Patent ID: 7979894

Claim:
A method of authenticating an applicant, the method performed by a computer executing a program stored on a computer readable medium, the method comprising: receiving an indication of an existing financial account purportedly owned by the applicant; transmitting a question request message to a purported issuer of the financial account that has stored at least one challenge question, the question request message identifying the account and requesting one or more questions relating to the account to be asked to the applicant, at least one of which asks for information about a detail of the account that changes over time; receiving from the issuer of the account a first reply in response to the question request message, the first reply comprising a set of the one or more questions; asking the applicant the set of one or more questions relating to the account; receiving answers to the questions from the applicant; transmitting an answer message to the issuer of the account, the answer message comprising the applicant's answers to the questions; and receiving a second reply from the issuer of the account in response to the answer message, the second reply indicating whether the applicant is authenticated as the owner of the account; and wherein the messages and replies are carried over an electronic funds transfer network.