Patent Publication Number: US-2015066728-A1

Title: Method and system for making payments via a value system based upon commodity assets

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure generally relates to financial transaction systems, and more specifically relates to systems for making payments through a value system based upon commodity assets, for example gold assets. Moreover, the present disclosure relates to method of making payments via a value system based upon commodity assets, for example gold assets. Furthermore, the present disclosure concerns software products recorded on machine-readable data storage media, wherein the software products are executable upon computing hardware for implementing the aforesaid methods of the disclosure. 
     Gold is a rare metal in nature; there are only circa 165,000 metric tons of gold available. On account of such rarity, a given weight of gold commands a high price in fiat currencies, such as the US dollar (US$) and the Euro, relative to other materials that are more abundant, for example copper. Traditionally, gold has been considered a safe and conservative investment, as it can be easily liquidated into aforesaid fiat currencies, and is acceptable generally throughout the world. In recent years, interest in investing in gold has grown dramatically worldwide, because investing in gold is prudent to insure against instability and risk in fiat currency systems. During a long-term period, and through both inflationary and deflationary periods, gold has consistently maintained its purchasing power. There is contemporarily a strong demand for gold all over the world, as its value tends to be more stable than fiat currencies, which can be diluted by quantitative easing and similar inflationary monetary policies, and other forms of investment such as stocks, real estate, equities and so forth, because a different set of socio-economic and cultural incentives drives gold markets worldwide in comparison to fiat currencies. 
     However, it is often contemporarily impractical to invest in gold, because a given investor has to ensure safety and security of his/her gold assets. Moreover, it is time consuming for the given investor to buy a quantity of gold, keep the quantity of gold safely and then sell the quantity of gold when there is an appreciation in gold prices. Furthermore, the given investor has to monitor continuously gold prices for benefiting optimally from his/her gold investment. 
     There does not presently exist a mechanism that facilitates investors to conduct their day-to-day transactions in correlation with changes in gold prices, without employing a known traditional method of buying, keeping and selling gold. 
     Therefore, there exists a need for a mechanism which facilitates people to conduct their day-to-day transactions, or appreciate their cash assets in correlation with the increase in gold prices, without utilizing traditional known methods of buying, keeping and selling the gold. 
     In recent decades, financial systems around the world have progressed away from fixing units of their fiat currencies to a defined constant quantity of gold, namely the “gold standard”, because use of fiat currencies permits governments to employ monetary policies, for example quantitative easing (QE), to stimulate their economies in periods of financial difficulty, for example in depression or recessions. However, such quantitative easing, namely “money printing”, dilutes already existing fiat currencies and reduces a purchasing power of a given unit of the fiat currencies. Moreover, the use of fiat currencies has enabled financial systems to be implemented in electronic form, wherein quantities of a given fiat currency can be transferred from one person to another merely by communicating data. However, discipline within fiat currency systems has more recently been lacking, resulting in a desire to utilize more secure forms of investment. However, such more secure forms of investment are impractical for day-to-day financial transactions, as aforementioned. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure seeks to provide a system for making payments via a value system based upon one or more commodity assets, and a method of operating the same. 
     In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a method of operating a system for making payments via a value system based upon one or more commodity assets. 
     The method includes maintaining one or more accounts in the value system, wherein the accounts have associated therewith one or more commodity assets, diminishing or enhancing the one or more commodity assets associated with the one or more accounts in response to payments or receipts respectively into the one or more accounts respectively and using one or more market makers for relating values of the one or more commodity assets to one or more monetary currencies employed for making the payments or receipts, wherein the one or more market makers have external authorization outside a banking system. 
     The method is of advantage in that the one or more accounts are defined by a quantity of commodity assets, such that monetary values of the one or more accounts, expressed in one or more fiat currencies, temporally fluctuate, whilst enabling purchases and payments to occur from the one or more accounts digitally expressed in one or more fiat currencies; value in the accounts is maintained, even if the one or more fiat currencies experience dilution, for example hyperinflation, for example as occurred historically occurred in the Weimar Republic in circa year 1923. 
     The payments or receipts are conveniently made via use of one or more personal credit cards or debit cards in the value system, where the one or more personal credit cards or debit cards are useable in one or more ATM&#39;s (Automatic Transaction Machines) and/or one or more POS (Point of Sale) terminals. Moreover, the one or more personal credit cards or debit cards are beneficially RFID-enabled and/or chip-enabled for authentication purposes. Optionally, one or more personal payment bracelets, or similar user-wearable items, are employed as an alternative of addition to such one or more personal credit cards or debit cards for purposes of making payments in a fiat currency, for example in retailing premises for payment of day-to-day goods. 
     The one or more market makers are used in real time during the payments or receipts for relating values of the one or more monetary currencies, for example fiat currencies, to the one or more commodity assets. 
     The one or more commodity assets are implemented to include at least one of: base metals, minerals, noble metals Gold, Silver, rare Earth materials, hydrocarbon fuel products and/or raw materials. 
     The value system provides information to its one or more users associated with the one or more accounts, wherein the information includes an indication of the one or more commodity assets expressed in at least one of: weight, volume, numbers of physical elements, and a real-time monetary market value of the one or more commodity assets. 
     In another aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system for making payments via a value system based upon one or more commodity assets. 
     In yet another aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a software product recorded on a non-transitory (non-transient) machine-readable data storage media, such that the software product is executable upon computing hardware for implementing the method of operating a system for making payments via a value system based upon one or more commodity assets. 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure facilitate users to purchase commodity assets such as gold without actually possessing them, to receive a debit/credit card holding a currency equivalent, for example fiat currency equivalent, balance corresponding to the purchased commodity assets, and make payments or withdraw cash in multiple currencies, for example multiple fiat currencies, using the debit/credit card. The debit/credit card is particularly useful for people who travel across multiple countries, but do not want to carry large amounts of cash with them. The present invention generally facilitates people to conduct their day-to-day transactions or appreciate their cash assets in correlation with the increase in asset value prices, for example gold prices, without worrying about the physical safety of their assets, for example gold, or without following the traditional method of buying, keeping and selling gold which is often cumbersome and impractical. 
     Additional aspects, advantages, features and objects of the present disclosure would be made apparent from the drawings and the detailed description of the illustrative embodiments construed in conjunction with the appended claims that follow. 
     It will be appreciated that features of the invention are susceptible to being combined in various combinations without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The summary above, as well as the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the present disclosure, exemplary constructions of the disclosure are shown in the drawings. However, the invention is not limited to specific methods and instrumentalities disclosed herein. Moreover, those in the art will understand that the drawings are not to scale. Wherever possible, like elements have been indicated by identical numbers. 
         FIG. 1  is an illustration of a value system that is suitable for practicing various implementations of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is an illustration of steps of a method for purchasing commodity assets in the value system, in accordance with the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 3A  and  FIG. 3B  are an illustration of steps of a method for making payments in the value system via use of a personal credit card or debit card, in accordance with the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  is an illustration of steps of a method for purchasing and selling commodity assets by a market maker, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG. 5  is an illustration of steps of operating the system for making payments via a value system based upon or more commodity assets, in accordance with the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS 
     In the following detailed description, there are described illustrative embodiments of the disclosure and ways in which they can be implemented. Although the best mode of carrying out the invention has been disclosed, those in the art would recognize that other embodiments for carrying out or practicing the invention are also possible. 
     In overview, the present disclosure is concerned with a system for making payments via a value system based upon one or more commodity assets. The system includes an arrangement for maintaining one or more accounts in the value system, wherein the accounts have associated therewith one or more commodity assets, and an arrangement for diminishing or enhancing the one or more commodity assets associated with the one or more accounts in response to payments from or receipts into the one or more accounts respectively. The system for making payments further includes an arrangement for using market makers for relating values of the one or more commodity assets to one or more monetary currencies employed for making the payments or receipts, wherein the market makers have external authorization outside a banking system. The present disclosure thus provides an alternative system, which is capable of co-existing with existing known banking systems, or beneficially replacing known banking systems. 
     Referring now to the drawings, particularly by their reference numbers,  FIG. 1  is an illustration of a value system indicated generally by  100  that is suitable for practicing various implementations of the present disclosure. The value system  100  includes a user  102 , a custodian and trustee  104 , segregated bank accounts  105   a ,  105   b  and  105   c , a commodity depository  106 , a market maker  108 , a card issuer  109 , a card processor  110 , a debit/credit card  112 , and a merchant terminal  114 . The value system  100  is beneficially implemented using various technical apparatus, for example computing apparatus and one or more data communication networks which mutually interact in a manner that is hitherto not known. 
     The user  102  may be an individual, a corporate entity, a non-profit organization, or the like. Moreover, the custodian and trustee  104  may be a global financial institution that manages segregated bank accounts  105   a ,  105   b  and  105   c  of the user  102  in multiple jurisdictions around the world. In an exemplary embodiment, the custodian and trustee  104  may be Commercial Trust Ltd. (Hong Kong) that holds user funds in multiple segregated accounts  105   a ,  105   b  and  105   c  with an International bank such as HSBC, which currently operates in monetary currencies, namely fiat currencies, such as US dollar (USD), Hong Kong dollar (HKD), Great British Pound (GBP), Australian dollar (AUD), Canadian dollar (CAD), Swiss franc (CHF), Japanese yen (JPY), New Zealand dollar (NZD), Thai Baht (THB), Singapore dollar (SGD), Euro (EUR), and Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY). 
     In one embodiment, the user  102  may hold a bank account  105   a , but does not qualify for receiving a debit/credit card corresponding to the bank account  105   a . In another embodiment, the user  102  may not have a bank account in a particular jurisdiction, but does not wish to carry large amount of cash while travelling to that jurisdiction. 
     The commodity depository  106  facilitates supply and storage of one or more commodity assets, examples of which include, but are not limited to, base metals, minerals, noble metals, Gold, Silver, rare earth materials, hydrocarbon fuel products and/or raw materials. In an exemplary embodiment, the commodity depository  106  includes a network of Bullion Vault Member (LBMA), Vault London/Zurich/Singapore and Commercial Trust Ltd. Gold custodian for facilitating a supply and storage of gold. 
     The market maker  108  is a third (3 rd ) party service provider and a non-banking institution that establishes a relationship with the user  102 , the custodian and trustee  104 , the commodity depository  106 , and the card issuer  109 , and enables substantially instantaneous selling and purchasing of the commodity assets at current market prices, independent of the conventional banking system, which employ monetary values, namely fiat currency values. In an embodiment, the market maker  108  holds a first share of commodity assets from the commodity depository  106  while the first share is safely deposited in the commodity depository  106  itself. The market maker  108  enables the user  102  to purchase a second share of commodity assets from the first share of commodity assets, while the second share is safely deposited in the commodity depository  106  itself. Both the user  102  and the market maker  108  do not receive physical possession of the commodity assets due to the costs and risks associated with logistics, transportation, and handling the commodity assets outside of a secured vault. For ensuring integrity of the system  100 , activities of the market maker  108  are recorded and audited by an independent auditing party (not shown); in an event that the market maker  108  is not of adequate standard, the system  100  can be reconfigured to employ an alternative market maker  108 . 
     In an embodiment, the custodian and trustee  104  manages transfer of funds to the market maker  108  for purchasing the second share of commodity assets. The market maker  108  keeps a record of the weight, volume, numbers of physical elements and a real-time monetary market value of the commodity assets in one or more monetary currencies, for example fiat currencies, and constantly updates the user  102  regarding fluctuations in equivalent currency balance of their second share based on fluctuations in price of the underlying commodity assets. 
     The market maker  108  further enables the card issuer  109  to issue a credit/debit card  112  to the user  102 , wherein the credit/debit card  112  provides access to the equivalent currency balance corresponding to the second share of the commodity assets in the depository  106 . The credit/debit card  112  is a multi-currency card that can be used in various Point of Sale (POS) terminals  114   a  and ATM  114   b  across multiple jurisdictions. In an exemplary embodiment, the card issuer  109  may be a member of the Card Associations which include well-known contemporary products such as MasterCard, Visa, Diners Club, Discover card, American Express, China Union Pay and Japan Credit card Bureau (JCB) and the credit/debit card  112  can be used at, for example, 2,300,000 ATMs worldwide to withdraw cash in local monetary currency, namely fiat currency, or used to purchase goods and services wherever the Card Association&#39;s card is accepted. 
     When the user  102  present their card  112  at the merchant terminal  114  for executing a transaction, the merchant terminal  114  sends an authorization request to the card issuer  109  by way of the card processor  110 , which in turn sends an authorization request to the market maker  108 . The market maker  108  checks whether or not the equivalent currency balance available in respect of the card  112  is sufficient to cover the transaction. The available equivalent currency balance is instantly evaluated based on amount of the commodity assets allocated to the user and current market prices of the commodity assets. When the equivalent currency balance associated with the card  112  is sufficient to cover the transaction, the market maker  108  communicates the same to the card issuer  109 , updates the equivalent currency balance available to the card  112  and also updates the reduced amount/share of commodity assets corresponding to the updated equivalent currency balance. The card issuer  109  then sends the authorization response to the merchant terminal  114  by way of the card processor  110 , which in turn completes the transaction in substantially real time, for example within a few milliseconds. In various embodiments, the card processor  110  provides a link between the global POS/ATM network and the card issuer  109 . The card processor  110  provides transaction approval from the market maker  108  and settlement information to the card issuer  109  that receives the settlement funds from the market maker  108 . 
     In an embodiment, the market maker  108  periodically transfers funds to the card issuer  109  to enable the card issuer  109  to carry out transactions pertaining to the credit/debit card  112 . In an example, the market maker  108  may set a daily maximum limit of funds to be transferred to the card issuer  109 . Thus, the market maker  108  provides an authorization to the card processor  109 , and also transfer funds thereto for completing the transaction, as compared to conventional systems of authorization and funds transfer by a bank. The ATMs  114   b  are optionally a part of a conventional banking system, but when the user  102  accesses them using the card  112 , they send an authorization request to the market maker  108 , namely an entity external to the conventional banking system, instead of sending the authorization request to a corresponding card issuer; the conventional banking system receives funds from the market maker  108  to settle the transaction. Thus, the market maker  108  totally bypasses the conventional banks&#39; authorization process enabling the user  102  to make purchases or withdraw cash at the merchant terminals  114 . In a way, the market maker  108  solves the problems encountered with using the conventional banking system, such as commodity values being rigged in favor of the banks, and commodity values provided by the banks not being updated in real time, which can result in accounting errors, leading to favor of banks and to a disadvantage of users. 
     In  FIG. 1 , there is merely shown an example, which should not unduly limit the scope of the claims herein. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize many variations, alternatives, and modifications of embodiments herein. 
       FIG. 2  is an illustration of steps of a method of purchasing commodity assets in the value system  100 , in accordance with the present disclosure. The method is depicted as a collection of steps in a logical flow diagram, which represents a sequence of steps that can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. 
     At a step  202 , the user  102  may register themselves with the market maker  108 . In an embodiment, the user  102  may register themselves online on a secure website of the market maker  108 , where the user  102  may purchase and sell one or more commodity assets, check the real time monetary value of purchased commodity assets in multiple currencies, receive automated text and email alerts, receive income statements, and so forth. At a step  204 , the user may transfer funds to the custodian and trustee  104  for purchasing a first amount of commodity assets from the market maker  108 . In an embodiment, the funds may be added in a variety of ways, namely physical means such as cash or check, and electronic means such as wire transfer from another account. 
     At a step  206 , the funds may be transferred from the custodian and trustee  104  to the market maker  108  for purchasing the first amount of commodity assets, where the market maker  108  operates in a default fiat currency such as US dollar (US$, USD). In an embodiment, the market maker  108  may specify a minimum amount of commodity assets that a user must buy to complete the purchase. The amount of funds required for purchasing the first amount of commodity assets may be calculated based on Equation 1 (Eq. 1): 
         R   F   =A   CA   U   P   FX   M   M   MM   Eq. 1
 
     wherein
 
R F =Requisite funds;
 
A CA =Amount of commodity asset;
 
FX M =FX margin;
 
M MM =Margin of the market maker  108 ; and
 
wherein the FX margin is currency conversion fees to the default currency, and the margin of the market maker  108  corresponds to the service fees of the market maker  108 .
 
     In an example, if the user  102  wants to purchase 10 grams of gold using their fiat currency in a form of British Pounds (GBP), then the funds required to be transferred to the market maker  108  would be sum of real-time monetary value of 10 grams of gold, currency conversion fees from GBP to USD, and service fees of the market maker  108 . 
     At a step  208 , the market maker  108  sells the first amount of commodity assets to the user  102  by allocating a share of commodity assets in the commodity depository  106  to the user  102 . In an embodiment, the market maker  108  allocates a share of commodity assets to the user  102  from their share of commodity assets in the commodity depository  106 . After the market maker  108  allocates the first amount of commodity assets to the user  102 , a confirmation alert may be sent to the user  102  through SMS and/or email, wherein the confirmation includes the amount and current market value of the purchased commodity assets. 
     In an embodiment, the market maker  108  maintains one or more conversion tables to create/update an equivalent currency balance, for example fiat current balance, corresponding to the commodity assets allocated to the user, and constantly updates the user  102  regarding any fluctuations in the equivalent currency balance based on the fluctuations in the market prices of the underlying commodity assets. 
     Finally, at a step  210 , the market maker  108  enables the card issuer  109  to issue a credit/debit card  112  to the user, where the credit/debit card  112  enables access to an equivalent currency balance, for example fiat currency balance, corresponding to the commodity assets purchased by the user  102 ; in other words, the card technically is unfunded until the one or more commodity assets are bought by the one or more market makers  108 ; however, the one or more market makers maintains a float of funds at the issuer to ensure that the user  102  is accommodated, namely “covered”, although the float of funds is optionally subject to daily withdrawal limits set by the card issuer, or the one or more market makers  108 . In other words, the card technically is unfunded until the asset is bought by the market maker; however, the market maker maintains a float at the issuer to ensure that the customer is covered this may be subject to daily withdrawal limits set by the issuer or market maker. 
     In an embodiment, the equivalent currency balance available to the credit/debit card  112  may fluctuate based on the fluctuations in the market prices of the underlying commodity assets. In general, fiat currencies have a tendency to inflate, as a result of more fiat currency being generated by associated governments, for example as a consequence of quantitative easing to stimulate economic growth, and the fluctuations tend to work in favor of the user by increasing the value of the user&#39;s allocated commodity assets expressed in the fiat currency. 
     In an exemplary embodiment, if the value of commodity asset such as gold allocated to the user is $2,000 USD, then user can access an equivalent currency balance of approximately $2,000 USD through their debit/credit card  112 . If the value of gold increases to $2,100.00, then the equivalent currency balance will increase to approximately $2,100.00 USD. Conversely, if the value of gold bullion decreases to $1900.00 USD, the equivalent currency balance will decrease to approximately $1900.00 USD. Thus, the user  102  can take advantage of, and be exposed to, the fluctuations in the market prices of the commodity assets. 
       FIG. 2  is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the scope of the claims herein. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize many variations, alternatives, and modifications of embodiments herein. 
       FIG. 3  is an illustration of steps of a method for making payments in the value system  100  via use of the personal credit/debit card  112 , in accordance with the present disclosure. The method is depicted as a collection of steps in a logical flow diagram, which represents a sequence of steps that can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. 
     At a step  302 , the credit/debit card  112  is presented by the user at the merchant terminal  114  for completing a transaction. The merchant terminal  114  may be a POS terminal  114   a  that facilitates purchase of goods/services or an ATM  114   b  that facilitates withdrawal of cash. Upon receiving the transaction request, the merchant terminal  114  sends an authorization request to the card issuer  109  by way of the card processor  110  for completing the transaction. The authorization request may include details such as credit/debit card number, the transaction amount, and/or a merchant identifier. 
     At a step  304 , the authorization request is sent from the card issuer  109  to the market maker  108 , as compared to conventional systems where the authorization request is sent from the card issuer  109  to a bank of the user  102 . The market maker  108 , an entity external to the conventional banking system enables the user  102  to instantly sell and purchase commodity assets without intervention of their banks 
     At a step  306 , the market maker  108  checks whether or not the available equivalent currency balance to the card  112  is sufficient to complete the transaction. The market maker  108  maintains one or more conversion tables to compute a real-time monetary value, namely fiat currency value, of one or more commodity assets in different currencies. In an exemplary embodiment, when the commodity assets are gold, the market maker  108  calculates the available equivalent currency balance using the following Equation 2 (Eq. 2): 
         A   CEB   =G   gb   G   p   FX   M   M   AGM   GM   MM   Eq. 2
 
     wherein
 
A CEB =Available currency equivalent balance;
 
G gb =Gold grams balance;
 
G p =Gold price, namely current unit price of gold;
 
FX M =FX margin (if any);
 
GM MM =Gold margin of market maker  108 ; and
 
wherein
 
the Gold grams balance is a weight of gold allocated to the user  102  in the commodity depository  106 ; and
 
the FX margin is currency conversion fees when the currency, namely fiat currency, of the merchant terminal  114  is other than USD, namely a default currency of the market maker  108 . However, it is to be appreciated that decline in the “petrodollar” as a result of “peak oil” may result in other fiat currencies becoming dominant in the world in future, such that another fiat currency other than USD is optionally employed.
 
The maximum anticipated gold movement represents a daily transaction limit of the card  112 , and the gold margin of the market maker  108  represents a service fees charged by the market maker  108  for completing the transaction.
 
     In an example, if the user  102  wants to withdraw cash in GBP from an ATM  114   b , then the available equivalent currency balance in the card  112  would be sum of real-time monetary value of available gold, currency conversion fees from GBP to USD and service fees of the market maker  108 . 
     At a step  308 , the transaction is denied by the market maker  108  if the available currency equivalent balance is not sufficient to cover the transaction amount, and an alert is sent to the user by way of a communication, for example an SMS and/or email. 
     At a step  310 , the transaction is authorized by the market maker  108  if the available currency equivalent balance is sufficient to cover the transaction amount, and an authorization response is then sent to the card issuer  109 , which forwards the response to the card processor  110 . The market maker  108  instantly debits the transaction amount from the available equivalent currency balance of the card  112  and updates the reduced equivalent currency balance. The card processor  110  forwards the authorization response to the merchant terminal  114 , which in turn completes the transaction. 
     At a step  312 , the amount of commodity assets remaining with the user  102  is updated based on the reduced equivalent currency balance and the current market price of the underlying commodity asset. The amount of commodity assets allocated to the user  102  reduces with each transaction of the credit/debit card  112 . Thus, the user  102  sells the underlying commodity assets to the market maker  108  in exchange of purchased goods/services or cash; “cash” in such case is, for example, in a fiat currency. 
     At a step  314 , the funds are transferred from the card issuer  109  to the merchant  114  for completing the transaction. In an embodiment, the market maker  108  periodically transfers a predefined amount of funds to the card issuer  109  so that the card processor  110  can instantly authorize the transaction upon receiving a transaction request from the debit/credit card  112  and the card issuer  109  can settle the transaction to the merchant terminal  114 . 
     Finally at a step  316 , an alert is sent to the user  102  by the market maker  108 , where the alert may include details such as updated amount of allocated commodity assets, real-time monetary value of the commodity assets, details of transaction of the card  112 , and so forth. The user  102  may receive the alerts through various communicating means, for example e-mail messages, text and multimedia messages, automated phone calls, facsimile, updates on the market maker&#39;s website. 
     In various embodiments of the present invention, the market maker  108  takes a revenue share in all transactions related to the purchase and sale of commodity assets, currency conversions and the use of the debit/credit card  112 . Moreover, the market maker  108  may charge a monthly administration fees, storage and insurance fees from the user  102 . 
     It should be noted here that the steps  302  to  316  are only illustrative and other alternatives can also be provided where one or more steps are added, one or more steps are removed, or one or more steps are provided in a different sequence without departing from the scope of the claims herein. 
       FIG. 3  is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the scope of the claims herein. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize many variations, alternatives, and modifications of embodiments herein. 
       FIG. 4  is an illustration of steps of facilitating purchase and sell of commodity assets by the market maker  108 , in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method is depicted as a collection of steps in a logical flow diagram, which represents a sequence of steps that can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. 
     At a step  402 , a request is received by the market maker  108  from the user  102  to purchase a first amount of commodity assets. In an embodiment, the market maker  108  holds a first share of commodity assets in the commodity depository  106  and enables the user  102  to purchase the first amount of commodity assets from the first share of commodity assets itself. At a step  404 , the first amount of commodity assets are allocated to the user  102  after the market maker  108  receives the requisite funds from the user  102 . The requisite funds may be calculated based on Equation 1 (Eq. 1). In an exemplary embodiment, the market maker  108  may hold 1-2 LBMA gold bars weighing 12.4 kg or 400 oz. each valued at circa $545,000 in the commodity depository  106  and allocates the first amount of gold such as 100 grams of gold to the user  102  upon receiving the requisite funds. Although the gold bars remain intact, there system  100  enables ownership rights of a portion of a given gold bar to be established, wherein the ownership rights are relinquished as the user  102  makes purchases and payments in monetary currencies, namely fiat currencies. 
     At a step  406 , the proceeds of sale may be used by the market maker  108  to buy the first amount of synthetic commodity assets. In an exemplary embodiment, the market maker  108  may use the proceeds of sale of 100 grams of gold to purchase 100 grams of synthetic gold from a synthetic gold liquidity provider to hedge physical gold purchase with synthetic gold. 
     At a step  408 , the synthetic commodity assets may be sold by the market maker  108  when the first share of commodity assets held by the market maker  108  drops down to a predefined minimum value and use the proceeds of sale to replenish their stock of the commodity assets. In an exemplary embodiment, when the gold held by the market maker  108  reduces to an equivalent bar denomination, then synthetic gold held by the market maker  108  is sold to buy LBMA gold bars. The buying of the synthetic gold and then selling after some time minimizes the losses due to price fluctuations in the LBMA gold bars. However, it will be appreciated that, during periods of high volatility in hedged synthetic gold, for example in an event of a stock market crash event, for example as occurred in Wall Street in the 1920&#39;s, the system  100  can optionally revert back to utilizing only real physical commodity assets, for example real physical gold. 
     In another embodiment, the proceeds of sale of synthetic commodity assets may be used by the market maker  108  to transfer funds to the card issuer  109  to enable them to settle transactions pertaining to the debit/credit card  112 . 
     It should be noted here that the steps  402  to  408  are only illustrative and other alternatives can also be provided where one or more steps are added, one or more steps are removed, or one or more steps are provided in a different sequence without departing from the scope of the claims herein. 
       FIG. 4  is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the scope of the claims herein. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize many variations, alternatives, and modifications of embodiments herein. 
       FIG. 5  is an illustration of steps of operating the system for making payments via the value system  100  based upon or more commodity assets, in accordance with the present disclosure. The method is depicted as a collection of steps in a logical flow diagram, which represents a sequence of steps that can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. 
     At a step  502 , one or more accounts are maintained in the value system  100 , wherein the accounts have associated therewith one or more commodity assets. At a step  504 , the one or more commodity assets associated with the one or more accounts are diminished or enhanced in response to payments or receipts into the one or more accounts respectively. At a step  506 , one or more market makers  108  are used for relating values of the one or more commodity assets to one or more monetary currencies, for example fiat currencies, employed for making the payments or receipts, wherein the one or more market makers  108  have external authorization outside a banking system. As aforementioned, the one or more market makers  108  are beneficially externally audited by one or more independent auditing parties to ensure integrity and robustness of the value system  100  against fraud or corrupt influences. 
     It should be noted here that the steps  502  to  506  are only illustrative and other alternatives can also be provided where one or more steps are added, one or more steps are removed, or one or more steps are provided in a different sequence without departing from the scope of the claims herein. 
     From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the authorization of gold transactions, via the one or more market makers  108 , occurs externally to conventional banking systems. Such conventional banking systems are vulnerable to collapse, for example arising from employing excessive leverage on financial transactions executed in fiat currencies, and from governmental policies that are highly inflationary in nature, for example excessive quantitative easing executed for political purposes for trying to create short-term economic growth, for example immediately prior to a general election and/or presidential election. Thus, the system  100  is capable of preserving value for its user  102 , even if conventional banking systems experience systemic problems, for example a stock market crash. Moreover, the system  100  is also capable of being robust to runs on monetary currencies, namely fiat currencies. 
     Unlike a conventional known banking system, the system  100  does not directly have any monetary allocation to a credit card or debit card of the user  102 , but links a credit card or debit card compatible with the system  100  to one or more commodity assets, namely elements which cannot simply by inflated in a manner of a fiat currency. Moreover, the system  100  is capable of supporting multiple currency bins for use by the user  102 . Furthermore, the user  102  is able to employ external authorization for a credit card or debit card for use with the system  100  a party responsible for managing operation of the system. Payment in association with the system  100  can be made by employing one or more of: mobile telephones, smart phones, RFID-enabled apparatus, electronic integrated circuits, software applications, bracelets, and biologically-implanted electronic chip modules. The system  100  maintains a record of the identity of the user  102 , and is optionally operable to block transaction in association with the user  102  if the user  102  appears to be acting out-of-character, for example the credit card or debit card of the user  102  is stolen and an attempt by an authorized party made to use the stolen credit card or debit card. 
     Although embodiments of the present invention have been described comprehensively in the foregoing, in considerable detail to elucidate the possible aspects, those skilled in the art would recognize that other versions of the invention are also possible.