Patent ID: 8234172

Claim:
A system for authorizing transactions initiated with a payment card, comprising; one or more servers for receiving electronic transaction information and issuing communications to mobile communications devices, said one or more servers including a point of sales system, said one or more servers each having a memory for storing program instructions, and at least one processor for executing said program instructions, said program instructions comprising program instructions for registering the payment card with an issuer of the card by providing a number or address of the mobile communications device to an issuer of the payment card, wherein the issuer associates the payment card with the number or address of the mobile communications device, program instructions for subsequent to the registering, receiving a communication from an owner of the payment card that selects whether the payment card is in a one-time-authorization mode or a normal authorization mode, whereby the owner of the payment card selects whether or not a next transaction using the payment card will be in one-time-authorization mode, program instructions for receiving a notification from a point of sales terminal located at a point of sales indicating that the next transaction has been initiated, wherein the notification is received by the point of sales system, program instructions for, within the point of sales system, determining whether the payment card is in the one-time-authorization mode or the normal authorization mode, program instructions for, in response to determining that the payment card is in the normal authorization mode, requiring input of a static multi-use personal identification number (PIN) at the point of sales terminal, and authorizing the next transaction if a static multi-use personal identification number (PIN) entered as a first input to the point of sales terminal is valid, and program instructions for, in response to determining that the payment card is in the one-time-authorization mode and further in response to receiving the notification, setting a timer and sending a message associated with the particular card transaction to a user of the particular mobile communications device via the particular mobile communications device, wherein the message contains a one-time-use personal identification number (PIN) for use in the next transaction, preventing authorization of the particular card transaction until input of the one-time use personal identification number (PIN) at the point of sales terminal has been received before the timer has expired, receiving the one-time-use personal identification number (PIN) from the user at the point of sales, entering the one-time-use personal identification number (PIN) as a second input to the point of sales terminal, wherein the point of sales system authorizes the particular card transaction only if the one-time-use personal identification number (PIN) is received from the point of sales terminal before the timer has expired.