Patent ID: 8719116

Claim:
A method for conducting a transaction between a customer using a customer computer and a merchant that offers goods and/or services, wherein a bank authenticates the transaction in association with a customer account and assures payment to the merchant, comprising: setting up a customer account using bank interface software, said account including a customer account number, other customer account information and at least one authentication parameter which is not enabling to an intercepting party to conduct a purchase using the customer account, said interface software providing a computer identification code identifying the customer computer as an authorized customer computer; assembling order information for a customer order using a merchant computer associated with the merchant, said assembling step including an amount of charges associated with the goods and/or services; communicating merchant verification information between the merchant computer and a bank computer associated with the bank; verifying using the bank computer that the merchant computer is an authorized merchant computer based on the merchant verification information; communicating between the merchant computer and the bank computer with the merchant computer providing merchant identification, the amount of charges associated with the order and the bank computer providing a transaction identifier associating the customer order with the merchant, said communicating and said assembling steps being performed without communicating a customer account number or similar customer account identification which may be used to make fraudulent charges against the customer account; communicating between the customer computer and the bank computer customer verification information that authenticates the customer as acceptable for conducting transactions against said customer account; communicating between the customer computer and the bank computer the computer identification code that verifies said customer computer is an authorized computer associated with the customer account; communicating said transaction identifier for said customer order between the merchant computer and the customer computer via a non-internet communication linkage; communicating between the customer computer and the bank computer said transaction identifier for said customer order without communicating a customer account number or similar customer account identification which may be used to make fraudulent charges against the customer account; associating said customer order with said customer using the bank computer based on said transaction identifier communicated by the customer computer to the bank computer; authorizing the transaction and assuring payment by the bank using the bank computer and communicating the authorization and assurance to said merchant computer without communicating a customer account number or similar customer account identification which may be used to make fraudulent charges against the customer account.