Patent ID: 7177849

Claim:
A method for validating an electronic payment by a credit/debit card in a transaction system, comprising: registering a purchase of at least one article by a buyer using a credit/debit card associated with at least one PIN code at a seller terminal connected to an electronic payment center by a communication network; checking, by the electronic payment center, that the at least one PIN code which is provided by said buyer to said electronic payment center is associated with the number of said credit/debit card provided by said buyer to said seller terminal; checking, by said electronic payment center, whether or not said at least one PIN code is valid; checking by said electronic payment center whether the amount of said purchase of the at least one article is below a maximum amount authorized for the at least one PIN code, each PIN code authorizing a different maximum amount; and one of: checking, by said electronic payment center, whether the electronic payment center has received a pre-validation from a third party; contacting a third party via a communication network and requesting that the third party validate the purchase, and contacting a third party via a communication network and requesting said at least one PIN code from the third party, wherein the third party is a prime owner of the credit/debit card, wherein the credit/debit card number and the at least one PIN code which have been provided to said seller terminal by said buyer are transmitted to said electronic payment center to check whether the at least one PIN code is associated with said credit/debit card number, and wherein said electronic payment center checks in at least one profile table whether said PIN code is associated with the credit/debit card number.