Abstract:
A system and method for payment for mobile communication services over commercial public networks. A mobile telephone is equipped with a payment unit capable of paying for mobile communications services at the time such services are furnished, and a base station is provided with a point-of-sale terminal capable of receiving payment for such services. Payment is made in the form of generally-accepted banking instruments which can be stored and transferred in electronic form, such as credit charges, debit charges, electronic stored value, electronic funds transfer, and so forth.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to financial payment in conjunction with mobile communications, and, more particularly, to a mobile telephone equipped with a payment unit  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The widespread global acceptance of mobile communications has created a situation where the current majority of telephones are mobile telephones. In addition, people today are themselves more mobile than ever before, and this has resulted in an upsurge in the extent of the geographical region from which the average mobile telephone is used. International travelers, for example, frequently carry their mobile telephones with them when they go abroad, and they expect to use their mobile telephones to initiate and receive calls wherever they are, on a world-wide basis.  
           [0003]    The principles of the invention are illustrated in terms of mobile telephony, but apply to all forms of mobile communications over public commercial networks.  
           [0004]    The term “mobile telephone” herein denotes any device capable of establishing and maintaining two-way wireless communication over a commercial public communications network. Non-limiting examples include cellular telephones and cellular data devices, personal digital appliances (also known as “personal digital assistants”, or PDA&#39;s) with cellular data communications capabilities, and wireless data terminals and facsimile devices capable of two-way communication over a commercial public communications network. For purposes of the present invention, telephony is not limited to voice communication, but also involves personal data communications in general, including Internet and facsimile communication; and the providing of audio signals of any kind, including music and non-interactive one-way communication, such as news, entertainment, and other information. The term “mobile telephony” herein denotes telephony involving a mobile telephone, and the term “mobile telephony session” herein denotes a specific mobile telephony connection, which can exist over a period of time. The term “mobile customer” herein denotes any individual or organization which operates or utilizes a mobile telephone. The term “mobile network” herein denotes any communications network which is in whole or in part devoted to mobile telephony.  
           [0005]    The term “land-line telephony” herein denotes traditional telephony based on wires from a central office to subscriber locations, as distinct from mobile telephony, which is based on wireless connections.  
           [0006]    The term “service provider” herein denotes any business or organization which operates a commercial public communications network or any part thereof, and which furnishes communications services to mobile customers on a commercial basis. The term “mobile network operator” herein denotes any business or organization which administers a mobile network or any substantial part thereof In particular, a mobile network operator can also encompass, or perform the functions of, a service provider of mobile telephone services. The term “mobile virtual network operator” herein denotes a mobile network operator which does not have ownership of the service provider physical infrastructure of a mobile network, but which manages service provider facilities through contractual relationships with independent service providers.  
           [0007]    A mobile telephone based on cellular technology must establish contact with a local ground-based cellular network in order to receive or initiate a call. Because of the extensive geographical areas that must be covered, it has been necessary to establish a large number of these local ground-based cellular networks, which are owned and operated by various independent service providers and mobile network operators.  
           [0008]    Unlike telephony based on land-lines, the billing and payment arrangements required for mobile telephony are complex and pose a special challenge.  
           [0009]    For land-based lines, collecting fees for telephone service has never been especially difficult. The service provider (the “telephone company”) installs physical wiring to the place of service and has complete control over the operability of the system. For the most part, customers are therefore highly motivated to comply with the service provider&#39;s established billing and payment procedures, which are de-facto requirements for obtaining and maintaining service. The credit-worthiness of the average customer has thus never been an important consideration for the service provider. At worst, in questionable cases, the customer may have to post a deposit with the service provider, and in those rare occurrences where customers are delinquent on their bills, the amount in arrears may usually be minimized by prompt curtailment of service. Moreover, the customer who is delinquent in the payment of a considerable amount can usually be easily located or traced, and it has traditionally been a straightforward matter for the service provider to rely on standard legal remedies in these very rare cases.  
           [0010]    None of the above favorable billing, payment, and collection aspects of land-line telephony fees, however, apply in the case of mobile telephony service. Mobile telephones are a commodity item, and activation of a mobile telephone does not involve the traditional installation required for a land-line telephone. By the very nature of mobile telephony, there is no “location” of service, and the customers therefore tend to be less well-known to the service provider. Nevertheless, most mobile customer relationships tend to follow the traditional model, which is illustrated in FIG. 1. A mobile customer  101  having a mobile telephone  103  arranges for mobile telephony service with a mobile network operator  105 , who administers a mobile network which includes a service provider  107  having a base station (also referred to as a “base transceiver station” or “BTS”)  109 . Base station  109  is thus also part of the mobile network. Within the local geographic region (“cell”) served by base station  109 , customer  101  may use mobile telephone  103  to establish a two-way mobile telephony session  111  via radio connection with base station  109 .  
           [0011]    Because of lack of a physical location, as previously noted, billing and fee collection is a greater challenge in mobile telephony than in traditional land-line telephony, and so, of necessity, the billing and payment patterns for mobile telephony have been forced to develop in two directions:  
           [0012]    1. credit accounts, where mobile customer  101  must establish credit with mobile network operator  105  as the principal service provider, who has primary responsibility for the payment of all mobile fees incurred by the customer, and who presents mobile customer  101  with an invoice (or “bill”)  113  on a regular basis to cover all services rendered; or, alternatively,  
           [0013]    2. prepaid accounts, where mobile customer  101  purchases a certain amount of service in advance from mobile network operator  105  for a prepaid account  115 , and can consume this pre-purchased service until exhausted or replenished (by an additional paid purchase). Unlike traditional land-line telephony, where prepaid accounts are rare, in mobile telephony these prepaid accounts are very common and in certain markets are used by more than half of the mobile customer base.  
           [0014]    A major factor that distinguishes mobile telephony from land-line telephony is the practice of “roaming”, whereby a mobile customer uses a mobile telephone in an area where he or she has not established a billing and payment arrangement with a mobile network operator. Roaming greatly complicates the financial arrangements, especially where the roaming is international. When roaming, in fact, the customer is usually completely unaware of the identify of the service provider. In marketing mobile telephone services, the service providers would like customers to feel free to use their mobile telephones without having to be concerned about who the service provider may be. The ideal marketing arrangement, in fact, is that customers feel free to use their mobile telephones from any location without having to be aware that service providers even exist. It follows that in roaming situations, most customers will not have established any relationship whatsoever with the local service provider, and the local service provider will have to provide service for whatever customers are in the local service region without having an opportunity to establish the customer&#39;s credit-worthiness or trustworthiness in paying for services rendered.  
           [0015]    [0015]FIG. 2 illustrates the business complexities introduced by roaming. Here, mobile customer  101  travels with mobile telephone  103  to a geographic region that is not served by mobile network operator  115 , with whom mobile customer  101  has established a per-existing financial relationship, as previously detailed. Instead, when mobile customer  101  uses mobile telephone  10 X, a mobile telephony session  205  is established with a base station  203  operated by a service provider  201 . Fees for services furnished by service provider  201  cannot be sent to mobile customer  101 , because there is no relationship between service provider  201  and mobile customer  101 . Mobile customer  101 , in fact, may not know who service provider  201  is, and service provider  201  may not know anything about mobile customer  101 , other than that he is using mobile telephone  103 , which is identified as having been activated by mobile network operator  105 . Consequently, service provider  201  must turn to mobile network operator  105  for payment of fees, and therefore sends an invoice  207  to mobile network operator  105  for services rendered. Mobile network operator  105 , in turn, includes a charge for the roaming usage in an invoice  209 , which is sent to mobile customer  101 .  
           [0016]    As noted above, the roaming factor complicates billing and payment, and this is true even in the case of credit and prepaid accounts. An undesirable condition that commonly occurs in roaming situations is illustrated in FIG. 3. Here, mobile customer  101  is attempting to use mobile telephone  103  in an area where mobile network operator  105  has no agreements for providing local service. A service provider  301  operating a base station  303  establishes contact with mobile telephone  103 , and determines that mobile telephone  103  has been activated by mobile network operator  105 . Unlike the successful roaming situation shown in FIG. 2, service provider  301  realizes that without a pre-existing billing arrangement with mobile network operator  105 , it is impossible to charge for services furnished. Service provider  301 , like service provider  201  (FIG. 2), has no familiarity with mobile customer  101 . But unlike service provider  201 , however, service provider  301  has no agreement for the payment of fees and charges. Consequently, service provider  301  is unable to provide services to mobile customer  101 , and hence a mobile telephony session  305  is denied. It is to be emphasized that mobile telephone  103  is technically capable of establishing a telephonic communication with base station  303 , but is unable to do so simply because there is no way for service provider  301  to charge for services furnished.  
           [0017]    There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, a means of payment for mobile telephony services which does not depend on the existence of any prior arrangement between the user and provider of such services. This goal is met by the present invention.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0018]    The present invention provides for a mobile telephone having a capability of making payments by universally-accepted negotiable banning payment instruments that can be transmitted in electronic form, and a service-providing system capable of accepting such banking instruments in electronic form. Because of the nature of the payment instruments, payment for mobile telephony services can be made by the mobile telephone at the time those services are utilized. The service provider is compensated as services are utilized and the financial transaction is completed at that time. Thus, there is no requirement for any prior financial arrangements between the user and the service provider.  
           [0019]    [0019]FIG. 4 illustrates payment for mobile telephony services according to the present invention, which is free from the prior art limitations discussed above. In this approach, mobile customer  101  uses a mobile telephone  402  to establish a mobile telephony session  409  with a service provider  401  having a base station  403 . The technical details for establishing mobile telephony between mobile telephone  402  and base station  403 , and the interaction of mobile customer  101  are identical to the prior art schemes previously discussed regarding mobile telephone  103  and base stations  109 ,  203 , and  303  (FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3). The initially-encountered difference between the present invention and the prior art involves the identification and validation of mobile telephone  402  by service provider  401 . The identification and validation protocol according to the present invention will be described in detail below, but at this point it is sufficient to note that service provider  401  is able to determine that mobile telephone  402  is capable of providing payment for mobile services directly to service provider  401  at the time those services are rendered. Service provider  401  therefore authorizes the establishing of mobile telephony session  409 , and mobile customer  101  is thus able to use mobile telephone  402  in the region served by service provider  401 .  
           [0020]    Turning briefly to FIG. 5, it is seen that mobile telephone  402  is able to provide payment for mobile services directly to service provider  401  at the time those services are rendered because mobile telephone  402  is equipped with a payment unit  501 , as will be further discussed below. Furthermore, payment unit  501  identifies mobile telephone  402  and validates to service provider  401  that mobile telephone  402  is capable of paying upon request for mobile services at the time those services are rendered.  
           [0021]    Turning briefly to FIG. 6, it is seen that service provider  401  is able to receive payment for mobile services directly from mobile telephone  402  at the time services are rendered because service provider  401  is furnished with a point-of-sale unit (POS)  601 , as will be further discussed below. Furthermore, point-of-sale unit  601  identifies service provider  401  to mobile telephone  402  as being capable of receiving payment for mobile services at the time those services are rendered, and is also capable of presenting requests for payment to mobile telephone  402  as mobile services are used.  
           [0022]    The term “point-of-sale” terminal, or “POS”, herein denotes any device or facility capable of receiving, storing, transferring, and accounting payment instruments that can be represented, stored, and transferred in electronic form. Such a facility may be within a separate device, or may be combined with another device. The POS, for example, may be embodied in software within an existing computer operated by the service provider.  
           [0023]    Returning to FIG. 4, it is seen that the financial payment involves a financial institution  405  associated with service provider  401 , and a financial institution  407  associated with mobile customer  101 . Financial institution  405  and financial institution  407  are in general different financial institutions, but because they are established in accordance with the financial industry, they are able to interact and process financial transactions between them via a pre-existing banking channel  415 , which is part of the existing conventional banking system. The scope of banking channel  415  encompasses local, regional, national, and international financial transactions of any amount, and it is well known that it is a more-or-less routine matter for virtually any recognized financial institution anywhere on earth to establish a channel such as banking channel  415  with virtually any other recognized financial institution. Thus, the respective geographical locations and particular choices for financial institution  405  and financial institution  407  are not critical, provided that both are recognized as financial institutions by the banking industry in general.  
           [0024]    During the course of mobile telephony session  409 , various charges for mobile telephony service will be incurred by the use of mobile telephone  402 . According to the present invention, these charges are billed and paid as they accrue, as will be further discussed below. Service provider  401  will periodically send a request for payment, such as a request for payment  411  to mobile telephone  402 , immediately after which mobile telephone  402  will return payment, such as a payment  413 , to service provider  401 . Payment  413  originates from payment unit  501  (FIG. 5) and is stored in point-of-sale unit  601  (FIG. 6). Periodically, accumulated payments  414  stored in point-of-sale unit  601  are sent by service provider  401  to financial institution  405  for credit to the account of service provider  401 , and in this manner service provider  401  is compensated for the rendering of mobile telephony services. Among accumulated payments  414  is payment  413  from mobile telephone  402 , and financial institution  405  may eventually process payment  413  for settlement, via banking channel  415  to financial institution  407 . Payment  413  would then be deducted from the account of mobile customer  101  at financial institution  407 .  
           [0025]    The methods of financial settlement as mentioned above are well-known Certain variations in financial payment are covered below in discussions of the preferred embodiments of the invention. Other methods of financial payment relevant to the present invention are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,744,787 to the present inventor, which is incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.  
           [0026]    It is to be emphasized that all payments according to the present invention, such as payment  413  and accumulated payments  414 , are payments made by universally-recognized banking instruments which are capable of being stored and transmitted electronically, non-limiting examples of which include credit charges, debit charges, electronic funds transfer, and electronic stored value.  
           [0027]    In contrast, certain prior art schemes for payment involving a mobile telephone are based on proprietary payment techniques and do not involve universally-recognized banning instruments. An example of this is illustrated in FIG. 7. Mobile customer  101  uses a mobile telephone  701  to make a purchase from a vending machine  703 . By special arrangement with a service provider  702  who provides mobile telephony services for mobile telephone  701 , it is possible to make certain purchases using mobile telephone  701 . In this particular example, mobile customer  101  purchases a beverage  707  from vending machine  703 . The precise manner in which this is done depends on the technical details by which the scheme is implemented. One possibility is afforded by utilizing an infra-red link  705 , with which many modem mobile telephones are equipped. In this case, mobile telephone  701  communicates with vending machine  703  via infra-red link  705  to initiate the purchase. Another possibility is that service provider  702  has a separate communication link with vending machine  703 , such as by a cellular link, and that mobile telephone  701  either establishes cellular communications with vending machine  703  directly, or indirectly through a mobile telephony session  706  with service provider  702 . There are also other technical arrangements for initiating the purchase. Regardless of how the purchase is initiated, however, in such a scheme, payment for the purchase is ultimately made by some sort of credit arrangement between the owner of vending machine  703  and service provider  702 , whereupon the vendor (the merchant, in this case the owner of vending machine  703 ) is compensated by service provider  702 , who is in turn compensated by mobile customer  701 .  
           [0028]    The important distinction to note in all such prior art payment schemes involving mobile telephony is that they all require a pre-arranged financial relationship between the service provider and the vendor. This is because all such prior art schemes employ financial payment methods which are proprietary to the service provider. In contrast, payment according to the present invention is made via universally-recognized financial payment instruments supported by a wide-spread banking community.  
           [0029]    In a variation on the above prior-art scheme, certain mobile telephones are provided with a slot for the mobile customer to insert a standard banking “smart card”. Although this provides a mobile telephone with a payment unit capable of making a payment with a universally-recognized payment instrument, such a payment scheme is implemented in the prior art only for allowing the mobile customer to make standard purchases (such as those illustrated in FIG. 7) via his or her mobile telephone. Prior art schemes do not permit making payments on the initiative of the mobile telephone itself, for the purpose of paying for mobile telephony services.  
           [0030]    Billing Versus Payment  
           [0031]    There is another fundamental difference between the present invention and prior art payment methods and systems for mobile telephony services. In the prior-art, mobile telephony services are billed to the mobile customer by the service provider as they are provided. The terms “bill”, “billed”, and “billing” herein denote the accruing of future charges to a pre-established mobile customer credit account, or the diminishing of a prepaid mobile customer debit account.  
           [0032]    In the case of a credit account, as the mobile customer utilizes the services, the service provider is continually billing the credit account by incrementing the mobile customer&#39;s account balance due. Then, at the end of the “billing cycle”, the service provider sends the mobile customer an invoice for the balance due.  
           [0033]    In the case of a debit account, as the mobile customer utilizes the services, the service provider is continually billing the debit account by decrementing the mobile customer&#39;s available balance. Because this debit account is prepaid by the customer, there is no amount due, and no invoices are sent The service provider, however, may optionally notify the mobile customer when the debit account reaches a critically low balance.  
           [0034]    In both prior art cases, however, it is necessary that the mobile customer and the service provider have a preestablished financial arrangement of some sort, possibly through a third party. Because of this requirement, the prior art systems have the limitation, as previously described (see FIG. 3), wherein mobile telephony services may be denied to the mobile customer by the service provider, simply because no such pre-established financial arrangement exists.  
           [0035]    In contrasts the payment method and system according to the present invention is not based solely on “billing” the mobile customer as mobile services are furnished by the service provider, but also upon payment by the mobile customer at the time the services are provided.  
           [0036]    The terms “pay”, “paying”, “paid”, and “payment” herein relate to the transfer, or authorization thereof, from a first party (the “payer”) to a second party (the “payee”) of monetary value in the form of a generally-accepted instrument issued by a governmental authority or governmentally-chartered financial institution (a “recognized” financial institution). A characteristic of a generally-accepted instrument is that it is honored by a recognized financial institution to the credit of the presenter of the instrument. Such generally-accepted instruments include, but are not limited to: electronic funds transfer, electronic stored value, bank account transfers, debit charges, and credit charges. All of the aforementioned instruments can exist and be stored in electronic form and can be readily transferred electronically from one device to another, or can be actualized electronically, such as from a suitably-equipped mobile telephone to a suitably-equipped terminal at a base station. Methods and technology for the transfer and storage of generally-accepted payment instruments in electronic form are well-known in the art and are readily available.  
           [0037]    As is customary, payment is contingent on the ultimate validity of the transferred instrument, and thus the payment is not considered to have been made unless the instrument is honored in favor of the payee, such as by a recognized financial institution. Once the instrument is determined to have been valid and the instrument is honored in favor of the payee, however, the time that payment is made is herein defined as the time of transfer, of authorization thereof, from the payer to the payee, regardless of when the instrument&#39;s validity is determined or when the payee negotiates or presents the instrument for settlement For example, a payer who authorizes a valid credit charge to a payee is deemed to have made payment at the time of such authorization, irrespective of when the payee sends the credit charge to his bank for processing and settlement and irrespective of when the credit charge is determined to be valid.  
           [0038]    Based on the above distinctions, it is seen that prior art payment systems for mobile telephony services are based solely on billing the mobile customer for services as they are furnished by the service provider, whereas the system of the present invention is based on payment by the mobile customer for mobile telephony services as they are furnished by the service provider. It is also seen that this factor, in combination with the widespread availability of recognized banking services for the presenting, accepting, and settlement of generally-accepted payment instruments, accounts for the removal of the principal limitation of prior art systems, as previously described (FIG. 3).  
           [0039]    Therefore, according to the present invention there is provided a system for payment for mobile communications services over a public commercial network having a base station, the system including: (a) a mobile telephone having a payment unit operative to paying for the mobile communications services by sending a payment instrument honored by a recognized financial institution; and (b) a point-of-sale terminal cooperative with the base station, the point-of-sale terminal operative to accepting payment for the mobile communications services by receiving, accounting for, and processing the payment instrument.  
           [0040]    Furthermore, according to the present invention there is provided a method of payment for mobile communications services over a public commercial network that includes a base station, the payment made by a mobile telephone and received by the base station, the method including the steps of: (a) establishing contact between the mobile telephone and the base station; (b) identifying the mobile telephone and determining that the mobile telephone can make payment; (c) furnishing a unit of mobile telephony service to the mobile telephone by the base station; (d) sending a request for payment for the unit of mobile telephony service from the base station to the mobile telephone; and (e) sending payment for the unit of mobile telephony service from the mobile telephone to the base station.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0041]    The invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 1 illustrates prior art mobile business relationships on a local level.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 2 illustrates prior art mobile business relationships for roaming.  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 3 illustrates a prior art limitation that results in denial of roaming service.  
         [0045]    [0045]FIG. 4 illustrates a first embodiment of a payment system for mobile telephony services according to the present invention.  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 5 illustrates a mobile telephone having a payment unit according to the present invention.  
         [0047]    [0047]FIG. 6 illustrates a service provider base station having a point-of-sale terminal according to the present invention.  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 7 illustrates a prior art scheme in which a mobile telephone may be used to make a payment.  
         [0049]    [0049]FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the steps of a payment method for mobile telephony services according to the present invention.  
         [0050]    [0050]FIG. 9 illustrates a second embodiment of a payment system for mobile telephony services according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0051]    The principles and operation of a payment system for mobile telephony services according to the present invention may be understood with reference to the drawings and the accompanying description. In the descriptions and illustration which follow, the technical aspects of the operation of a mobile telephony system (including the mobile telephones, base stations and networks thereof) are greatly simplified. The present invention relies only on the most basic and general features of a mobile telephony system and does not depend on the detailed technical specifications. The operational principles of cellular mobile telephony systems are well-known, but there are variations in the operation from one such system to another (e.g., analog cellular telephony versus digital cellular telephony, GSK, and so forth). In addition, the present invention is not limited to use with cellular systems, but applies without limitation to all forms of mobile telephony using commercial public mobile telephonic networks.  
         [0052]    [0052]FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the basic method of payment according to the present invention. In a step  801  a mobile telephone (such as mobile telephone  402  of FIG. 4) establishes contact with a base station (such as base station  403  of FIG. 4) and requests mobile telephony service. In a step  803  the base station acknowledges contact and requests identification and payment information from the mobile telephone. In a step  805  the mobile telephone identifies itself and specifies that payment will be made from an internal payment unit (such as payment unit  501  of FIG. 5) in recognized payment instruments as previously described. In a step  807  the base station checks with a point-of-sale (such as POS  601  in FIG. 6) to determine that the mobile telephone&#39;s payment instruments will be accepted. In a decision point  809 , if the mobile telephone&#39;s payment instruments are not acceptable, then service is declined in a step  811 . Otherwise, mobile telephony service is initiated at a loop point  813 . It is noted that there are many possible variations on the initial “handshaking” protocol just described. The steps can be broken down into more detailed steps, the steps may be combined or arranged somewhat differently, and it is also possible to compress these steps into a fewer number. The essential elements are that the mobile telephone be capable of sending payment instruments to the base station in payment for mobile services at the time those services are furnished, that the base station be capable of accepting those payment instruments, and that the mobile telephone and base station be coordinated in this exchange.  
         [0053]    In loop point  813 , the base station provides a unit of mobile telephony service to the mobile telephone. What constitutes a “service unit”, however, is determined by the service provider. A service unit may be based on time, applicable tariffs, and other factors. However defined, a service unit may be charged to the mobile telephone at some point after initiation and prior to completion. As illustrated, in a step  815  the base station requests payment for the service unit, and immediately thereafter the mobile telephone sends a payment instrument to the base station in a step  817 . At a concluding point  819  of the service unit, a decision point  821  determines whether mobile telephony service is to continue. There are several different conditions which preclude the continuation of service, and if one or more of these conditions prevail, then at a step  823  mobile telephony service is terminated. Examples of such conditions for the termination of service include, but are not limited to the following: the mobile customer may have completed his or her conversation and “hung up” the mobile telephone; the session may have been interrupted by loss of radio contact with the mobile telephone; the mobile telephone may have left the local area served by the base station and may have requested service from another base station; the mobile telephone may have failed to send in payment for services as requested in step  815 . If, however, it is determined in decision point  821  that service should continue, another service unit is provided at loop point  813 .  
         [0054]    [0054]FIG. 9 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention which employs stored value as the payment instrument. A mobile telephone  902  has a payment unit (such as payment unit  501  of FIG. 5) that is capable of paying with stored value issued by a recognized financial institution from a stored value pool  916 . This stored value is expressed in terms of electronic tokens representing monetary value, as is well-known in the art. Stored value is sent from mobile telephone  902  to base station  403 , which accumulates the stored value in a point-of-sale (such as POS  601  in FIG. 6) which is capable of handling and settling stored value. Service provider  401  sends accumulated stored value  914  to financial institution  405 , which transfers stored value via a channel  915  to stored value pool  916 . Financial institution  407  is the financial institution of customer  101 , and also has a channel  917  to stored value pool  916 . In this way, financial institution  407  is able to obtain stored value to place into mobile telephone  902 .  
         [0055]    The payment method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,744,787 (hereinafter referred to as &#39;787), as previously noted, provides another embodiment of the present invention. As therein disclosed, payment can be made by means of electronic wallet  9  (FIG. 4 of &#39;787) which contains an electronic purse, an electronic checkbook, and an external interface to payment terminal  21  (also in FIG. 4 of &#39;787). The system and method disclosed in &#39;787 combines the use of stored value for paying small amounts with the use of conventional payment instruments (such as credit and debit charges) for larger amounts, and one advantage thereof is that stored value is replenished automatically into the electronic purse and does not need to be reloaded separately, as described above in conjunction with the system illustrated in FIG. 9. Accordingly, electronic wallet  9  of &#39;787 can be used in the present invention as payment unit  501  (FIG. 5), and payment terminal  21  of &#39;787 can be used as POS  601  (FIG. 6).  
         [0056]    While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, it will be appreciated that many variations, modifications and other applications of the invention may be made.