GB2427286A

GB2427286A - Financial transaction method

Info

Publication number: GB2427286A
Application number: GB0511957A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Harley Clark
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-06-11
Filing date: 2005-06-11
Publication date: 2006-12-20
Also published as: GB0511957D0

Abstract

A method of conducting a financial transaction in which a transaction identifier is sent from a first device to a second device by sound waves and then sent from the second device to a remote terminal, wherein the transaction identifier was originally generated at the remote terminal and transferred to the first device and the remote terminal conducts the financial transaction. Preferably the first and second devices are mobiles phones or PDAs, although the second device could be a till or cash register having a fixed telephone line connection. The transaction identifier is preferably a request for money or a representation of a quantity of money. The transaction identifier could be transferred to the first device by listening to the audio signal of a television or radio broadcast.

Description

Financial Transaction Method and System

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a financial transaction system and method facilitated by sound.

Background of the Invention

Mobile phones and other portable devices are very common in modern society yet they are rarely used to pay for goods and services at point- of-sale (PUS).

Systems making using of infra red, radio frequency and acoustic signals (cA2481338, w02004023366) have been proposed to allow a mobile phone user to transmit financial information to a seller of goods. However, these systems suffer from requiring either the mobile phone user or seller or both to invest in specialised devices for producing and receiving these signals. In each case, the seller must operate specialised receiving devices or software to process the signal containing the financial information transmitted from the mobile phone user. Typically digital signal processing circuits, modems, coupling devices, receivers and computers are required to complete the transaction.

In the current climate where there is no clear product leader in mobile PUS payments and a lack of standards for future development, business operators are unwilling to invest in new transaction processing equipment. The recent 1.1 billion pound investment in chip-and- pin' by UK retailers gives a good example of the business cost of any project that attempts to roll out transaction processing devices countrywide.

Systems making use of short message service (SMS) have also been developed. These have the advantage of requiring less or no hardware investment by business operators to process transactions. However, SMS has proven to be an unsuitable medium for POS transactions. SMS messages are slow to create on small telephone keypads and do not always return in a timely fashion which is essential for a busy shop counter queue.

Wireless application protocol (WAP) systems have also been developed which are more reliable. However these suffer even more than SMS in terms of the length of time it takes users to navigate WAP menus on their small telephone keypads. Neither of these systems has been widely adopted.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention aims to address the aforementioned problems, in particular by providing a fast, reliable mobile payment system that is simple to use and requires no investment by either business or customer. By allowing users of the system to communicate financial transactions as sound waves between any common telephones and performing all acoustic and financial processing at a central location, a convenient payment system is described which will work on any business premises fitted with only a telephone.

The present invention is set out in the appendant claims.

The system allows people to use their mobile phones to transfer and receive funds.

No additional capital outlay for processing equipment is necessary for businesses to receive funds, as the only equipment required is a telephone.

The process is fast, making it suitable for point-of-sale transactions.

The system will work on any telephone, irrespective of manufacturer or network Preferably the financial transactions are conducted between two telephones however any device fitted with a microphone andlor speaker and linked to a central processing facility Preferably the sound used to transfer money is generated during the sale. However, sounds may also be recorded that have a fixed value and used as a means of storing funds on a recording device that may later be used to purchase goods at point of sale.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The present invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing a layout of hardware components of the system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a flow diagram showing the method of the present invention in accordance with the embodiment of the invention of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a graph showing how peak detection is performed in accordance with the embodiment of the invention of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a representation of the numeric processing performed in accordance with the embodiment of the invention of Fig. 1.

Detailed Description of the Drawings

The invention is described in detail below with reference to Figs. 1 to 4.

The following process will demonstrate two people using the system of the present invention to transfer money. This process is illustrated by Fig. 2.

In this example, the initiator of this transaction (Caller A) will make a request for money.

This request will be communicated to caller B via sound. Caller B will then validate the transaction by entering their PIN number and the money shall be transferred.

The system will embody the transaction in a very small quantity of binary data so as to reduce corruption. Error tolerance systems and digital filtering techniques are employed to counter the high degree of interference present in mobile phone signalling, background noise and the varying quality of telephone equipment.

To initiate a transaction, Caller A (1) will call the financial service provider via a mobile phone network (2). The call is answered by the financial service provider's computer system (3).

The caller will enter the amount, (21) they are requesting via their standard telephone keypad (20) - i.e. if fifty pounds was requested then Caller A would enter 50 on their keypad.

A record will be created in the financial service providers' database that contains this amount together with the telephone number of the caller making the request.

The computer then generates a unique random number and stores it with this record. This number should be long enough to ensure it is unique so that no two records share the same number at the same time. A 12 digit number gives a one-in-one-trillion chance of being repeated twice in a row and shall be used in this example. This unique number is the Transaction Identifier. (41) The computer then converts this number into its binary form. 12 decimal digits convert to bits. (42) The Transaction Identifier could now be converted into sound; however, it is advantageous to have a means of validating the identifier when it is detected later.

Validation is provided by combining the identifier with a checksum. The checksum is an electronic signature that is generated from the 12 digit number. In this case we create the checksum by summing the ordinal position of all of the ones in the binary representation of the identifier (42).

We then convert the checksum into binary form and append it to the identifier (43). In this case the checksum is always the last 10 bits.

This allows validation upon detection. A system detecting this binary number can recreate the checksum from the identifier represented by the first 40 bits and check that it matches the checksum contained in the last 10 bits of the number.

Finally a matching-pattern is added to the binary number. This is a specific pattern that a detection system will search for when looking for the binary number in a sound-form. In this case a 101 at each end provides the pattern (45).

With the binary number complete it is converted into a series of beeps (32) where a 1 is represented by a sound and zero by the absence of sound.

Several constraints should be met when choosing the frequency and length of the sounds that make up the individual bits in the binary number The frequency should be outside the range of normal human speech. If should be less than half of the telephones systems communication frequency to satisfy the Nyquist constraint in subsequent digital filtering. The telephones communication frequency should be devisable by a multiple of 2 to reach said frequency. The length of sound must be long enough to have a sufficient number of frequency oscillations in each peak. The length of sound should be short enough to allow rapid and repeatable transmission.

The above constraints lead to a narrow choice. A frequency of 2756 Hz for a length of one hundredth of a second is found to be optimal for a common telephone system with a transmission frequency of 11025 Hz.

This sound is then generated repeatedly by the software so as to play down the user's telephone line as a continuous sound. Using the above parameters, the soundform will last for 0.5 seconds.

The second party to the transaction (Caller B) will also call the financial service provider using their telephone (4). This is typically done concurrently to the first caller by calling the same number.

The same computer system that answered Caller A will also answer Caller B. Both parties to the transaction will present their telephones to each other such that the sound being generated from the telephone speaker of Caller A will be detected by the microphone of Caller B. The binary waveform (22) that contains the Transaction Identifier will be emitted from the speakers of Caller A and then detected by the microphone of Caller B. The computer system will process the sound coming from caller B. This will contain the binary wave form from Caller A. A digital filter shall be applied to the sound so as to remove all frequencies except that at which the Transaction Identifier is being transmitted.

The software then scans the resulting input for the matching-pattern (45) attached to the front and end of the signal mentioned above. This will be detectable as 4 sets of peaks spaced at very precise intervals (31).

Should the matching-pattern be found in the incoming sound from Caller B then the interior sound range (32) can be analysed. This is done by dividing the interior into 50 intervals of 0.01 seconds and then checking to see if each interval contains a beep or silence. In the waveform, a one will be indicated by a sound peak (33) and a zero will be indicated by a sound trough (34). From this the binary number emitted by caller A is reconstructed.

After the binary number is reconstructed, the computer will have 50 bits of data. The first will be the Transaction Identifier and the last 10 will be the checksum that was generated from this identifier earlier. The computer may now use this checksum to verify the number is valid. This is done by creating the checksum again from the first 40 bits and ensuring it matches the checksum that was transmitted by the last 10 bits.

If the checksum does not match then it is possible to use the checksum to provide error tolerance. A transmission error caused by interference or signal problems may have corrupted one of the bits in the waveform as it was transmitted. The computer can run through entire waveform inverting each bit one at a time and then revalidating the number to see if a match can be found. If in doing so a match is discovered then this is assumed to be the correct number and processing may continue. If not, then the number is assumed to be false or too badly corrupted to process.

If the checksum authenticates the number then the first 40 bits are converted back into a 12 digit decimal number. The computer will then search its database for a Transaction Identifier that matches this number.

The matching record found in the database will contain the telephone number of caller A and the amount Caller A is requesting.

The computer will then read out the amount that is requested to Caller B. Caller B may then be prompted to validate their identity via their PIN number (23).

Both parties will then be notified upon success (or failure) of the transaction by a repeating message indicating the value of monies transferred.

In the above transaction, the identifier represented a request for money. This request was communicated by sound from Caller A to Caller B. However, the identifier may also represent an offer to pay money ("a cheque"). In this case the process is very similar.

Caller A and B would both call the financial service provider simultaneously as above.

Caller A will enter the amount as before, however Caller A will be required to enter their PIN number this time. This is because it is Caller A's account that is being debited. Caller B must then only present their phone to caller A as above and need not press any buttons at all. Caller B would then receive the funds. This form of payment is more suitable to payments between individuals rather than point-of-sale transaction at shops.

It is not necessary for both or either parties to use telephones to conduct the transaction.

Any device capable of creating or receiving sound can be used, providing that a link to the central financial service provider exists to verify the identifier and hence transfer the moneys.

In the above example the Transaction Identifier was created at point of sale and represented the value of the goods that were being purchased. This was done in a similar manner to a credit or debit card transaction. However, identifiers may also be pre-created for fixed amounts of money and then carried as a form of cash. This can be done with any device capable of storing and producing sound. A mobile phone would be an example of this. This provides the advantage that only one party to the transaction needs to contact the service provider to conduct the transaction.

Transaction identifiers may not necessarily be transferred between individuals at point of sale. Identifiers may also be broadcast via television, radio or any medium where sound may be used as a medium for transfer and where the identifiers may then be detected by a recording device. A use of this may be in promotions whereby a numeric cheque or voucher may be broadcast to many recipients simultaneously. A radio or television station may produce a sound and invite their audience to hold their telephones up to their television or radio to receive a voucher or prize.

It will of course be understood that the present invention has been described above purely by way of example and modifications of detail can be made within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A method of performing a financial transaction, comprising: generating a transaction identifier at a remote terminal; transferring the transaction identifier to a first telecommunications device; transmitting the transaction identifier via sound waves generated at the first telecommunications device to a second telecommunications device; transferring the transaction identifier from the second communications device to the remote terminal and performing said financial transaction based on the transaction identifier received at the remote terminal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first telecommunications device is one of a mobile telephone, fixed-line telephone or personal digital assistant (PDA).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second telecommunications device is one of a mobile telephone, fixed-line telephone or personal digital assistant (PDA).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein both the first and second telecommunications device is one of a mobile telephone, fixed-line telephone or personal digital assistant (PDA).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second telecommunications device is one of a computer, electronic till, personal digital assistant or any telecommunications device including a microphone and communication link to a transaction service for performing said financial transaction.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the transaction service is provided by the remote terminal.

7. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the transaction identifier represents a request for money.

8. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the transaction identifier represents a cheque for money.

9. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the step of transmitting comprises transmitting a stored acoustic representation of a transaction identifier corresponding to a preset quantity of electronic money.

10. The method of claim I, wherein the remote terminal is a broadcast station, the first communication device is a broadcast receiving device and the step of transferring comprises transmitting the transaction identifier in a sound signal over a mass medium from the broadcast station.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the mass medium is a television or radio signal.

12. A computer program product comprising computer executable instructions for performing the method of any one of the preceding claims.

13. A financial transaction system, comprising: a first telecommunications device; a second telecommunications device; and a remote terminal, wherein the first telecommunications device is configured to receive a transaction identifier from the remote terminal and transmit the transaction identifier via sound waves generated at the first telecommunications device to the second telecommunications device, wherein the second communications device is configured to receive the soundwaves from the first communications device and send them to the remote terminal, wherein the remote terminal is configured to perform said financial transaction based on the received transaction identifier.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein the first telecommunications device is one of a mobile telephone, fixed-line telephone or personal digital assistant (PDA).

15. The system according to claim 13, wherein the second telecommunications device is one of a mobile telephone, fixed-line telephone or personal digital assistant (PDA).

16. The system according to claim 13, wherein both the first and second telecommunications device is one of a mobile telephone, fixed-line telephone or personal digital assistant (PDA).

17. The system according to claim 13, wherein the second telecommunications device is one of a computer, electronic till, mobile telephone, fixed-line telephone or personal digital assistant.

18. The method of any of claims I to 9, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

19. The computer program product of claim 12, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

20. The system of any one of claims 13 to 17, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.