ZA200205258B

ZA200205258B - A system and method for conducting a financial transaction.

Info

Publication number: ZA200205258B
Application number: ZA200205258A
Authority: ZA
Inventors: Raymond Lawrence Val-Je Merton
Original assignee: Secure Electronic Commerce Pro
Priority date: 1999-12-03
Filing date: 2002-07-01
Publication date: 2003-02-17

Description

A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONDUCTING A FINANCIAL

TRANSACTION

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

THIS invention relates to a secure method of conducting a financial transaction and to a system therefor.

It is desirable to provide a mobile merchant with a way of accepting credit card payments for services rendered or goods sold to a customer when the merchant is not at their own premises, but may be at the premises of the customer, for example.

In addition, merchants in their own trading areas may also wish to use their mobile telephones to obtain a payment from a customer.

It is also desirable to allow any mobile telephone user to commission payment for goods or services to a registered merchant by way of credit card, debit card, vendor card or by a bank account transfer, using their mobile telephone as the instrument to commission the payment.

N - . Furthermore, the purchasing of goods on-line via the Internet has grown in popularity. However, the non-secure environment of the Internet has led to a . reluctance on the part of many users to post confidential information such as a credit card number over the Internet, and this has in turn resulted in a reluctance on the part of many users to make purchases via the Internet.

The present invention seeks to address these problems by providing a method of conducting a financial transaction and a system therefor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a method of conducting a financial transaction, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a request from a user of a mobile station via a mobile communications network, wherein the request is for the authorisation of a payment from a third party to the user of the mobile station; prompting the user of the mobile station to enter data; receiving the data entered by the user via the mobile communications network; and using the data to request a financial institution, via a second communications network, to authorise the payment from the third party to the user of the mobile station.

The result of the request is preferably transmitted from the financial institution to the server via the second communications network, and from the server to the user via the mobile communications network.

The data entered by the user may be one or more of their credit card number, , card verification code (CVC), expiry date, amount of the transaction and the budget period.

Alternatively, the data entered by the user may be details of their debit card, vendor card or their bank account details.

The user's personal and mobile station details are preferably stored in a database connected to the server, and the server only accepts a request from a user whose details are stored in the database.

The method may further comprise the step of requesting the user to enter a personal identification number or profile number before requesting the financial institution to authorise the payment.

Preferably, the user of the mobile station is prompted by voice messages played over the mobile communications network to enter the data.

The present invention extends to a system for conducting a financial transaction, the system comprising: a communication module for communicating with a mobile communications network; a processor adapted to receive a request for the authorisation of a payment from a purchaser to a user of a mobile station, the request being received at the processor via the mobile communications network, the processor being further adapted to request a financial institution to authorise the payment from the purchaser to the user of the mobile station.

. The system may further include a memory device having the personal and mobile station details of a plurality of users stored thereon.

Preferably, the processor is further adapted to only accept a request from a user whose details are stored in the memory device.

The processor may be further adapted to request the user to enter a personal identification or profile number before requesting the financial institution to authorise the payment.

According to the present invention there is further provided a method of conducting a financial transaction, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a request from a user of a mobile station via a mobile communications network, wherein the request is for the authorisation of a payment to a third party from the user of the mobile station; prompting the user of the mobile station to enter data; receiving the data entered by the user via the mobile communications network; and using the data to request a financial institution, via a second communications network, to authorise the payment from the user of the mobile station to the third party.

The data entered by the user may be one or more of their credit card number, card verification code (CVC), expiry date, amount of the transaction and the budget period.

The third parties personal and banking details are preferably stored in a database connected to the server, and the server only accepts a request to pay a third party whose details are stored in the database.

The method may further comprise the step of requesting the user to enter a personal identification number before requesting the financial institution to authorise the payment. ,

The present invention also extends to a system for conducting a financial transaction, the system comprising: a communication module for communicating with a mobile communications network; a processor adapted to receive a request for the authorisation of a payment from a user of a mobile station to a third party, the request being received at the processor via the mobile communications network, the processor being further adapted to request a financial institution to authorise the payment from the user of the mobile station to the third party.

The system may include a memory device having the personal and banking details of a plurality of third parties stored thereon.

Preferably, the processor is further adapted to only accept a request if the third parties details are stored in the memory device.

According to the present invention there is also provided a method of conducting a financial transaction, the method comprising the steps of: offering goods or services of a vendor for purchase via a first communications network; receiving a request for payment for goods or services selected by a purchaser, prompting the purchaser to dial a predetermined telephone number using a mobile station, prompting the purchaser to enter data via the mobile station; receiving the data from the purchaser; and using the data to request a financial institution, via a second communications network, to authorise the payment from the purchaser to the vendor.

The method may further comprise the step of sending a message to the purchaser and/or the vendor confirming whether the transaction has been . allowed or not.

The message confirming whether the transaction has been allowed or not is preferably transmitted from the financial institution to the server via the second communications network, and from the server to the purchaser via a mobile communications network.

The data entered by the purchaser may be one or more of their credit card number, CVC, expiry date, amount of the transaction and the budget period.

Alternatively, the data entered by the user is details of their debit card, vendor card or their bank account details.

The present invention also extends to a system for conducting a financial transaction, the system comprising: a first communication module for communicating with a mobile communications network; a second communication module for communicating with a second communications network; a processor adapted to receive a request via the mobile communications network for the authorisation of a payment from a purchaser to a vendor, the processor being further adapted to request a financial institution to authorise the payment from the purchaser to the vendor, and to inform the purchaser via the mobile communications network and/or the vendor via the second or another communications network whether the transaction has been allowed or not.

The second communications network is preferably the Internet.

The system may further comprise a memory device having the banking details of a plurality of vendors stored thereon.

The processor is preferably further adapted to only accept a request for payment to a vendor whose details are stored in the memory device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a schematic drawing of a first embodiment of the system of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic drawing of a second embodiment of the system of the present invention; and

Figure 3 is a schematic drawing of the design of the server of the system of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Referring to Figure 1, the system of the present invention includes a plurality of mobile stations in the form of mobile telephones 10 which are used to connect to a server 16 via a mobile communications network 12. The server 16 has a first communications module (not shown) in the form of hardware and/or ‘ software which allows the server to communicate via the mobile communications network 12.

. The server 16 is located at the site of a financial service provider 14. The server 16 is connected to another server 18 at a financial institution 20 via a . secure line 22.

A merchant who wishes to accept payment using the credit card of a customer dials a predetermined number with their mobile telephone 10. It will be appreciated that although the invention is described with reference to the use of a credit card to effect payment, any other method of payment could be used, for example, a debit card, transferring money from one bank account to another, or a smart card etc.

The call is routed via the mobile communications network 12 to the site of a financial service provider 14.

The call is received at the server 16 located at the site of the financial service provider 14. The current development server 16 is a Windows™ NT Server running the applications software of the present invention. The server 16 manages the call session and prompts the merchant to enter details of the customer using the mobile telephone 10. These prompts are carried out using

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) messages. These are essentially pre- recorded messages which are played to the merchant over the mobile communications network 12. Alternatively, these prompts could be in the form of (Unstructured Supplementary Services Data) USSD messages sent to the mobile phones display.

The details will typically include the customer's credit card number, card verification code (CVC), expiry date, amount of the transaction and the budget period.

. As the merchant will have had to previously register with the financial service provider, the merchant's details will already be stored in a database (not shown) connected to the server 16.

The merchant enters all the customer details using the keypad of the mobile telephone 10 to send dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signals to the server 16. Once the details have been entered, the merchant has the option of terminating the call session or waiting for a voice message to confirm that the transaction has been successfully completed.

As stated above, the server 16 is connected to the server 18 of the financial institution 20 via a secure line 22. It will be appreciated that the financial institution 20 will typically, but not necessarily, be the financial institution at which the customer has their credit card account. Because the merchant must be able to accept a plurality of credit cards from different financial institutions, the server 16 will typically be able to connect to a server 18 at any one of a plurality of financial institutions. Alternatively, the merchant may dial into a single acquiring financial institution which is able to effect the transaction even if the customer has their credit card account at another financial institution.

If the customer's credit card has sufficient funds for the payment of the account, the payment amount will be debited from the customer's credit card and credited to the merchant's account, which may or may not be at the same financial institution as the customer's credit card account.

The server 18 at the financial institution 20 informs the server 16 that the transaction has been successful.

In response, the server 16 uses the mobile communications network 12 to send an SMS or USSD message to the merchant's mobile phone 10 to inform them that the transaction was successful. In the case where the merchant

} does not terminate the call session, a voice message is played to the merchant over the mobile communications network 12 to inform the merchant whether the transaction has been successful or not.

It will be appreciated that because of the secure nature of the mobile communications network and the secure link between the server 16 and the server 18 at the financial institution, the transaction takes place in a very secure environment.

Furthermore, because the request for payment is from a registered merchant's mobile phone then a request for payment can only be made using a registered mobile phone. Every request received by the system is validated and authenticated before any transaction is requested from the financial institution.

If a merchant is suspected of fraudulent requests, they can immediately be suspended from using the system pending a detailed enquiry. Thus the managers of the financial service provider are able to exert a substantial amount of control over the system, and the security thereof.

In addition, a merchant would preferably take a card present impression of a customers credit card. This is done by placing the credit card under a piece of paper and rubbing the paper so that the card details are impressed into the paper. The customer is then asked to sign this to prove that the card was present at the time of the transaction. This assists the merchant in any repudiation dispute.

It will be appreciated that lost or stolen phones do not present a risk to the merchant, as there is no payment credited to any person other than the registered merchant of that specific phone. Thus a thief will not be motivated to steal a merchant's mobile phone and use it for fraudulent transactions for which they will obtain no benefit.

Password options are also available for further limited access to the system. In this case, once a user commences a call session, they are prompted to enter a

PIN to enable them to continue with the transaction.

The server 16 logs all transaction activity in a database. This aids in intruder detection and in the auditing of the system.

Furthermore, all transactions are date and time stamped and have check sums to prevent any modification of information.

In the current system, access to this database of information is allowed only to the system managers using Windows NT administration access and database user authentication.

The above system can also be used in conjunction with a remote interactive voice response system.

Referring to Figure 2, the call from the mobile phone 10 of the merchant is received at an intermediate server 24, which is typically located at the site of the telephone network administrator. The intermediate server 24 has a database 26 which links the telephone number dialed to the network address of the server 16. A message is sent over a second network 28 to the server 16 informing the server 16 of a request for a transaction. The second network 28 is also typically a secure line.

The server 16 replies via the second network 28 and instructs the intermediate server 24 to play a pre-recorded voice message over the mobile communications network 12 to the merchant. The voice message prompts the merchant to enter the necessary data, such as the credit card number, CVC, expiry date, amount requested and the budget period. The merchant is given the option of not listening to the voice message prompts and of entering the data in a batch format. Alternatively, the data entry prompts could be in the form of USSD messages sent to the mobile phone's display.

The communication session is managed by the server 16 which instructs the intermediate server 24 what voice or USSD message to play next, and the server 16 receives the data entered by the merchant via the intermediate server 24.

Once all of this information is received, the call session is ended and the server 16 contacts the relevant financial institution to conduct the financial transaction, as described above. Alternatively, in the case where the merchant does not terminate the call session, a voice or USSD message is played to the merchant over the mobile communications network 12 to inform the merchant whether the transaction has been successful or not.

If the call session was ended by the merchant, the server 16, upon receiving notification from the financial institution 20 that the transaction was successful or unsuccessful, instructs the intermediate server 24 to forward an SMS or

USSD message to the merchant.

An example of a remote interactive response system is described in more detail in PCT patent application no. PCT/IB0O0/01736, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. in a second embodiment of the present invention, a similar method and system is used to allow the customer to make a payment to a third party using the customer's mobile telephone.

In this case, the third party will need to be registered with the financial service provider so that the customer can effect a payment to them. It will be appreciated that the transaction flow is very similar to the transaction flow described above, except for the fact that the transaction is initiated from a different party, namely the customer, as opposed to the merchant.

Therefore, the customer dials a predetermined number with their mobile telephone 10. The call is routed via the mobile communications network 12 to the site of the financial service provider 14. The call is received at the server 16 located at the site of the financial service provider 14, and the server 16 manages the call session and prompts the customer to enter details of the merchant using the mobile telephone 10. These prompts are carried out using

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) messages or USSD messages.

The details will typically include the customer's credit card number, CVC, expiry date, amount of the transaction and the budget period.

As the merchant will have had to previously register with the financial service provider, the merchant's details will already be stored in a database (not shown) connected to the server 16.

Once the details have been entered, the customer has the option of terminating the call session or waiting for a voice message to confirm that the transaction has been successfully completed.

As stated above, the server 16 is connected to the server 18 of the financial institution 20 via a secure line 22. If the customer's credit card has sufficient funds for the payment, the payment amount will be debited from the customer's credit card and credited to the merchant's account, which may or may not be at the same financial institution as the customer's credit card account.

In response, the server 16 uses the mobile communications network 12 to send an SMS or USSD message to the customer's mobile phone 10 to inform them that the transaction was successful. In the case where the customer does not terminate the call session, a voice message is played to the customer over the mobile communications network 12 to inform the customer whether the transaction has been successful or not.

In a third embodiment of the present invention, a customer who wishes to purchase goods or services from an on-line shopping site is able to use the system of the present invention to pay for goods they wish to purchase.

Once the customer has selected the relevant goods and placed them in their “troliey”, they are able to click an icon on the screen to pay for the goods.

A data message appearing on the screen instructs the customer to use a telephone to dial a predetermined telephone number. This message can either appear as a window on their computer screen, or a new window is opened and the customer is diverted to another Universe Resource Locator (URL).

The customer is now prompted via messages appearing on the computer screen and via voice or USSD prompts over their telephone to enter data to effect the payment.

An on-line vendor who wishes to accept payment using the system of the present invention will have had to previously register with the financial service provider, and the vendor's details will already be stored in a database (not shown) connected to the server 16.

The call is routed via the mobile communications network 12 to the site of the financial service provider 14.

As in the previous embodiment, the server 16 manages the call session and prompts the customer to enter their details using the telephone 10.

The details will typically include the customer's credit card number, CVC, expiry date, amount of the transaction and the budget period. Other information could include their ID number or a PIN or Profile number, for example.

In the case where a debit card, vendor card or bank account etc, are being used to effect the payment, the customer will be prompted to enter details relating to these.

The system of this embodiment of the present invention also caters for a customer registration facility. This enables customers who buy frequently on the Internet using the secure payment gateway of the present invention, to register their personal profile with the financial service provider 14. Customer registration is accomplished by the customer entering their name and address over the Internet and when they “submit” the form, they are presented with a registration applet where they are prompted to dial a number. After dialing the number, they are prompted to enter their credit card number, CVC, ID number and their chosen PIN number via the telephone. If they are using a debit card, vendor card or initiating a bank transfer, they will enter details of these. The confidential information is thus transferred securely out of the Internet band and stored in a unique customer profile in the financial service provider 14 database.

Registered customers, when paying for goods using the secure Internet payment gateway, can then subsequently enter their PIN number when prompted for their credit card number, for example. The GSM ID and their PIN number are then verified and, if correct, their confidential data is retrieved from

. their registered profile in the secure database and is used to assemble the financial transaction as normal, thus speeding up their payment experience.

The user enters all their details using the keypad of the telephone 10 to send dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signals to the server 16. Once the details have been entered, the user has the option of terminating the call session or waiting for a voice message to confirm that the transaction has been successfully completed.

As stated above, the server 16 is connected to the server 18 of the financial institution 20 via a secure line 22. It will be appreciated that the financial institution 20 will typically, but not necessarily, be the financial institution at which the user has their credit card account. Because the vendor must be able to accept a plurality of credit cards from different financial institutions, the server 16 will typically be able to connect to a server 18 at any one of a plurality of financial institutions. Alternatively, the server may dial into a single acquiring financial institution which is able to effect the transaction even if the user has their credit card account at another financial institution.

If the user's credit card has sufficient funds for the payment of the account, the payment amount will be debited from the user's credit card and credited to the vendor's account, which may or may not be at the same financial institution as the user's credit card account.

In response, the server 16 uses the mobile communications network 12 to send an SMS or USSD message to the user's mobile telephone 10 to inform them that the transaction was successful. In the case where the user does not terminate the call session, a voice message is played to the user over the

. mobile communications network 12 to inform the user whether the transaction has been successful or not. In either case, the user's computer screen will . also display a message indicating whether the transaction was successful or not.

The server 16 also informs the vendor whether the transaction has been successful or not. This can be done using a message sent over the Internet or an SMS or USSD message sent to the vendor's registered mobile telephone.

To this end, the server has a second communications module (not shown) in the form of hardware and/or software which allows the server to communicate via the Internet.

It will be appreciated that because of the secure nature of the mobile communications network and the secure link between the server 16 and the server 18 at the financial institution, the transaction takes place in a very secure environment. The Internet is thus not used at all when secure information needs to be transmitted.

The above system can also be used in conjunction with the remote interactive voice response system illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 3 illustrates an example of the system of the present invention, particularly of the layout of the server 16.

The system is implemented using Intel hardware, Windows NT Operating system and the TCP/IP protocol. Obviously the system is not limited to these protocols, operating systems or hardware, and could be implemented using other protocols, operating systems and/or hardware.

A communication module in the form of an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) module 30 is connected to a traffic controller module 32 (more commonly known as a load balancer) which routes requests received from the IVR module 30 to one of a plurality of connection server modules 34. If the system is not implemented using the IVR server 30, the communication module is implemented using other hardware and/or software which enables the application server modules 36 to communicate with the mobile telephone communication network 12. The plurality of connection server modules 34 are software applications which run independently of one another. They may reside on the same or separate pieces of hardware.

The connection server modules 34 control the two-way communication between the IVR module 30 and a user mobile telephone.

Each one of the connection server modules 34 can be connected to any one of a plurality of application server modules 36. These are typically software applications which run independently of one another, and they may reside on the same or separate pieces of hardware.

The application server modules 36 function together with a financial hub 38 and a secure server 40 and related secure database 42 to authorise the payment of the requested amount.

An SMS server 44 is used to post SMS or USSD messages to the SMS or

USSD server 46 of the mobile communications network 12, which sends the

SMS or USSD message to the user's mobile phone.

The current modules route messages to one another using TCP/IP, or

Windows APl messaging.

The traffic controller module 32, connection server modules 34 and application server modules 36 implement some internal logic that maintains a state table of available resources to use e.g. which connection server module 34 and which application server module 36 to use next. Once a choice has been made, a socket connection is established with the applicable module and maintained for the duration of the activity. When the activity is finished, the socket connection is broken and is available for the next connection.

The secure server 40 controls the associated secure database 42 where the data is kept which relates to the merchant's account details, the user or customer profiles and the transactions which have been carried out.

It will be appreciated that a number of firewalls can be put in place to protect the servers, for example, between the remote IVR 30 and the traffic controller 32.

Thus it will be appreciated that the present invention provides an easy and secure method for allowing payment of an amount using a mobile telecommunications network and the credit card, debit card, vendor card or bank account details of a customer.

Claims

1. A method of conducting a financial transaction, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a request from a user of a mobile station via a mobile communications network, wherein the request is for the authorisation of a payment from a third party to the user of the mobile station; prompting the user of the mobile station to enter data; receiving the data entered by the user via the mobile communications network; and using the data to request a financial institution, via a second communications network, to authorise the payment from the third party to the user of the mobile station.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the result of the request is transmitted from the financial institution to the server via the second communications network, and from the server to the user via the mobile communications network.

3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the data entered by the user is one or more of their credit card number, card verification code (CVC), expiry date, amount of the transaction and the budget period.

4. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the data entered by the user is details of their debit card, vendor card or their bank account } details.

5. A method according to any preceding claim wherein the user's personal and mobile station details are stored in a database connected to the server.

6. A method according to claim 5 wherein the server only accepts a request from a user whose details are stored in the database.

7. A method according to any preceding claim wherein the method further comprises the step of requesting the user to enter a personal identification or profile number before requesting the financial institution to authorise the payment.

8. A method according to any preceding claim wherein the user of the mobile station is prompted by voice or USSD messages played over the mobile communications network to enter the data.

9. A machine readable medium comprising instructions, which when executed by machine, cause the machine to perform the method steps of any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A system for conducting a financial transaction, the system comprising: a communication module for communicating with a mobile communications network; a processor adapted to receive a request for the authorisation of a payment from a purchaser to a user of a mobile station, the request being received at the processor via the mobile communications network, the processor being further adapted to request a financial institution to authorise the payment from the purchaser to the user of the mobile station.

11. A system according to claim 10 further comprising a memory device having the personal and mobile station details of a plurality of users stored thereon.

12. A system according to claim 11 wherein the processor is further adapted to only accept a request from a user whose details are stored in the memory device.

13. A system according to claim 11 or claim 12 wherein the processor is further adapted to request the user to enter a personal identification or profile number before requesting the financial institution to authorise the payment.

14. A method of conducting a financial transaction, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a request from a user of a mobile station via a mobile communications network, wherein the request is for the authorisation of a payment to a third party from the user of the mobile station; prompting the user of the mobile station to enter data; receiving the data entered by the user via the mobile communications network; and

. using the data to request a financial institution, via a second communications network, to authorise the payment from the } user of the mobile station to the third party.

16. A method according to claim 14 wherein the result of the request is transmitted from the financial institution to the server via the second communications network, and from the server to the user via the mobile communications network.

16. A method according to claim 14 or claim 15 wherein the data entered by the user is one or more of their credit card number, card verification code (CVC), expiry date, amount of the transaction and the budget period.

17. A method according to claim 14 or claim 15 wherein the data entered by the user is details of their debit card, vendor card or their bank account details.

18. A method according to any one of claims 14 to 17 wherein the third parties personal and banking details are stored in a database connected to the server.

19. A method according to claim 18 wherein the server only accepts a request to pay a third party whose details are stored in the database.

20. A method according to any one of claims 14 to 19 wherein the method further comprises the step of requesting the user to enter a personal identification or profile number before requesting the financial institution to authorise the payment.

} 21. A method according to any one of claims 14 to 20 wherein the user of the mobile station is prompted by voice or USSD messages played over the mobile communications network to enter the data.

22. A machine readable medium comprising instructions, which when executed by machine, cause the machine to perform the method steps of any one of claims 14 to 21.

23. A system for conducting a financial transaction, the system comprising: a communication module for communicating with a mobile communications network; a processor adapted to receive a request for the authorisation of a payment from a user of a mobile station to a third party, the request being received at the processor via the mobile communications network, the processor being further adapted to request a financial institution to authorise the payment from the user of the mobile station to the third party.

24. A system according to claim 23 further comprising a memory device having the personal and banking details of a plurality of third parties stored thereon.

25. A system according to claim 24 wherein the processor is further adapted to only accept a request if the third parties details are stored in the memory device.

26. A system according any one of claims 23 to 25 wherein the processor is further adapted to request the user to enter a personal identification or profile number before requesting the financial institution to authorise } the payment.

27. A method of conducting a financial transaction the method comprising the steps of: offering goods or services of a vendor for purchase via a first communications network; receiving a request for payment for goods or services selected by a purchaser; prompting the purchaser to dial a predetermined telephone number using a mobile station; , prompting the purchaser to enter data via the mobile station: receiving the data from the purchaser; and using the data to request a financial institution, via a second communications network, to authorise the payment from the purchaser to the vendor.

28. A method according to claim 27 further comprising the step of sending a message to the purchaser and/or the vendor confirming whether the transaction has been allowed or not.

29. A method according to claim 28 wherein the message confirming : whether the transaction has been allowed or not is transmitted from the financial institution to the server via the second communications

. network, and from the server to the purchaser via a mobile communications network.

30. A method according to any one of claims 27 to 29 wherein the data entered by the purchaser is one or more of their credit card number, CVC, expiry date, amount of the transaction and the budget period.

31. A method according to any one of claims 27 to 29 wherein the data entered by the user is details of their debit card, vendor card or their bank account details.

32. A machine readable medium comprising instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform the method steps in any one of claims 27 to 31.

33. A system for conducting a financial transaction, the system comprising: a first communication module for communicating with a mobiie communications network; a second communication module for communicating with a second communications network; a processor adapted to receive a request via the mobile communications network for the authorisation of a payment from a purchaser to a vendor, the processor being further adapted to request a financial institution to authorise the payment from the purchaser to the vendor, and to inform the purchaser via the mobile communications network and/or the vendor via the second or another communications network whether the transaction has been allowed or not.

34. A system according to claim 33 wherein the second communications , network is the internet.

35. A system according to claim 33 or 34 further comprising a memory device having the banking details of a plurality of vendors stored thereon.

36. A system according to claim 35 wherein the processor is further adapted to only accept a request for payment to a vendor whose details are stored in the memory device.

37. A method substantially as herein described with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

38. A system substantially as herein described with reference to the illustrated embodiments.