Abstract:
A virtual cash system, method, and apparatus for establishing account records containing a record of money amounts associated with a wireless device and a security code comprising a code portion to verify a deposit of money. Cash transfers between account records may be subject to restrictions associated with the cash amounts. Restrictions may include the specific merchant identifications, product type identifications for which cash transfers may be made. Alternatively, the restrictions may include spending limits on each cash transfer.

Description:
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/434,157, filed May 1, 2009, entitled “M-COMMERCE VIRTUAL CASH SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUS”, which is a currently pending continuation, which claims priority to then pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/376,981, filed Mar. 15, 2006, entitled “M-COMMERCE VIRTUAL CASH SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUS”, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,552,867 and granted on Jun. 30, 2009. The foregoing described applications are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The term “m-commerce” is beginning to find meanings in wireless mobile communication environments that are analogous to “e-commerce” solutions. An increasing number of m-commerce solutions are emerging in which a wireless device may be used to transact certain commercial transactions, such as simple financial transactions like store couponing, credit card transactions, automated clearing house (ACH) funds transfer transactions used like a check with bank routing information, and the like. 
     The term “wireless device” herein means cellular, cordless, Personal Communication System (PCS), or other types of wireless telephone devices, pagers, wireless personal digital assistants, notebook computers with wireless access, or any other wireless device, two-way radios, walkie-talkies, or other type of communications transceiver, or mobile stations (MS), regardless of whether they have valid subscriber identification module (SIM) or UTMS subscriber identification module (USIM) identifiers. Wireless devices are becoming so widespread it is estimated there will be about 1.7 billion mobile phone subscribers worldwide by 2007. In fact, recently, wireless devices with limited telephone capabilities have been made available for even grade-school level students. 
     At the same time, card-like devices, herein referred to simply as “cards”, are finding increasing use to make life easier for individuals and merchants in an increasingly mobile society. Cards come in many forms, such as those having a stripe of magnetic material formed on a plastic base or substrate, those having an embedded integrated circuit with memory capabilities, and the like. Examples of cards in widespread use include credit cards, debit cards, telephone cards, cash cards, and gift or general purchase cards, generally useful at a particular store and which are now sold in kiosks, grocery stores, and elsewhere for various other stores, such as hardware, electronics, florists, and so forth. 
     Because of the ease with which cards may be used, they are often preferred by merchants as a way to accept payment for services and merchandise. In some cases, cards may be preferred, in fact, even to receiving cash payments, for many reasons. Cards generally result in automatic payments directly into an account of the merchant without requiring the handling of cash and the attendant problems associated therewith. By using cards, merchants do not need to provide as high a security level as would be required if large amounts of cash were kept on the premises. The use of cards also increases the accuracy of record keeping, reduces change-making errors, and, with the present card infrastructures in place, reduces the time required to handle cash transactions. The use of cards also simplifies record keeping requirements for most commercial transactions. 
     In these environments, what is needed is an expansion of m-commerce applications using the card technologies and infrastructures, and more specifically, an expansion of m-commerce technologies to handle or replace cash and card transactions. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing a financial transaction system having a wireless device by which cash payments can be made or by which indicia that provides a virtual cash equivalent can be displayed. 
         FIG. 2  is a flow chart showing the interrelationship among various actions taken by a customer bank, a customer, a merchant, and a processing center in conducting an m-commerce cash or virtual cash transaction. 
     
    
    
     In the figures, like reference numerals are used to designate like or similar parts. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     According to a broad aspect of one embodiment of the system, method, and apparatus described herein, a wireless device is provided by which cash payments can be made or by which indicia that provide a virtual cash equivalent can be displayed for use in making cash payments, without the attendant problems described above of handling cash itself. 
     Because some overlap exists in definitions, for ease of description, the words “money”, “currency”, and “cash” are used herein with the following meanings. 
     Money means something generally accepted as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a means of payment. “Money” is used synonymously herein with “funds”. Examples of money include the basic concept of something of value represented by dollars and cents, pounds and shillings, yen, pesos, and so forth, as well as book or ledger entries representing the same by which financial transactions may be accomplished by respective debits and credits. Additionally included are instruments that are payable on demand, such as checks, or the like. 
     Currency means something that is in circulation as a medium of money exchange. For example, currency includes physical one, ten, hundred, and so on dollar bills, one, five, ten, fifty, one hundred yen coins, and so forth. 
     Cash means either ready money or ready currency. For instance, cash includes checks and currency that is presently in hand. 
     Additionally, the term “virtual cash” herein means an indicia, like a bar code, a radio or a light spectrum signal, or other machine readable entity or form, that represents or is immediately useable and accepted in place of cash in a transaction in which money is exchanged for goods, services, or other purpose. Virtual cash does not include credit cards or other transaction forms in which a promise to pay or repay in the future is exchanged for goods, services, or other purpose. Virtual cash is not intended to imply that the money represented thereby is not real or hypothetical; however, the money represented by the virtual cash is not actually physically present or currently in hand. 
     Most, if not all, of the infrastructure needed to realize at least some embodiments of such virtual cash system using a wireless device is presently in place, and only specific application software need be added to realize specific desired features. Such system may be accomplished in a number ways. In one embodiment, a scanable bar code  16  may be provided on the display screen  14  of a wireless device  12 , shown in  FIG. 1 . As described below, the bar code  16  provides information that can be used or spent in place of actual cash. In another embodiment, a direct cash transfer may be initiated via the user interface, such as a keypad  18  or writeable surface (not shown) of the wireless device  12 . In yet another embodiment, 802.11, Bluetooth, LAN capabilities, or other short range radio signal technique may be used in the wireless device  12  and appropriately equipped receiving equipment (not shown). Likewise, infrared (IR), or other modulated light signal technique, may be used in the wireless device  12  and appropriately equipped receiving equipment (not shown). 
     One embodiment of a system, method, and apparatus described herein is shown in  FIG. 1 , to which reference is now made. The system  10  includes a point of sale (POS) location  20  of a merchant  22 . The POS location  20  may include a check-out station  24  having typical existing equipment, such as a bar code scanner  26  and control and display device  28  associated therewith. The point of sale equipment may also include a server  30  through which the check-out station  24 , and other check out stations (not shown) at the POS  20 , or other POSs that may also exist (not shown), can be operated. 
     A bar code system is described in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , since most wireless devices include a display that may be used directly, or, with minor modification, to display scanable bar code information, as described below. Additionally, most POS equipment has the ability to read bar codes. Therefore, existing infrastructure may be used without the need for new equipment in order to facilitate the data interchange required to complete cash transactions of the type described herein. 
     More particularly, normal POS card transactions may be processed through a service center, which may be operated by a credit/debit/banking company, such as MasterCard, Visa, American Express, or the like. The service center may be, for example, a network service that would normally serve to authorize credit card transactions. The service center also generally serves as a clearing and settlement service that would normally transfer payment information between a merchant bank  32  and a customer bank  36 . 
     Card transactions are normally handled in two stages. The first stage is an approval stage in which the cardholder (not shown) presents the card to the merchant  22  to pay for purchases. The merchant  22  then swipes the card and enters the dollar amount of the purchase. Then, an authorization request is transmitted to the merchant bank  32 , sometimes referred to as an “acquirer”. The acquirer is a financial institution or merchant bank that contracts with the merchant  22  for card acceptance and enables card payments from customers. 
     In the case of credit card transactions, the acquirer sends the authorization request to a network  34  that routes the authorization request to the customer bank  36 , sometimes referred to as the “issuer”. The issuer is a financial institution that issues cards and maintains a contract with cardholders for repayment. 
     The issuer  36  then approves or declines the authorization request, and sends the approving or declining response back through the network  34  to the acquirer  32 . The acquirer  32  then sends the approving or declining response back to the merchant  22 . If the authorization has been approved, the process is allowed to continue to the second stage for clearing and settlement. 
     In the clearing and settlement stage, the merchant  22  deposits the transaction receipt with the acquirer  32 . The transactions may be deposited using paper copies, but may be electronically transmitted for automatic settlement. The acquirer  32  then credits the merchant&#39;s account, and electronically submits the transaction to the network service  34  for settlement. Existing network services  34  may, for example, act as an authorization service for card transactions, as described above, but as a clearing and settlement service, as well, to transfer payment information between parties. Typically, the network service  34  pays the acquirer  32  and debits the issuer account, then sends the transaction to the issuer  36 . The issuer  36  then posts the transaction to the cardholder&#39;s account. 
     Although the virtual cash system, method, and apparatus  10  described herein might be used in such a credit/debit card environment, according to one embodiment the wireless device  30  can be used in a manner by which cash payments can be made or by which indicia that provide a virtual cash equivalent can be displayed for use in making direct cash payments. In this embodiment, a substantial portion of the authorization stage previously employed in the credit/debit card transaction described above can be minimized, or eliminated. 
     To this end, a preestablished cash purchase amount is employed. The preestablished cash purchase amount may be kept in an account record  38  that associates a predetermined cash balance with the particular wireless device  12 . The account record may be maintained by a transaction processing center  40 , which may be operated in a similar manner to existing purchase card processing centers. An example of operations performed by such purchase card processing center may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,999,569, which is incorporated herein by reference. In some embodiments, the actual account record may be maintained in a memory of the wireless device itself or elsewhere; however, security may be more easily monitored and maintained if the account record is managed by a separate processing center under the control of trusted financial institutions, as described herein. 
     Unlike purchasing cards, the wireless device  12  has a display  14  on which available cash information can be displayed in the form of bar code information  16  that can be read by a merchant&#39;s scanner equipment  26 . As mentioned, existing equipment may be employed with appropriate software modifications. For example, the wireless device  12  may be equipped with an appropriate Application Programming Interface (API) to configure the wireless device  12  to hold the available cash information in its memory and to display the required bar code information  16  on its display  14 . 
     On the other hand, the equipment of the merchant  22  may be modified with appropriate software to recognize the transaction as a cash payment transaction. This embodiment enables the use of a transaction processing center  40  to operate in a manner similar to a purchasing card transaction, which allows the first stage credit card authorization process described above to be bypassed. 
     More particularly, the bar code information  14  may typically contain, for example, account identification information, a security code, an available cash amount, or combination thereof. The account identification information may be, for instance, a PIN number selected by the user, a phone number of the wireless device, some form of a Mobile Identification Number (MIN), an Electronic Serial Number (ESN), identification information derived therefrom, an actual account number, or some other identifying information by which the account with the wireless device by which the transaction is to be made can be associated with the account record  38 . 
     As indicated above, in addition to indicating the available cash information, the bar codes  16  may include security information. The security information may be, for example, a form of rolling code that is changed with every transaction and which is be synchronized with a code at the processing center to which the security information is sent to at least in part, verify the point of sale transaction. The rolling code may be employed as a security measure to protect both the customer and the merchant. 
     In a typical operation, the rolling code may be sent with each transaction, but is updated after each transaction, so that it is not the same from one transaction to the next. Such codes can be received and decoded by the processing center to verify that the code is a proper one. In this way, if someone in possession of the wireless device attempted to foil the system by defeating the rolling code change, a second transaction based upon the same rolling code as an earlier transaction would be rejected. 
     A suitable rolling code may be adapted, for instance, from a rolling code of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,475, which is incorporated by reference herein. For greater security, both fixed and rolling codes may be used, such as, for example, a code adapted from code arrangement of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,980,655, which is incorporated by reference herein. The fixed portion of the security code may be provided, for example, by the customer&#39;s bank  36  when confirming the deposit of the predetermined funds at the customer&#39;s direction. Other security codes, rolling codes, or other type of security or verification technique may, of course, be equally advantageously employed. 
     The available cash amount may be simply a bar code indicting the amount of money that is contained in the account  38  that is available for spending. 
     In addition, other information may optionally be displayed on the screen  14 , depending upon the particular application being considered, the ease of use to be facilitated, and the space available on the screen. For example, a human readable form of the available cash may be displayed for verification by the purchaser or by the merchant before attempting to complete a transaction. Routing information to the customer bank  36  may also be displayed, if needed. Other information may also be displayed, as well. 
     Thus, some or all of the bar code information may be used by the processing center  40  to verify the transaction, for example, to ensure that the security code checked out and sufficient funds exist in the mobile device account to complete the transaction. The verification could be in the form simply as an “accept” indication if a sufficient amount of money exists in the account  38  for the purchase or a “reject” indication if the balance is overrun. On the other hand, the verification may return a number indicating the amount of money that can be applied to the purchase, leaving the balance to be made up by the purchaser. 
     Although the money balance information would be kept at the processing center, the actual amount would be established by the user. The money balance may be established, for example, by authorizing the customer bank  36  to move either the money itself to the processing center  40  to be associated with the account  38  or by an authorization to withdraw the money, as spent, from the customer bank  36  payable to the merchant bank  32  to be credited to the merchant&#39;s account. 
     In one embodiment, money may be moved directly into the account  38  by third party devices  41  who make direct payments, for example, from their own respective wireless device cash accounts  38 ′ to the account  38  associated with the wireless device  12 . If desired, the account holder may require that a maximum balance be maintained in the account  38  such that excess amounts deposited to the account  38  be refunded back directly into the account holder&#39;s account at the customer bank  36 . 
     As mentioned, the wireless device  12  is configured so that cash payments can be made or so that indicia that provide a virtual cash equivalent can be displayed for use in making cash payments. Consequently, if the wireless device is regarded as representing or carrying cash itself, as suggested above, one embodiment provides that no identification or other sort of user authentication need be required. That is, the actual money amount is associated with the wireless device, not the user. Because of this characteristic, carrying the virtual cash represented in the wireless device has some of the same risks as carrying cash itself. Thus, for example, if the wireless device is lost, a finder may be able to spend the virtual cash just as if it were actual cash in a lost wallet or purse. 
     Nevertheless, some of the risks of carrying cash may be reduced. For example, if the wireless device is lost, there is a chance that the cash value can be preserved if the issuer  36  is notified before a finder makes purchases. In such cases, the account record  38  in the processing center may be modified to decline authorization for purchases made on that account. Additionally, since the account  38  contains only a limited predetermined money amount, the extent of liability for a lost wireless device is limited to that predetermined amount. The limit may be, for example, established by the owner of the wireless device, who can balance his own comfort level of risk to the amount of money that he places in his account, in the same manner as deciding how much actual cash he is comfortable carrying. 
     One embodiment of a method for making cash transactions of the type described is illustrated in  FIG. 2 , to which reference is now additionally made. After a cash account  38  is set up with a processing center  40 , the customer directs his bank  36  to credit the account with a predetermined amount of money, as shown in box  50 . The customer&#39;s bank  36  then credits the account  38  associated with the customer&#39;s wireless device  12  according to the customer&#39;s direction, shown in box  52 . This may be accomplished directly, or via direction to the processing center  40  to credit the account with the deposited funds, as shown in box  54 . 
     As shown in box  56 , the customer&#39;s bank  36  then sends cash information to the customer&#39;s wireless device via a wireless system  45  indicating that the predetermined amount of money has been transferred into the customer&#39;s account  38 . The cash information may be stored, for example, in a memory of the customer&#39;s wireless device. As mentioned, as a part of the cash information, the customer&#39;s bank  36  may also include a bank security code that can be incorporated into a security code that may be sent by the wireless device  12  to the processing center  40  to verify a spending transaction. Thus, when the processing center  40  updates the customer account information with the deposit information, as shown in box  54 , it may also associate the bank security code, if sent. 
     When the customer wishes to make a purchase, he first configures his wireless device, as shown in box  62 , to display the bar codes  16  on his display screen  14  required to be scanned. The wireless device  12  may be configured, for example, by running the API that accesses the memory in which the cash information has been stored to generate and display the appropriate bar codes  16  on the display  14  of the wireless device  12 . 
     If a security code is also to be sent to assist in verifying the transaction, in addition to indicating the available cash information, the bar codes  16  may be configured to include the security code. The security code may be generated as a part of the device configuration process, as shown in box  63 . 
     While the customer is configuring his wireless device  12  to display the bar codes, as described above, the merchant  22  enters the amount that the customer is to pay, shown in box  64 , for example, via the control and display device  28 . The merchant then scans the bar code  16  displayed on the customer&#39;s wireless device  12 , shown in box  66 . As shown in box  68 , the merchant, or the merchant&#39;s equipment, then sends information derived from the scanned bar code  16 , together with the amount to be paid, to the processing center  40 , which, as shown in box  70 , verifies the bar code  16  information, identifies the customer account  38  against which the purchase is to be debited, and verifies that the required funds are on deposit to complete the transaction. 
     The processing center  40  then notifies the merchant  22  according to the predefined notification rules, for example, that there are sufficient funds, that there are not sufficient funds, or that a certain funds amount is available for the transaction. The merchant then completes the transaction, shown in box  72 . 
     Meanwhile, the processing center  40  settles the transaction by debiting the amount to be paid from the customer&#39;s account  38  and depositing the amount to be paid in the merchant&#39;s account, as shown in box  74 . The processing center  40  then notifies the customer&#39;s bank  36  of the transaction, shown in box  76 . The customer&#39;s bank then wirelessly updates the wireless device information, as shown in box  78 , via a wireless network, such as the wireless network  45 . For example, if the amount to be paid is less than the preauthorized cash amount, the remaining amount in the customer&#39;s account is determined, for instance, by the processing center, and the remaining balance is transmitted to the wireless device for additional spending. If the entire amount has been depleted, that fact may also be sent to notify the customer that he needs to have additional money transferred to his wireless device account  38  if additional purchases are to be made. 
     At this juncture, it should be noted that although only one wireless network  45  has been shown, wireless networks are ubiquitous and the wireless device  12  can be virtually anywhere, while still being in communication with the customer bank  36 . Thus, one of the advantages derived from this embodiment is that the overall use of the virtual cash apparatus and system of the type described is not geographically limited, so long as wireless service is available. Moreover, although the notification transactions have been described as being conducted by the customer&#39;s bank, it should be appreciated that such notification transactions may be performed by any other entity, such as the processing center  40  itself, or other entity that is tasked with the account update responsibility. 
     Virtual cash systems of the type described have a number of other advantages, in addition making cash purchases at diverse point of sale locations as described above. For example, as suggested above, using the keypad  18  or other user interface of the wireless device, a user may transfer money directly into a wireless device account of another user. Thus, for example, cash payments can be made directly to wireless device accounts of casual service providers, such as domestic workers, baby sitters, or the like. Children&#39;s allowance may be paid by transferring money directly to an account associated with their individual wireless devices. Additionally, preauthorized spending limits may be established by parents with regard to their children&#39;s wireless device accounts; for example, children&#39;s spending may be limited to the purchase of food at a school cafeteria, or to the purchase of particular discretionary expenses at certain authorized merchants. Other uses will be immediately apparent to those skilled in the art. 
     It should be noted that although a bar code implementation has been described in detail, the account identification information, security code, and available cash amount indicators can be in other forms that may be recognized by the merchant&#39;s equipment. For example, an alternative embodiment one or more of the indicators may be implemented wholly or partially by rfid radio links, which are well known, that transfer data to proximity readers. 
     In yet another alternative embodiment, any or all of the account identification information, security code, and available cash amount indicators may be displayed on the display of the wireless device in a picture format which can be recognized, for example, as a series of alphanumeric characters that can be manually entered by the merchant as a part of the sales transaction. 
     Although the invention has been described and illustrated with a certain degree of particularity, it should be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example only, and that numerous changes in the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as hereinafter claimed.