Patent ID: 6327578
Filing Date: 2001-12-04
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
A method for electronic commerce, comprising:forming a four party payment protocol for electronic sales including a consumer's computer coupled to a merchant's computer and to an issuing bank computer via an issuer gateway, the merchant computer being further coupled to an acquiring bank computer;sending from a merchant's computer over an internet network to a consumer's computer, a merchant message including a wallet initiation message, a merchant digital signature, and a digital certificate from an acquiring bank, said wallet initiation message including a payment amount, an order description, and a timestamp;starting a consumer's wallet program in said consumer's computer in response to said wallet initiation message;sending from said consumer's computer consumer identity and authentication information and said merchant message, to an issuer gateway for an issuing bank;the issuing bank creating a reference number or value representing the consumer's credit or debit card number by repairing a table of credit card or debit card numbers and a corresponding table of reference numbers, the issuing bank pairing the consumer's card number with a selected reference number and outputting the reference number to the issuer gateway;verifying at said issuer gateway said merchant's signature to prove that the consumer is dealing with the actual merchant and validating at said issuer gateway the merchant's certificate and the acquirer's certificate to prove that the merchant and issuer share a common financial arrangement;said issuer gateway verifying the consumer's account and ensuring that funds and/or credit are available to support the payment amount, then authorizing payment by sending to the consumer over said internet network an authorization token, an issuer's digital certificate, said wallet initiation message, and a reference to said consumer's credit or debit card number;said authorization token including the payment amount, order description, timestamp, a random nonce plus a merchant identifier and a reference to the consumer's credit or debit card number; andsaid merchant's computer receiving said authorization token and fulfilling said order description.