Patent ID: 8315952

Claim:
A method of transferring funds from a sender to a recipient, the method comprising: receiving source funds from the sender, wherein the source funds comprise a first electronic token; transmitting a first challenge to the sender, in response to receipt of the source funds; receiving a first response to the first challenge from the sender, wherein the first response comprises a first portion of a first set of information, and wherein: the first portion provides, by itself, insufficient data to identify the sender; a second portion, different from the first portion, provides, by itself, insufficient data to identify the sender; the second portion is received from the sender, in response to a second challenge transmitted to the sender, once the first electronic token is received again at a later time; a combination of the first portion with the second portion identifies the sender; and selection of the first portion from the first set of information is determined by characteristics of the first challenge; determining an amount of recipient funds from a value of the source funds; generating, using a money-transfer provider's computer system, a money-transfer identifier identifying the recipient funds, wherein the money-transfer identifier is distinct from the first challenge and the response; providing the money-transfer identifier generated by the money-transfer provider's computer system to the sender while the money-transfer provider maintains control of the recipient funds; receiving the money-transfer identifier from the recipient; and transferring control of the recipient funds from the money-transfer provider to the recipient in response to receipt of the money-transfer identifier from the recipient.