KR20010034629A - A method for using a telephone calling card for business transactions - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of using a telephone calling card for electronic commerce. In one embodiment, the user initiates a phone call to the merchant using the calling card provided by the service provider. The service provider first checks the identity of the user using the PIN code 1. Once the user's identity is verified as valid, the user's currency to the merchant is established. The user and the seller then agree to the sale of the item when the seller provides the invoice to the service provider. The invoice is then approved by the consumer while the merchant disconnects the call. In another embodiment, the user is connected to the merchant via the Internet, and the user's identity has been previously checked by the Internet service provider. The user looks for a copy of the invoice to the application running on the web page. The application attaches the user's digital signature to the invoice and mails it to the vendor. The merchant then presents a signed invoice to the server to verify the user's signature before the server approves the sale.

Description

A METHOD FOR USING A TELEPHONE CALLING CARD FOR BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS}

More and more consumers are choosing to complete their purchase without physically entering the location where the service or item is located. This social phenomenon has increased in recent years due to the Internet, especially electronic-based shopping networks such as the World Wide Web and the home shopping network. In fact, a virtual mall that allows consumers to shop between virtual stores through the use of a PC is useful. In addition to home shopping, other areas that are ultimately widely available through e-commerce include movies on demand, video games, video libraries, home banking, music on demand. It is particularly appealing to consumers that they can purchase goods and receive services without the hassle of waiting in line or finding parking spaces. E-commerce can also be the dominant means used to purchase and receive any item and all items, and can very well reform the way business is managed.

In today's economy, a consumer who wants to make a prudent electronic purchase (ie, physically nonexistent) has only two choices. If he wants to manage his business through a computer, he can use some form of secure electronic payment, such as e-cache or Millicent. Otherwise, the only possible means is a regular credit card.

e-Cache is a software-based payment system that allows users to make electronic payments from computer to computer through multiple computer networks, including the Internet. eCash purchases require three parties: buyers, sellers, and banks. Initially, the buyer pulls out digital coins or ecash from his bank account. Digital coins are messages with strings of digits each in a digital string according to an individual digital coin. The messages are automatically sent to the buyer's computer where the digital coins are managed by eCash software. A buyer with an eCash in hand can purchase from a merchant or merchant who has previously signed the eCash trading system. But before the sale is over between the buyer and the seller, the seller's software automatically sends the digital coins from the buyer to the bank. By sending coins to the bank, the seller can protect himself against fraud. As such, banks are used as central stakeholders. To protect the privacy of buyers, Chaum, David L. US Patent No. 4,759,063 "Blind Signature System" and Chaum, David L. US Patent No. 4,949,380 "Return Value Blind Signature System" eCache uses "Blind Signature". One drawback of this system is that buyers and sellers must have an account on the eCash system in order to make a purchase. This drawback is particularly bad as the consumer may not have a desire to purchase or receive items for the time it takes to sign such a system. Another drawback is that each purchase requires processing by an intermediary, for example a bank, before it is considered complete.

Millicent is another software-based payment system designed primarily for list-based Internet commerce. The millicent system is based on the use of "scripts." A script is a prepaid electronic coupon that essentially replaces the cache for a purchase. The script is derived from a broker that acts as an intermediary between consumers and sellers, or by sellers. Basically, a consumer purchases a seller specific script by means of a credit card, i.e. the script can only be used to purchase a listing from one of a particular seller, broker or seller, and then the script is purchased. Use it to buy. While the Millicent system does not require a user account, it also has drawbacks. One is that each user must invest and use MilliCent software. In addition, the script is specific to the seller, thereby limiting the liquidity of the shopping consumer. Thus, a similar eCash millicent can have a negative impact on the spur of the current purchase. On the other hand, low transaction prices for systems such as eCash and MilliCent are particularly attractive for buying or receiving items as low as 10 cents.

eCache and Millicent are just two of many prior art forms that provide secure e-commerce over computer networks. Other well known forms include systems by cybercache, netville, netcache and netcheck and netscape, first virtual holding (FVH) and NTT. Despite the diversity of these electronic commerce systems, these systems share a common goal of providing a system that is safe and secures consumer privacy against fraud, security breaches, or counterfeiting. Almost all electronic commercial systems use cryptographic techniques to provide a suitable means of security. As such, cryptographic or decryption forms of both public and private keys are used to identify the buyer or merchant, verify information, and provide electronic signatures that are not legally binding and prone to fabrication.

Consumers using credit cards in remote shops have more flexibility in choosing business transactions than consumers using electronic commerce systems such as e-cash and millicents. A consumer who uses a credit card to make an electronic purchase first asks the merchant for a purchase. The merchant then contacts the agency that issued the credit card for verification. If the purchase is approved, the merchant receives a token that is sent to the bank account and the consumer receives a bill from the institution. Using credit cards to make electronic purchases has its own problems. First, although cryptography is used in credit card transactions to protect information such as credit card numbers, credit card security is poor. Any merchant can take the information given by the user and purchase additional items from other merchants; Although fraud is revealed, there is little chance of backtracking to an unfaithful merchant. The risk of outsiders overhearing or roaming deals also presents a significant risk. The risk associated with intrusion into the host where credit card numbers may be stored is even more significant. Second, and more importantly, the total cost of a credit card is generally expensive ($ 0.20 + 2% of the transaction price is common). This makes credit card payments inappropriate for payments less than $ 1.00.

Useful would be a method and system that allows a consumer to purchase items or receive services from merchants without requiring any merchant or consumer to install proprietary software. In addition, the system or method should be secured by not requiring the consumer to disclose private information, such as credit card numbers that may be abused. Finally, the system must be everywhere for all consumers to make a purchase without visiting the store.

The present invention relates to the field of commerce for business transactions. More specifically, the present invention relates to the issue of the safe and effective use of telephone calling cards as credit cards for business transactions.

1 shows a system structure of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a state diagram illustrating the flow of information between the elements shown in FIG. 1 performing a transaction over a PSTN.

3 is a state diagram illustrating the flow of information between the elements shown in FIG. 1 performing a transaction over the Internet.

The present invention relates to a method and system for using a calling card to pay as part of an electronic commerce.

The system includes an ecard server connected to the public network through which consumers and sellers can conduct business through the business. According to the system, the public network may be the Internet or a public switched telephone network (PSTN). Thus, the system offers consumers the opportunity to shop at home without requiring their personal computer or credit card.

In processing purchases on the Internet in accordance with the present invention, the secret encryption key is shared by the user and the calling card server. In general, when a user or a consumer wants to make a purchase, they contact a seller who prepares an invoice. The user signs the invoice using the phone call card number and PIN code. The seller then sends the signed invoice to the ecard server. The server verifies the signature, verifies that the user has enough funds for the purchase and sends a confirmation to the seller. After receiving confirmation, the seller informs the user that the purchase was successful. The user is later charged for the item on his telephone bill, and the invoice is kept on the ecard server for auditing and to ensure that the transaction is not rejected. According to the invention private information is not passed on to the seller (even the customer's name can be hidden). Thus the risk of fraud is reduced.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the purchase may be made through a PSTN. According to this embodiment, the user first starts a phone call to the seller using his phone call card. Thus, the user first reveals himself to the telephone network. The telephone network then calls the seller so that the seller and the user can negotiate the transaction. Once the negotiation is over, the user or seller sends a signal to the telephone system to establish a transaction; For example, a user may use a flash-hook / dial code and a seller may use the Internet. The seller sends an invoice that can be listened to according to the user's PIN to the ecard server (thus the user can confirm that the purchase was actually made). The ecard server then plays the user's pin and the invoice that the user can listen to so that the user can agree to accept or decline the purchase. If the purchase is approved, the user is billed for the item on a subsequent telephone bill and the invoice is stored again for future auditing and non-discount of the transaction. The extension of this embodiment of the present invention involves the user purchasing a prepaid currency card, thereby eliminating the additional step of charging the user later.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the transaction may occur over the Internet using the World Wide Web (WWW). In this embodiment, the consumer first dials a server maintained by an Internet Service Provider (ISP), which can be a telephone company. The identity of the consumer is verified according to the part of the dial in the process. The user then looks for a purchase order for a copy of the invoice or for an application running on a web page. The application attaches the user's digital signature to the invoice and mails it to the seller. The seller then passes the signed invoice to the ecard server that verifies the user's signature before approving the sale.

The present invention provides several advantages over the prior art. Some of these benefits are:

The wide availability of currency cards offers sellers more sales opportunities. Since call cards can be used much more widely than credit cards, a much larger segment of the purchasing system is available to sellers, depending on potential electronic commercial customers. More importantly, these customers do not require credit value by purchasing prepaid cards of available digital money with different levels;

Even where billing is actually needed, all telephone customers are already billed on a monthly basis, reducing billing costs;

Unlike most credit cards, calling cards are kept confidential (as a customer service). This is because telephone service providers have greater power than regular banks, so they spend less to attract customers.

The monetary card infrastructure is designed to handle much smaller payments than the financial services infrastructure;

Telephone companies can affect the security available from the PSTN already in place to provide better security and user authentication;

Telephone companies are generally trusted by both the public and sellers and thus can serve as a "third party" in the contract protocol as appropriate; And

The user identity can be kept confidential for transactions not related to shipping costs (eg, payment for downloaded maps or video).

Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will become more apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or will be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention will be obtained and realized by means of combinations and means particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In Figure 1 a generalized form of system 100 according to the invention is shown. The system 100 connects a user or consumer 101 to various vendors or businesses 105 and financial institutions 106 via either a public switched telephone network or the Internet 111. The user's 101 connection to the merchant 105 is established or handled by the service provider or third party trust organization 112, i.e., the Internet service provider (ISP) or the telephone company. Call card or ecard server 115 is also connected to network 111 and stores call card numbers, PINs, user names and addresses, a list of credit restrictions (shown in database 116). Although the service provider 112 and the seller 105 are distinguished, the seller and the service provider are the same entity. For example, some telephone companies already have their own online shopping networks. In general, after service provider 112 connects user 101 to merchant 105, user 101 initiates operation of the system by selecting an item or service provided by the merchant. Once the price is negotiated between the user 101 and the merchant 105, the user 101 selects an e-card as a payment method. Once the payment method has been selected, a series of operations, discussed in detail below, are managed and initiated by the ecard server 115, which allow the user 101 to be charged for the service or item.

Call cards are issued by all major telephone companies. These cards have proven to be an effective and convenient way for customers to make long distance calls when away from home. Typically, a user dials a toll free number and enters their calling card number and secret code (PIN). The service provider checks the validity of the number and the correctness of the PIN and allows the user to make long distance calls. Rates for the call appear on the user's phone bill. As such, calling cards provide a secure way to connect users through an existing PSTN. The present invention has the effect of security already present in the PSTN and enhances this security in computer networks such as the Internet using cryptographic techniques.

The main cryptographic technique used in the present invention is a secret digital signature. To use this signature, user 101 and server 115 share a secret key. To sign the document, the user 101 attaches a secret key to the document and calculates a checksum of the password using standard cryptographic hash functions such as MD5 or SHA. The checksum is sent along with the document to the server 115 performing the same checksum processing. If the checksum is approved, server 115 may confirm that the document is a document signed by user 101. Secret digital signatures are a preferred encryption method because each phone call card customer can receive a secret key when the card is paid. Private key cryptography is also more suitable for the present invention because there is no person who is the subject of which the consumer has to prove them. More importantly, private key cryptography is cheaper to install and has the advantage that the service provider issues calling cards and serves as a third party. Nevertheless, public key cryptography techniques can also be used to verify the signature of the consumer.

In Fig. 2, the method steps of the first embodiment of the present invention that allow a consumer to make a purchase through the PSTN are shown. In FIG. 2, a process is initiated when a consumer or customer 101 makes a phone call 202 to a merchant 105 at his or her home or by using a calling card or proving himself to the PSTN via some other mechanism. Indicates. Once the identity of the consumer is verified, the consumer's service provider system or PSTN 111 establishes a currency 202 between the consumer 101 and the merchant 105. The consumer 101 and the seller 105 then negotiate the transaction 208.

Once the negotiation is complete, the consumer 101 enters a predetermined sequence of keys 210 on a phone pad, such as a flash hook, according to * 678, to signal the service provider system 111 that the consumer wishes to make a purchase. . When the service provider system 111 receives this sequence or signal 210, the system 111 temporarily disconnects both the merchant 105 and the consumer 101 and establishes two new calls, one 212. Is connected to the consumer 101 and the other 214 to the merchant 105. Optionally, instead of temporarily disconnecting the merchant 105 and the consumer 101, the system may alternately disconnect the merchant 105 and the consumer 101 from the call. If the consumer uses the calling card, the consumer may be asked for his PIN at step 216. Of course, if consumers are talking at home, they may not need a PIN. While the consumer is asked for a PIN at step 216, the seller is also asked to enter a transaction amount at step 218. The consumer and the merchant then return the requested information in steps 220 and 222 respectively. While returning the requested information, both the consumer and the seller may also be allowed or asked to return additional information they hold about the transaction. For example, the consumer may enter his name and address in step 224 and have this information recorded by the service provider 111. Likewise, the merchant may enter his name and purchased items in step 226 and have this information recorded by the service provider 111. This additional information provided by the seller may be known to the consumer and vice versa. In addition, the merchant may transmit the information to the service provider by way of audible invoices or invoices on the Internet. However, additional information is not necessary to complete the sale. This is an example because both parties already know what item and price are selected for the transaction.

The service provider then checks the consumer and vendor records in step 227 to select some available funds and the appropriate form of payment of the consumer. As shown in FIG. 2, step 227 relates to the service provider accessing the ecard server 115. Although the prior art described the service provider system 111 as collecting information from consumers and vendors, the service provider system 111 also allows traffic police to allow the ecard server 115 to request, collect and manage the entire transaction. Can also function as

Once the payment method is selected, the service provider sends the product description and price to the consumer in step 230 and receives confirmation from the consumer in step 232. Once the confirmation is received, at step 235 the consumer and the merchant are reconnected.

In a second embodiment of the invention, and as shown in FIG. 3, a consumer can also purchase items over the Internet using an application available on the World Wide Web (WWW). In step 302, the consumer starts a transaction by dialing the Internet Service Provider (ISP) modem pool and entering a user confirmation code and password. In step 304 the ISP then identifies the user and establishes a connection to the web page for the consumer to negotiate the item and price. Then in step 306 the consumer clicks on the ecard icon of the web page used to negotiate the transaction; The web page may be a web page of a consumer or some other third party. As a result, two new connections are created, one connection 308 from the consumer to the ecard server and the other step 310 to the merchant from the ecard server. The ecard server then asks the consumer for his calling card PIN at step 312. At the same time, the merchant is asked to enter a transaction amount on the invoice or purchase order 314. In the case of the previous embodiment of the present invention, the consumer and the seller selectively record messages in step 318 and 320, respectively, meaning other specific terms relating to the transaction. Using voice, web pages or offline email, the service provider system can selectively play back a record of the consumer's voice and name. Then at step 330 the system checks consumer and vendor records to select the appropriate form of payment (typically on a currency card bill, but also on credit cards, ATMs, etc.). In step 336 the system then confirms the product description and price to the consumer and also in step 338 also receives confirmation from the consumer, who again freely navigates the web and makes another purchase.

The foregoing description has been presented only to explain and describe the present invention. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to any obvious form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above characteristics. The embodiments have been selected and described in order to best explain the principles and practical applications of the present invention in order that those skilled in the art will best utilize the present invention on various modifications and various embodiments suitable for the particular use contemplated.

Claims (9)

In an electronic commerce method using a trusted third party, Verifying his or her identity to the network using a telephone calling card and a network of connections between the consumer and the merchant; Negotiating the selling price of the item selected by the consumer between the consumer and the seller; Sending a signal to a third trusted authority to confirm the purchase by the identified consumer; The consumer sending the PIN to a third trusted authority; The merchant sending an invoice with the information of the selected item to the consumer; Sending an invoice to the server for approval of the consumer and inspection of available funds; The consumer sending the approval for the invoice on sale as a secure signal; And The server sending a signal to the consumer and the merchant to approve the payment of the funds. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising billing the purchase on a consumer's telephone or calling card bill. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the proof of consumer credit comprises dialing a number having a PIN code specific to the consumer to a telephone service provider and checking the identity of the consumer based on the dialed PIN code of the telephone service provider. E-commerce method characterized in that. The method of claim 3, wherein the transmitting of the approval signal by the consumer comprises: The telephone service provider setting up two independent telephone calls for the consumer and the seller, respectively; The telephone system playing the merchant invoice record to the consumer; And And the telephone system collecting a keyed or dictated approval response from the user. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the consumer invoice approval comprises the steps of the user obtaining a copy of the invoice and the user signing the invoice using a digital signature made using public or secret key cryptography. Commerce method. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of authenticating the consumer on the network comprises dialing an internet service provider modem pool. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of authenticating the consumer on the network comprises the steps of: a user dialing into the Internet service provider modem pool using a computer, a user entering a specific verification code, and an Internet service provider entered. The method further comprises the step of checking the identity of the consumer based on the specific verification code. The method of claim 7, wherein the consumer signals the approval of the invoice, The consumer placing a copy of the invoice in an ecard application running on the consumer's computer; the e-card application prompts the consumer for a password; the ecard application generates a digital signature of the consumer based on the password; the e-card application attaches the digital signature to the invoice; e-card application mailing a copy of said attached invoice to a merchant; Submitting the signed invoice to the e-card server at the merchant side; And at the e-card server, checking the validity of the signature of the consumer. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein generating the consumer digital signature is handled using public or private key cryptography.