Patent ID: 8074879

Claim:
A computer system for approving a commercial transaction between a user with account information and a merchant, said computer system comprising: a processing unit for processing data and code; and memory for storing said data and said code, said data and said code together including a merchant communications module operative to facilitate a connection with said merchant for receiving a transaction approval request (TAR), activation data accessible to an account-holder, said activation data indicative of the activation status of an account associated with said account-holder and with said account information, an interactive activation module operative to establish a connection with said account-holder, to receive instructions from said account-holder to modify said activation data, and to modify said activation data according to said instructions received from said account-holder, and an authorization module responsive to said TAR and operative to deny said TAR if said account associated with said account-holder is deactivated; and wherein prior to said user initiating said transaction with said merchant, said interactive activation module establishes a first connection with said account-holder, receives activation instructions from said account-holder to activate said account, and modifies said activation data to activate said account, said account being previously deactivated, thereby facilitating approval of said TAR; subsequent to receipt of said TAR, said interactive activation module establishes a second connection with said account-holder, receives deactivation instructions from said account-holder to deactivate said account, and modifies said activation data to deactivate said account such that subsequent TARs will be denied; and in the absence of said deactivation instructions, said account remains activated such that subsequent TARs may be approved.