Patent ID: 6990471

Claim:
A method that facilitates secure electronic commerce, comprising: providing a consumer with a file of security data relating to an account maintained by a financial institution, wherein the file of security data is provided to the consumer on a smart card, and wherein the file of security data includes: a consumer identifier, a private key for encryption and authentication of data, a first public key related to the private key for decryption and authentication of data, an identifier identifying the financial institution, a second public key belonging to the financial institution, the account number that has been encrypted with a key known only to the financial institution creating an encrypted account number, a first certificate signed by a recognized certificate authority that validates the financial institution, a second certificate signed by the financial institution that validates the consumer, and computer algorithms to use the file of security data; creating a financial transaction between the consumer and a merchant, wherein the financial transaction is protected using security data from the file, and wherein the financial transaction is structured to contain an account number in a form that is undecipherable by the merchant, thereby prevent the merchant from knowing the account number for the account, and wherein protecting the financial transaction involves: creating a first hash of the financial transaction, and encrypting the first hash, the second certificate, and the encrypted account number using the second public key creating a secure envelope of transaction data, wherein the first hash is created at a secure site available only to the consumer; validating by the merchant that the financial institution identified by the financial transaction is acceptable using security data from the file; wherein validating by the merchant involves: receiving at the merchant the first certificate; and validating that the first certificate was signed by the recognized certificate authority; requesting by the merchant that the financial institution authorize the financial transaction; receiving by the merchant an authorization from the financial institution to complete the financial transaction; completing the financial transaction between the consumer and the merchant; and notifying the financial institution that the financial transaction is complete.