE CARD Ltd
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 ACE CARD Ltd filed Critical ACE CARD Ltd
Priority to GB0100448A priority Critical patent/GB2370904A/en
Publication of GB0100448D0 publication Critical patent/GB0100448D0/en
Publication of GB2370904A publication Critical patent/GB2370904A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current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
    • 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
    • G06Q20/20—Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
    • 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
    • G06Q20/30—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks
    • G06Q20/32—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks using wireless devices
    • G06Q20/322—Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]
    • 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
    • G06Q20/30—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks
    • G06Q20/32—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks using wireless devices
    • G06Q20/322—Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]
    • G06Q20/3229—Use of the SIM of a M-device as secure element
    • 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
    • G06Q20/30—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks
    • G06Q20/32—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks using wireless devices
    • G06Q20/325—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks using wireless devices using wireless networks
    • 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
    • G06Q20/38—Payment protocols; Details thereof
    • G06Q20/42—Confirmation, e.g. check or permission by the legal debtor of payment
    • 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

Abstract

A system for mobile communication comprises a portable communication device and a separate machine readable medium such as a card provided with information unique to the portable communications device whereby reading of the information provided on the medium card causes a central location to communicate with the portable device. The system may have a card reading device which is arranged to communicate with a central location. The portable communication device may be a mobile cellular telephone and or/ a personal digital assistant and which may be capable of functioning with a pre-paid card. A running total of available credit may be stored at the portable device. The system may be used for purchasing goods or services. A method of verifying a transaction comprises the steps of a user presenting a member bearing machine readable information to a merchant; reading the information and transferring to a central location in formation including the value of the transaction; as a result of said communication, initiating a call to a portable communication device associated with the user; causing the portable device to communicate additional information to the central station; issuing from the central station an authorisation signal to the merchant; and decrementing a user account with the value of the transaction.

Description

SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR SECURE FINANCIAL MOBILITY The present invention relates to mobile telecommunications and more particularly to the use of mobile telecommunications in order to improve financial mobility.
Certain groups of people are subject to more rigorous credit checks than others or are not entitled to have credit. As a result, it is necessary for members of such groups to carry cash or cash equivalents which then constitutes a security problem.
In the area of telecommunications, there has been an increase in the usage of"pay as you go"mobile telephones which involve the user purchasing a card which is inserted in a suitable telephone handset, with the value of the card being decremented as the phone is used. While this allows persons who cannot obtain credit with mobile communications, it does not solve any wider problem and still has the security problem mentioned above.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and apparatus which will improve the financial mobility of those who cannot obtain credit while also improving the security of the cash equivalent associated with mobile communications.
The present invention provides a system and apparatus which utilises two separate devices, one of which is a mobile communications device such as a mobile telephone or personal digital assistant (PDA) and the other of which is a passive, indicia-bearing member which provides machine readable information about the communications device.
In the preferred mode of operation when undertaking a transaction, the indicia-bearing member is utilised by the user in the same manner as a conventional credit card. However, as an alternative to or in addition to
communicating with a central computer linked to the merchant system, the system according to the present invention initiates communication with the communication device carried by the user in order to enable the user to provide confirmation of the transaction undertaken by the user utilising the indicia-bearing device. The confirmation can be by way of a pin number using the communication device which is transmitted back to the central computer where it can be checked and used to issue an authorisation to the merchant. Additionally, the stored value is decremented by the value of the transaction.
In order that the present invention be more readily understood, embodiments thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig 1 shows a diagrammatic overview of the system and apparatus utilised according to the present invention, and Fig 2 shows a flow chart of a typical transaction according to the present invention.
The present invention provides a system and apparatus whereby a user can prepay in order to load his account with cash which can then be decremented with the costs of transactions. The basis of the present invention is a combination of both a machine readable member which is preferably in the form of a card and a mobile communications device. In the preferred form, the card is provided with means for storing information unique to the user or the communication device.
The storage medium can be any convenient form of read only information such as a magnetic stripe or read only memory chip. The mobile communications device is preferably in the form of a"pay as you go"mobile telephone but because of the provision of the associated card, the"pay as you go"element of the mobile phone can be expanded to include transactions other than simply making and receiving telephone calls. This in turn, requires modification of the software interfaces
provided at the base station for the mobile telecommunications equivalent as well as the software interfaces associated with the machine reading equipment utilised to read the card.
Before describing the operation of the system according to the present invention, it is important to understand that there are currently three mobile prepaid accounting approaches used in telecommunications, namely: 1) The intelligent network (IN) system; 2) The call detail record (CDR) network system; and 3) The advice of charge (AOC) network system.
The precise way in which the present invention will operate will depend on which pre-paid accounting system is utilised. Interoperability, scalability and security features are foundations of the software interfaces of the modular payment processing system according to the present invention.
In the IN system, a subscription for each pre-paid customer is stored in a subscriber database in the system's IN node. Each subscription field in the IN node contains certain information such as, for example, the number of charging units (to be used for the payment of a call), dates (eg when the charging units or subscription will expire, when announcements are to be made, etc) and other subscriber related information (eg tariff class, lists of barred and allowed numbers, and other restrictions and information about subscribers). This subscriber information can be stored in the IN's service control function, and an external database or both. The charging units can be any unit value as long as the unit is fully convertible between monetary value, time value etc.
In the CDR system, the call data records are collected in a manner similar to those in conventional credit billing system. However, with the pre-paid CDR system, a dedicated pre-paid account is maintained in a database for each mobile subscriber. When a call has been made and a resulting CDR is being processed by
the system, the cost of the call is calculated and deducted from the amount in the subscribers account. If the account reaches zero, the pre-paid system orders the mobile network to bar the subscriber from making additional calls. Some of the network operators allow the pre-paid amount to reach zero without restricting the
call, but those operators eventually charge the subscriber by post-processing the z : l CDR's in a post-paid billing system.
For mobile telephone systems using the AOC system, a pre-paid subscriber receives information from the network on the subscriber's mobile phone. The
mobile phone forwards the received AOC information to its subscriber identity module (SIM) card, where special pre-paid application software resides. The prepaid software routine deducts the AOC amounts from a pre-paid amount stored in the SIM card. Again, this is a network-based pre-paid accounting approach. It will be appreciated, that with telephone calls, the ultimate charge is not going to be known at the commencement of the call. This problem is overcome in the CDR system by utilising post-processing and incorporating a post-paid billing system but this is, in effect, creating credit and consequently credit risk. However, as will be explained in more detail later, the present invention can be utilised with any of the existing above systems.
Turning now to details of the present invention, let us assume that the mobile communication system is operating with the AOC network system with special pre-paid application software in the SIM card of the mobile telephone.
Such a system allows a user to have immediate access to the remaining amount of cash present in his account.
Referring now to Figs I and 2, it is assumed that a user is supplied with a "pay as you go"mobile telephone operating on the AOC system. In addition, the user is provided with a special card which will look and in many respects function in the same manner as a conventional credit card but without the element of any
debit being created for the holder of such a card. The additional card contains machine readable information which will identify the"pay as you go"mobile communication device such as a telephone to the network.
In order to utilise the additional card and mobile telephone for transactions other than making telephone calls, it is assumed that there is a credit balance in the account of the user. When the user wishes to carry out a transaction, the additional card is presented to the merchant or information about the additional card is given to a merchant. This information can then be transmitted from the merchant station (which may be a swipe card machine) to a central station where information relating to the individual mobile telephone is recognised. This then causes a telephone call to be made to the user's mobile telephone which results in the user being requested to input into his telephone certain information to validate the transaction. The information input is preferably achieved by pressing the keys on the keypad but it is possible for SMS messages to be used or even voice commands. This information is used to validate the card in much the same way as a pin number is utilised. Assuming that the account has sufficient cash in it and that the validation information is correct, the central station can then authorise the transaction and this authorisation is communicated back to the merchant and at the same time the user's account is decremented by the cost of the transaction. The merchant is paid either directly from the issuer of the card of by an intermediary.
The transaction is not limited to the purchase of goods or services. It could also be the use of the additional card as a cash card to withdraw cash from an ATM.
It will be appreciated that by purchasing pay as you go cards and installing them into the telephone, the amount of cash available can be incremented in the SIM card of the telephone and consequently the account can be replenished with
ease in view of the fact that'pay as you go"cards are available from a large number of outlets. There is no need for the user to have a bank account.
The present invention also envisages that a user's account could be topped up from an external source such as a parent's or friend's account and that this could be done by mobile phone or the parent/friend could utilise on-line banking services, or cash/cheque payment through the Giro system to ensure that the user's account is kept in credit.
As mentioned above, the present invention is not limited to the use of AOC network systems but can be utilised with any other pre-paid telephone network system. This is basically because the value of the transaction will be known before completion of the transaction and hence it will only be the normal problems associated with the pre-paid system which will arise; no additional problems will arise due to the present invention. Thus, rather than the phone SIM card storing information about the credit balance available to the user, this information can be held in a network node as would normally occur in the CDR system. It is, of course, possible to keep a record of the credit balance and/or transactions in the phone as well as at a node. If there is a central record of the credit balance this could be held as a web page and thus accessible to authorised persons, eg parents.
In this modification, the topping up of the credit balance is then readily achieved using normal electronic banking procedures.
Further, the invention is not limited to the use of any particular mobile network or technology. While the invention can be implemented using WAP technology it is equally capable of utilising standard mobile technology using the normal touch tone key pads.
The security of the system lies in the fact that the additional card and the mobile communications device have to be used in conjunction with each other. Loss of the card is not a security risk even if the validation code is known because
the authorisation can only come if the validation code is entered using the designated mobile communications device. Likewise, loss of the mobile communications device alone means that only telephone calls can be made because the card is required for all other transactions.
Additional security may be added by the computer system at the central location to ensure that each transaction is given a unique authorisation.

Claims (11)

  1. CLAIMS : 1. A system for mobile communications comprising a portable communications device and a separate machine readable medium provided with information unique to the portable communications device whereby reading of the information provided on the medium causes a central location to communicate with the portable device.
  2. 2. A system according to claim 1 wherein the medium is in the form of a card and a card reading device is arranged to communicate with the central location.
  3. 3. A system according to claims 1 or 2, wherein the portable communications device is a mobile cellular telephone and/or a personal digital assistant.
  4. 4. A system according to claim 1,2 or 3, wherein the portable communications device is capable of functioning with a pre-paid card.
  5. 5. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a running total of available credit is stored centrally.
  6. 6. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a running total of available credit is stored at the portable device.
  7. 7. A system for mobile communications substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
  8. 8. A method of verifying a transaction comprising the steps of :
    a) a user presenting a member bearing machine readable information to a merchant ; b) reading the information and transferring to a central location information including the value of the transaction; c) as a result of said communication, initiating a call to a portable communication device associated with the user; d) causing the portable device to communicate additional information to the central station; e) issuing from the central station an authorisation signal to the merchant; and f) decrementing a user account with the value of the transaction.
  9. 9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the user account is incremented by the purchase and insertion of cards into the portable communication device.
  10. 10. A method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the user account is stored centrally.
  11. 11. A method substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
GB0100448A 2001-01-08 2001-01-08 Transaction apparatus using a system for mobile communication Withdrawn GB2370904A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB0100448A GB2370904A (en) 2001-01-08 2001-01-08 Transaction apparatus using a system for mobile communication

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB0100448A GB2370904A (en) 2001-01-08 2001-01-08 Transaction apparatus using a system for mobile communication

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB0100448D0 GB0100448D0 (en) 2001-02-21
GB2370904A true GB2370904A (en) 2002-07-10

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Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2008118089A1 (en) * 2007-03-26 2008-10-02 Sven-Erik Prytz Secure money transfer
GB2457445A (en) * 2008-02-12 2009-08-19 Vidicom Ltd Verifying payment transactions
US7937685B2 (en) 2005-01-13 2011-05-03 Hsbc Technology & Services (Usa) Inc. Computer software implemented framework for configuration and release management of group systems software, and method for same

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5878337A (en) * 1996-08-08 1999-03-02 Joao; Raymond Anthony Transaction security apparatus and method
EP1030272A2 (en) * 1999-02-18 2000-08-23 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Electronic asset utilization system, electronic asset utilization method, server for use with electronic asset utilization system, and recording medium having recorded thereon electronic asset utilization method

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5878337A (en) * 1996-08-08 1999-03-02 Joao; Raymond Anthony Transaction security apparatus and method
EP1030272A2 (en) * 1999-02-18 2000-08-23 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Electronic asset utilization system, electronic asset utilization method, server for use with electronic asset utilization system, and recording medium having recorded thereon electronic asset utilization method

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7937685B2 (en) 2005-01-13 2011-05-03 Hsbc Technology & Services (Usa) Inc. Computer software implemented framework for configuration and release management of group systems software, and method for same
WO2008118089A1 (en) * 2007-03-26 2008-10-02 Sven-Erik Prytz Secure money transfer
GB2457445A (en) * 2008-02-12 2009-08-19 Vidicom Ltd Verifying payment transactions

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB0100448D0 (en) 2001-02-21

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WAP Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1)