Abstract:
In various embodiments, a server grants access to a plurality of anonymous one-time-usable, time-sensitive encrypted tokens that identify consumer purchase orders. A plurality of certified merchant servers are certified by being provided with an application to securely connect the certified merchant servers to the server for, among other things, transmitting purchase order data to the server for use in generating the tokens. A plurality of financial institution servers can also be certified by being configured for use with an application that enables secure connection to the server for, among other things, requesting the tokens.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of prior U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/127,814, filed May 27, 2008, which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/940,357, filed May 25, 2007, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates generally to a payment system for use in executing secure online commercial transactions, and more particularly, to an online transaction system wherein consumer identity remains anonymous to merchants and a central system throughout an entire transaction. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    Online payment systems have long been known and widely used. Many, if not all of them, are exposed to phishing attacks and fraud in general. While online payment systems will continue to be required and widely used, improvements on the behavior and payment flow are desirable to help ensure fraud-free online shopping where all parties are protected including the merchant, the financial institution and ultimately the consumer. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    In some embodiments of the present invention, computer implemented methods are provided for executing secure online transactions in an anonymous fashion. Systems for use in implementing the methods are also provided. In some embodiment, the methods can comprise a consumer shopping on a merchant website without providing any personally identifying information. When the consumer selects to make a purchase, purchase order data (without consumer identifying data) can be sent from the merchant server to a central server. In some embodiments, the merchant is required to be certified for communications with the central server, as can be accomplished by providing an application on the merchant server configured for enabling secure communication with the central server. In response to receipt of the purchase order data, the central server can issue a token to be stored on the consumer device from which the consumer initiated the associated purchase order. The token can be encrypted and contain information associated with the purchase order data, or purchase order information. The consumer device, such as a computer, can also be provided with an application containing code for instructing a processor of the computer to receive tokens from the central server for storage in a memory of the computer, and to respond to requests by other certified remote systems as discussed herein, to transmit the tokens. 
         [0007]    The consumer can access a financial institution website online and request to see purchase orders previously submitted by the consumer to merchants. The financial institution may be required to be certified to communicate with the central server. In response to the consumer request, the financial institution server can contact the central server, which, in turn, can request tokens from the consumer device to retrieve the tokens. The central server can also decipher the retrieved tokens to read and transmit purchase order information displayable by a website of the financial institution to the consumer. The consumer can then authorize the purchase orders through the website of the financial institution, whereupon the financial institution server can transmit an authorization code to the central server. The central server then transmits the authorization to the merchant with which the underlying purchase order was placed. The merchant can then fulfill the order with the consumer and transmit a notification to the central server reporting the fulfillment. Thereafter, the financial institution server can be notified and payment can be distributed to the merchant. In alternative embodiments, payment can be made to the merchant upon authorization, even before an order is fulfilled, or the merchant can fulfill an order before payment is authorized. 
         [0008]    No personally identifying information or financial credit or account access information of the consumer is transmitted to the merchant or central server. The merchant and central server can receive order identifying information and authorization messages from the financial institution. 
         [0009]    In some embodiments, when the consumer is accessing a website of the financial institution to authorize payments for purchase orders, the consumer interacts only with the financial institution website without being re-directed to a merchant or central server. If the consumer is re-directed in some embodiments, the re-direct can be automated without user involvement to avoid phishing attacks. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a system for use in implementing various embodiments of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a flow diagram showing steps for placing an online order with a merchant in some embodiments of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a flow diagram showing steps for order authorization for some embodiments of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram continued from  FIG. 3  showing steps for order authorization for some embodiments of the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a flow diagram continued from  FIG. 4  showing steps for order fulfillment and payment for some embodiments of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0015]    In the following description, certain specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of the invention. However, upon reviewing this disclosure one skilled in the art will understand that the invention may be practiced without many of these details. In other instances, well-known or widely available hardware, software and network infrastructure and protocol have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the descriptions of the embodiments of the invention. 
         [0016]    Where section headings are provided below, they are provided only for clarity to the reader and are not intended to limit the content disclosed herein. 
         [0017]    The term “access codes,” as used herein, can include, without limitation, pin numbers or codes, in any character type, for use in accessing financial accounts, such as credit card authorization or online bank accounts, or any accounts containing data usable to access a financial account or personally identifying consumer information. 
         [0018]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , various embodiments of the present invention can include a central server  2  which can be remotely accessible over a network  22  (e.g., the Internet) by a plurality of clients. The central server  2  can comprise one or more computers, or other devices or systems capable of processing instructions and information and communicating over the network  22 . 
         [0019]      FIG. 1  further shows a merchant server  26 , financial institution server  24  and a consumer computer  28 , each of which can be in independent communication with the central server  2 . 
         [0020]    Each of the central server  2 , financial institution server  24 , merchant server  26  and consumer computer  28  can include one or more processors  10 , displays  12 , non-volatile storage devices  14 , ROM  16 , a plurality of communications ports  18  and communications interfaces, and RAM  20 . The plurality of communication ports  18  can receive control signals from input devices (e.g., keyboard or mouse) and various communications interfaces can be provided to enable communications over the network  22 . 
         [0021]    Each of the consumer computer  28 , central server  2 , financial institution server  24 , and merchant server  26  can be provided with an application including a graphical user interface component, configured to permit secure communication with the central server  2 , as will be appreciated by those skilled in art after reviewing this disclosure. In some embodiments of the present invention, merchants and financial institutions can be provided with software development kits (SDKs) which are certified by the central system  2 . The SDKs permit the merchants to enable the consumers to place orders from a website of the merchant with the central system of the present invention and enable the merchants to, in turn, place consumer orders without requiring the consumer to input any linking data (credit card, access codes, pin numbers, full or partial personal data, etc.) to link the orders with the consumer placing the order. The SDKs provided to the financial institutions enable the consumer to retrieve the orders from the central system  2  via a website of the financial institution without the need to input any linking data (credit card, access codes, pin numbers, full or partial personal data, etc.). The consumer is then allowed to choose from any of various compatible accounts, from a certified financial institution, to authorize and make payments. 
         [0022]    In particular, referring to  FIG. 2 , in some embodiments of the present invention, at step  30 , a consumer accesses a website of a certified merchant hosted at merchant server  26 . At step  32 , the consumer places an order via the website of the certified merchant. The consumer can shop for products or services at the merchant&#39;s website, and can select a payment method at step  34 . If the consumer selects an anonymous payment method of the present invention at step  38 , the merchant server  26  transmits the consumer&#39;s purchase order data to the central server  2  at step  40  without transmitting any consumer identifying information or consumer access codes. This transmission can be made via an application hosted at the merchant server  26  which is capable of direct and secure communication with the central server  2 . An application at the central server  2  includes instructions for a processor of the central server  2  to register the order at step  42 , which can include generating one or more tokens containing encrypted information for identifying the purchase order. At step  44 , the token can then be transmitted to the consumer computer  28  by the central server  2  for storage on a memory of the consumer computer  28 . The consumer computer  28  can be provided with an application containing instruction for receiving and storing the token. Once the token is transmitted to the consumer computer  28 , the central system  2  transmits a notification to the merchant server  26 , at step  46 , which, in turn, can display an indication to the consumer through the merchant website via a display of the consumer computer  28 , confirming that the consumer order is awaiting authorization for payment. As will be appreciated by those skilled in art after reviewing this disclosure, the consumer can place a plurality of orders through the merchant server. 
         [0023]    Turning now to  FIG. 3 , at step  50 , when a consumer wishes to authorize an order for payment, the consumer can log onto a website of a trusted financial institution that is certified for interaction with the central system  2 . That is, for example, the website of the financial institution is configured to interface with an application of the central system  2  for carrying out the following steps. At step  52 , a consumer can use a graphical interface of the website of the financial institution to request to view orders. The financial institution server  24  can respond by, at step  54 , requesting the central server  2  to retrieve tokens from the consumer computer  28 . At step  56 , the central server  2  retrieves tokens from the consumer computer  28 . At step  58 , the central server  2  transmits the tokens retrieved from the consumer computer to the financial institution server  24 . In some embodiments, the retrieved tokens can be stored at the server of the financial institution in association with an account of the consumer for access later by the consumer. At step  60 , the financial institution server  24  requests order information associated with the retrieved tokens from the central server  2 . At step  62 , the central server  2  interprets the encrypted order identifying information associated with the tokens and transmits order information to the financial institution server  24 , which is displayed to the consumer via the website of the financial institution. 
         [0024]    As can be seen in  FIG. 4 , at step  64 , the consumer can elect to authorize an order at step  66 , or delete a displayed order at step  68 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , at step  72 , if the order is authorized, the financial institution server  24  transmits an authorization code to the central server  2  along with the token associated with an authorized order. At step  74 , the central server  2  transmits the authorization to the merchant who, in turn, fulfills an associated consumer order at step  76  and informs the central server. At step  78 , the central sever informs the financial institution that the order has been fulfilled. At step  80 , the financial institution pays the merchant. 
         [0025]    As noted above, in some embodiments of the present invention, the central system issues tokens to the consumer computer  28  which are encrypted and which identify the purchases made by the consumer at a merchants&#39; online shopping site. In some embodiments, the tokens are decipherable and understood only by an application on the central server  2 . The tokens may contain data about a purchase made by the consumer but do not include any personal or financial information of the consumer. The tokens can auto-expire if the consumer does not complete the transaction by authorizing the associated purchasers at a financial institution&#39;s website. In some embodiments, the tokens expire after one week (7 days). In other embodiments, the tokens expire after a longer period of time, or a shorter period of time. 
         [0026]    In various embodiments of the invention as described above, it is unnecessary for the consumer to be involved in any online re-directing from a website of a merchant to a website of the central server or the financial institution and this can avoid phishing attacks. The present invention also does not require the consumer, or consumer computer  28 , to provide any linking data (e.g., electronic signature, access code, credit card number, pin numbers, full or partial personal data, etc.) to link an order. Even after the order has been authorized or paid, the consumer is not known to the central server as the central server only receives an authorization code associated with a token to prove that the order has been authorized and authenticated by a financial institution. The consumer thus can enjoy full anonymity with the merchant and central sever. 
         [0027]    Although specific embodiments and examples of the invention have been described for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as will be recognized by those skilled in the relevant art after reviewing the present disclosure. The various embodiments described can be combined to provide further embodiments. The described structures, systems and methods can omit some elements or acts, can add other elements or acts, or can combine the elements or execute the acts in a different order than that illustrated, to achieve various advantages of the invention. These and other changes can be made to the invention in light of the above detailed description. 
         [0028]    In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification. Accordingly, the invention is not limited by the disclosure, but instead its scope is determined entirely by the following claims.